Studio Album · No. 10
Survival Songwriting Credits by Bob Marley
Produced by Robert Nesta Marley, Alex Sadkin · Engineered by Alex Sadkin, Errol Brown
Holds writing credit on 10 of 10 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented
Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether Bob Marley carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Bob Marley wrote or co-wrote the bulk of Survival, an album conceived as an explicitly political statement of African unity that was originally to be titled Black Survival. Zimbabwe is Marley's anthem of support for the liberation struggle against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, a song he later performed live at Zimbabwe's official Independence Celebration in 1980. Africa Unite gives the record its pan-African thesis, calling for solidarity across the continent, a theme echoed by the cover art of 48 African flags. The militant, outward-facing songwriting marks a deliberate turn from the more personal material of his preceding releases.
Bob Marley & The Wailers' seventh Island album, released October 2, 1979. Originally titled 'Black Survival,' the record is Marley's most explicitly pan-Africanist work, a call for African unity and liberation addressing Zimbabwe's independence struggle ('Zimbabwe'), capitalism ('Babylon System'), and the Rastafari worldview. Co-produced with Alex Sadkin, it includes 'One Drop' and 'Ambush in the Night,' the latter referencing the 1976 assassination attempt.