Catch A Fire was the album that introduced the world to Bob Marley, the first international reggae superstar. And "Concrete Jungle," as the first track on the album, was the song that introduced listeners to Catch A Fire. So this is arguably the song that launched the transformation of reggae music from a purely local Jamaican art form into a global pop phenomenon.
The story of "Concrete Jungle" is thus a story of cultural Marxist globalization and global Capitalism.
No sun will shine in my day today (no sun will shine)
The high yellow moon won't come out to play
(that high yellow moon won't come out to play)
I said (darkness) darkness has covered my light
(and the stage) And has changed my day into night, yeah
Where is the love to be found? (oh-oh-oh)
Won't someone tell me?
Cause my (sweet life) life must be somewhere to be found
(must be somewhere for me)
Instead of concrete jungle (la la-la!)
Where the living is harder (la-la!)
Concrete jungle (la la-la!)
Man you got to do your (la la-la!) best. Whoa, yeah
No chains around my feet
But I'm not free, oh-ooh!
I know I am bound here in captivity
G'yeah, now (never, never) I've never known happiness
(never, never) I've never known what sweet caress is
Still, I'll be always laughing like a clown
Won't someone help me? 'Cause I (sweet life)
I've got to pick myself from off the ground
(must be somewhere for me), he-yeah!
In this a concrete jungle (la la-la!)
I said, what do you cry for me (la-la!) now, o-oh!
Concrete jungle (la la-la!), ah, won't you let me be (la la-la!), now
Hey! Oh, now!
I said that life (sweet life) it must be somewhere to be found
(must be somewhere for me)
Oh, instead, concrete jungle (la-la!) collusion (la-la!)
Confusion (confusion). Eh!
Concrete jungle (la-la!) baby, you've got it in
Concrete jungle (la la-la!), now. Eh!
Concrete jungle (la la-la!)
What do you stand for me (la-la!), now?
"No chains around my feet, but I'm not free"
"Where is the love to be found?"
I love these lines