Small Axe is a song written by Bob Marley and first released in 1973 on the Wailers album Burnin'. It has since been covered by several artists, among others Buju Banton, Andrew Tosh, The Aggrovators, U Roy , UB40 and Peps Persson who made a Swedish version called Liden såg (Small saw).
In the period when the song was written, virtually all the power in the Jamaican music industry was in the hands of Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid, who represent the "big tree" that musicians would have to cooperate to cut down.[1]