Album: Confrontation (1983)

Charted: 4

License This Song 

• Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  When I analyze the stench
  To me, it makes a lot of sense
  How the Dreadlock Rasta was the Buffalo Soldier
  
  Stolen from Africa, brought to America
  Fight on arrival, fighting for survival
  
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, win the war for America, yeah
  
  If you know, if you know your history
  Then you would know where you're coming from
  Then you wouldn't have to ask me
  Who the hell I think I am
  
  I'm just a Buffalo Soldier
  In the heart of America
  I'm just a Buffalo Soldier
  Win the war for America, yeah
  
  (You are, you are)
  (You are, you are)
  
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe (You are, you are)
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe (You are, you are)
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  When I analyze the stench
  To me, it makes a lot of sense
  How the Dreadlock Rasta was the Buffalo Soldier
  
  Stolen from Africa, brought to America
  Fight on arrival, fighting for survival
  
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, win the war for America, yeah
  
  Fighting for survival
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe (You are, you are)
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  If you know, if you know your history
  Then you would know where you're coming from
  Then you wouldn't have to ask me
  Who the hell I think I am
  
  I'm just a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  Said I am a Buffalo Soldier, win the war for America
  
  And I had to fight on arrival, fighting for survival yeah
  Fight on arrival, fighting for survival
  
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe (You are, you are)
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe (You are, you are)
  Woe yoe yoe yo, yo yo woe yo, woe yoe yoe
  
  Buffalo Soldier, in the heart of America
  Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta
  
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, win the war for America
  Said he was a Buffalo Soldier yeah, who took the war for America yeah
  Said he was a fighting on arrival, he was a fighting for survival Writer/s: Bob Marley, Noel Williams
  Publisher: Audiam, Inc., MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 45

• Asil from 2000 Miles From NelraThe song’s story is based off of history, but is not true, because the “Buffalo Soldier” was also a “Dreadlock Rasta”, and Rastafari did not exist until there were no more Buffalo Soldiers.
• Future from Out At SeaI think this song is great.
• Martian from MarsMusicmama got it right. Tom from Houston you are clueless. The song is about the irony of willingly fighting for your oppressors. The song is about forgetting your history.
  
  "Buffalo Soldier, troddin' through the land woah
  Said he wanna ran, then you wanna hand
  Troddin' through the land, yeah, yeah"
  
  Said he wanna ran, then you wanna hand. Almost comical, but deeply sad.
• Jim from KansasTom from Texas has it exactly right.
• George from Vancouver, CanadaTea from UK: why not? He wrote it with a passion for the truth. Getting this truth out there to slow the racism roll wouldve been just what he'd wat.
• Camille from CaliforniaI'm an American Indian Studies Minor. They were called Buffalo soldiers because they killed buffalo for the U.S. military after the Civil War. Buffalo were American Indians' economic base, so following huge massacres such as the one at Sand Creek, buffalo were killed almost to extinction by "buffalo soldiers."
• Tea from UkI'm not sure Bob Marley would have been happy with the release of this song.
• Ariel from FloridaThe history is very very vague its so like undertandable
• Link from AussieThe history on this is very vague. I would love to know why that history is almost void of where the Buffalo Soldiers originated from. Google is obviously the source of the writings which is so incomplete it remains to be seen that the bias of leader and slave are reprehensible. We all know the truth. centuries of lies
• Sheri from CaliforniaI love this song because of the message it has for all of us and it comes from the verse “if you know your history, then you don’t know where your coming from. Then you wouldn’t have to ask me, who the hell do you think I am?” He says something similar in Rat Race “Don’t forget your history, know your destiny.” This resonates in my life everyday, proud to know my people’s history and where we come from. I think this is important for all people to know their lineage so that they can be proud of themselves and strive for a better life than those who have gone before us.
• Tom from Houston, TexasI like this song a lot because it celebrates one of the many contributions of blacks in the United States. I feel bad for bringing it up but the phrase "fighting on arrival" is historically inaccurate. The Buffalo Soldiers were initially formed in 1866 and did most fighting in the 1870's. The United States banned the importation of slaves from Africa/Carribean in 1808, meaning after 1808 slaves no longer came from outside the United States to be sold. I guess it is possible that one of the Buffalo Soldiers could have been born in Africa/Carribean but that would mean that they were at least 58 years old and had lived in the United States their entire life. It would be very strange for someone that old to serve in the army and they definitely would not have been "fighting on arrival" as they would have been in the U.S for nearly 58 years.
• Sk from Ventura County, CaJust finished reading a book that points to the universality of this song. The book is 33 Men by Jonathan Franklin. It is the story of the survival and rescue of the Chilean miners. The quote is "A host of requests from the miners for specialized soundtracks and songs for their ascent helped assuage fears that the men would be able to handle the fifteen-minute solitary voyage. Victor Zamora pleaded to have Bob Marley's 'Buffalo Soldier'." Imagine being in that Phoenix capsule in hopes of reaching freedom after that long time trapped underground...."fighting for survival" ...there are so many layers to the message of this song....
• Ethan from North Tonawanda , Nyimdoing a class project about Bob and i needed tofind out what his songs meant. This is the perfect website to find all my curiosites thanks songfacts.com you guys rule
• Matthew from Perth, Australianot sure how true this could be and have never actually sat down and listen to this song in this context but i once heard that this song is about jimmy hendrix
• Raylah from Here, CaThey were given their name by the Native Americans that called them buffalo soldiers cuz their short & curly hair was like the hair on the back of a buffalo's neck. They were compared with the buffalo's strength and tenacity. Duties were settling railroad disputes, building telegraph lines, repairing and building forts,helping settlers find a place to live and protecting the settlers from Indian attacks......Grab some ganja and listen to the song again..You'll understand.
  
