Time Will Tell

The version of Time Will Tell that we know was born amid a change of air. When Bob Marley and The Wailers recorded Kaya in 1978, the album moved away from the combative tone that had characterized their previous works. Here, reggae flows with a calmer cadence, almost like a breath between intense songs. The lyrics, instead of speaking of struggle or resistance, focus on the everyday: love and that herb that in Jamaica is called kaya. It’s not a track meant to stir emotions with speeches, but rather invites you to stay in the moment, with a rhythm that sways between acoustic guitar and the backing vocals repeating the chorus like a mantra.

The recording of Kaya began in 1977, while they were still working on Exodus, but the album was finalized in the studios of Tuff Gong and Island during 1978. Chris Blackwell, who had already produced Exodus, took on the role of producer again, this time alongside Marley himself. Engineers Terry Barham, Karl Pitterson, and Alex Sadkin captured that warm sound, while Robert Ash and Blackwell mixed the tracks so that each instrument could breathe without haste. The result was an album that reached the top five in the UK, just as Marley returned to Jamaica for the One Love Peace Concert. Three of the album’s songs are reworked versions of tracks they had recorded in 1971 with Soul Revolution Part II, but here they sound more stripped down, as if time had polished them. Time Will Tell is one of those pieces that, without shouting, ends up staying in your head.