The Rejection And The Rebel's Reply

Built upon a line from Psalm 118 -- "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" -- the 1970 song from Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Cornerstone”, can be interpreted as a universal underdog's anthem, like so many Marley classics before and since.

But a new documentary film, Marley, suggests that Bob recorded this particular song after being rebuffed by the family of his white father, Captain Norval Marley.

Bob's wife Rita Marley explains that he essentially over-compensated for his fair skin by becoming socially and politically, blacker than black. That embrace of his blackness was also a consequence of the rejection he suffered. Marley was abandoned by his father at birth. As an adolescent he sought out and attempted to forge a connection with the wealthy side of the Marley family, only to be spurned.

In the film, Peter Marley, Bob's second cousin on his father's side, talks about the time Bob walked into the family construction business seeking money from his relatives -- only to be rejected. The story goes like the song was born from this event.

The stone that the builder refused,

Will always be the head cornerstone.

Sing it, brother!

The stone that the builder refused

Will always be the head cornerstone.

You're a builder - here I am a stone.

Don't you think and refuse me

'Cause the things people refuse,

Are the things they should use.

Do you hear me? Hear what I say!

One of the more poignant and inspired moments in the film comes when the director lends a set of earphones and iPod to those relatives to hear the song.

They listen to the song with pained facial expressions as they reflect on the fact that Bob has become the Marley, the illegitimate Rasta son who was rejected by his military father is now the only reason the Marley name is renowned around the world. Prophecy fullfilled.

[SOURCE: NPR.ORG, HUFFPOST, COMPLEX.COM]