Bob Marley
Bob Marley wrote "Three Little Birds" during morning meditation in his backyard at Hope Road in Kingston, watching three birds come and go from the windowsill while picking seeds from his marijuana. Road manager Tony Gilbert saw the birds every morning too. Backing vocalist Marcia Griffiths confirmed years later: "Everybody knew that he was referring to us when he said 'three little birds.'" Producer Chris Blackwell held the song back for three years because he found it "so light, very poppy." It was finally released as a single in August 1980, one month before Marley's final concert. He didn't yet know he had terminal cancer.
In our deep dive into Three Little Birds, we trace the song from a Kingston backyard to its three-year delay to the month it was finally released, and what it reveals about a songwriter who found transcendence in the most ordinary of mornings.
