DESCRIPTION:
From 1981, and on his own Solomonic label, this is Bunny Wailer in a serious mood, but with an optimistic solution. The ponderous beat lays heavy against his soaring, swooping chants, where he tells of how the people have been oppressed for far too long, but they can "rise and shine" and once again be free and happy. Freed from the shackles of slavery and free enough to become even the first black President of the USA. The dream may have come true. The dream where all people, black and white, yellow and brown, unite in peace and harmony.

We've been down in the valley much too long.
We've been down in captivity oh so long.
We've been down in humility much too long.
We've been down in slavery oh so long.

But we're gonna rise and shine!
And win our liberation,
for now is the time
when all nations must be free.
So rise and shine!
Restore your strength and power,
waste no more time,
remember your history.

We've been down in a sufferation much too long.
We've been down in a condemnation oh so long.
We've been down in a segregation much too long.
We've been down in humiliation oh so long.

But we're gonna rise!
As the morning sun that surrounds you,
it's international morality time,
where mankind must be born anew.
So rise and shine!
For the sake of the younger generations,
putting hearts and minds,
to brotherhood and unity.