• Sorchia from Long Beach, CaSampling it may be but I have never been able to listen to this song withour picturing the Bannana Splits dressed as Buffalo Soldiers...and it is a disturbing image to say the least.
• Mahina from Kaneohe, HaitiThis song is about Americans needing some extra hands. Whether it's a soldier for war or a slave for their home either way the Africans were fighting on arrival, fighting for survival." Americans thought of themselves as the hierarchy (11). And it's so ironic that they ran to the people they look down upon in their time of need. " Buffalo Soldiers war the war for America." Africans are the ones who helped build this country up, the ones who did all the farming and hard labor duties. Without them, getting here would've been more difficult. Without them, winning that war would not have been possible. The hierarchy individuals that get on the credit would be nothing without the ones below them.
  WOO HOO LEE!!!
• Charles from Glenside, PaThe Banana Splits? Here I was all ready to immerse myself in the meaning of one of Marley's finest, and now I have to first rid myself of the distraction of a tune from an insipid afternoon children's show.
• Nikki from Halifax, CanadaI didn't realize new comments post at the top of the page! Oops... I definitely would not say that Black Americans benefited from the racism of the whites! It's more like they took a really bad situation and used it to their advantage. They were not given any opportunities that they did not have to fight and sacrifice greatly for.
• Nikki from Halifax, CanadaMarley was a Rastifarian! It is not a "damned if you do, damned if you don't thing" at all. Rastas Don't believe in the same kind of hate and criticism that others do. The point of the music is not to lash out in anger; it is to educate people about their history so they can take control of their future. It's much more effective to learn from music that is peaceful than from music that is confrontational. I think Marley knew exactly what he was doing with the music and the message, sometimes it just takes patience to understand it.
  
  As for angrier, harsher music and sad music, I still think they have their place. Everyone responds differently to different messages so for some, these genres might be really effective. I think the movement towards reggeton music is interesting. It reflects a lot about our times.
• Imani from Cincinnati, OhIt is ironic how the white man deployed black troops to civilize the west, when the sentiment that blacks were unintelligible brutes perpetuated from the time of the Trans Atlantic slave trade, through the antebellum era, and into the Western Expansion. While some whites and blacks believed racism to have been beneficial for blacks because it "civilized them", whites certainly did not hold blacks as being equals or competent- why would they entrust them to conquer the Native Americans? It's like sending the nurse to do a surgery because the doctor's on his lunch break.
  
