"Get Up, Stand Up" (The Wailers)

"Get Up, Stand Up" from The Wailers' 1973 album Burnin' probably was the first true reggae song I ever heard.  It either was around the time of Bob Marley's passing in 1981 or the anniversary of his death in 1982.  But I recall hearing a snippet of the funky "Get Up, Stand Up" on a morning news program.  It was playing under interview footage of a righteously dreadlocked Marley, discussing his music.  Sounds funny to say, but the song's simple refrain reminded me of the "Hokey Pokey"; although, rather than directing you to put your left foot in, it urged you to get up, stand up instead!  It was catchy, easy to repeat, and it stuck in my little brain.
I got to thinking about that years later, listening to the song again on 1984's Legend compilation.  I'm certain that's what Marley and guitarist/vocalist Peter Tosh had in mind: a protest song that was so straightforward even a child could grasp the words; a populist anthem that clearly urged people to stand up for their convictions.
Which is a perfect segue into the song's origins.
I had always thought the melody of "Get Up, Stand Up" shared a striking similarity to War's 1971 single "Slippin' Into Darkness"; there's a little riff that harmonica player Lee Oskar plays in tandem with saxophonist Charles Miller toward the end of the track that exactly matches the notes in the refrain of "Get Up, Stand Up."
Turns out, I was onto something.  
In a 2011 blog piece for Paste online, journalist Denise Sullivan references a long-circulating story that Marley had befriended members of the band War while on tour in the U.S.  As further confirmation of this, I stumbled upon an interview* with former War drummer Harold Brown on YouTube.  In the video, Brown says that Marley was with him and his bandmate/percussionist Papa Dee Allen, walking down the street in downtown Atlanta on their way to a radio interview, when Marley told them he was going to write an homage to War because he saw the band as fellow "street musicians" who played music for the people, just like The Wailers.
Apparently, "Get Up, Stand Up" was that song, and "Slippin' Into Darkness" was the inspiration for it.

(*This guy Calvin Lincoln has a great show called Soul School Television, produced for Vallejo Community Access Television in Vallejo, CA, where he conducts interviews with soul/funk greats from the 60s and 70s and also discusses classic albums and music history.  The production quality is lo-fi, but he really knows his stuff and asks great, insightful questions.  I ended up watching about 20 clips in a row of his on YouTube and probably would have watched even more if my computer's battery hadn't run out of juice.  If you're a fan of classic soul, funk, and R&B, check him out.)