  On a separate note, Marley wouldn't have crafted these lyrics from spite. True, the song is tragic. But I do not think the intention of this song is to release anger, but rather to educate and encourage tolerance through understanding- that was more Marley's style anyway.
• Ezra from Wheat Ridge, Cook first of all ide like to say that bob rocks and ive met his sons and so do they. and second of all frank you could be the most retarted person on the earth because the slave drivers had a saying "keep there strenghth up and there brains dumb" so they would make the slaves more stupid so that they wouldn't rebell and they did rebel but they were usually found and then killed or tortured more then usuall. and a third thing chase ur an moron the buffalo soldier your refering to is hunters who would trick the buffalo by wereing the skin of the ones they already killed and then getting in to the heard and taking the buffalo by surprise u dumb ass.
• Musicmama from New York, NyTo Paul from Cambridge, MA: Yes, it's terrible that the Buffalo Soldiers' job was to exterminate Indians. But it's Colin Powell, not Bob Marley, who got it wrong. "Stolen from Africa, brought to America/ Said he was fighting on arrival, fighting for survival" sounds as if the Buffalo Soldiers were forced into making a Faustian choice: They fought for the ones who captured and enslaved them simply to stay alive. The real point of the song, I believe, is not about the Buffalo Soldiers' heroics or gallantry, both of which were ample. Rather, it is about struggling for survival, and what choices and compromises people make. It's what many African-Americans mean when they talk about "going to meet The Man" or what young people from failed farms and rusting steel towns are doing when they join the Armed Forces--especially, of course, if they end up in conflagrations like Iraq and Afghanistan. They end up doing the work of the very people who put them in such unsavory positions. Of course, if Colin Powell ever had such thoughts, he had to have suppressed them in order to continue his military career. However, Bob Marley didn't make such a choice--I don't think he was capable of doing so--which is the reason why his music, and what he represents, are so wonderful. Now that I think of it, that is what the essence of war is: one side, which feels it has no other alternative, resorting to the very violence the other side used against them. It's a circle that hasn't been, but must be, broken if the human race is to have any hope. If only Bob were around to help keep the flame of hope flickering!
• Chase from Augusta, Gathe buffalo soldiers got their name from the Cheyenne. at least that's what the AP US history book sittin in front of me says. i looked the song up to put in a powerpoint for tomorrow in class
• Frank from Ontario, United Statesthe meaning is sad and the affricans were acting stupid should have rebelled
• Richard from London, EnglandI think there are still a lot of 'Buffalo Soldiers' in this world, and not all of them are black.
• Dwayne from Whanganui, New ZealandBuffalo soldiers are the epitomy of African bravery. It is sad to know that they suffered fighting a war that was nat their war. They deserve to be recognized as soldiers. Typical. Much love.
• Cory from Dallas, TxResponding to Manuel, the Carribean had a certain significance because that was the location of the sugar cain feilds. Often called the crack cocain of the 1700's, sugar was mass produced by many Africain slaves.
• Rhiannon from Sydeny, Australiai am agreeing with PAUL on this one there jod was to kill the native americans as "buffalo soilders" but i also disagree it doesnt mean they liked it, i mean if you were taken from your home town and dumped in to this new land you new nothing about, and were told to kill all native americans you could and you might get to go home wouldnt you do it?
• Mjn Seifer from Not Listed For Personal Reason, EnglandTo all the people who mentioned the "Bannana Splits":
  
  Guys, it's called "Sampling" and there's nothing wrong with it. A
  
• Manuel from Puerto Rico, United StatesI want to know if the San Juan he mentions is the San Juan here in Puerto Rico or another one. I think so because he says they moved through the caribbean. I gotta research my history and find out what part of this story takes place here.
• Paul from Cambridge, MaThe Buffalo soldiers job was to exterminate Indians. No matter how you sing it, that's what they did. And that is the central tragedy of America. Funny nobody else noticed that. No it isn't. White people wanted this country and they do not care about who they killled to get it. That's why Colin Powell likes them. Sorry Bob. You're a good man, but you missed this one.
• Anthony from Miamia, Flthe african soilders were called buffalo soilders by the native americans becasue of their nappy dreddy hair, and how it was like that of a buffalo
• Stu from Fife, ScotlandJoe from Washington's right. This is an incredibly poignant song, mixing up slavery and war and colonial history. It stirs the same emotions as "White Man" by Queen and "Zombie" by the Cranberries. Real life is a lot more complicated than the Colin Powell quote hinted at. Listen to Bob: Know Your History!!!
• Maggie from Perth, AustraliaGotta love Bob Marley. This song is an absolute classic and will stay that way for decades to come.
• Flo from Toulouse, FranceThis one became a hit after Bob's dead. It was issued as a single and a part of posthumous album Confrontation in 1983 (Bob died in 1981) then on Legend the following year. GREAT TUNE !
• David from Bellflower, CaThis is my 9yr old sons favorite song... It has also been one of mine since I was his age. A great song by A great man..
• Bill from Southeastern Part Of, FlUnfortunately, every time I hear the part of this song that goes "woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy..." (spelling from the Songfacts lyrics sheet), I think of the theme song from the 1960s children's show The Banana Splits. It's called The Tra La La Song, if any of you want to look it up.
• Will from Newbottle, Englandits a song that stirs your soul
• Joe from Washington, DcI think you all, save Louis are missing the point a bit. This song speaks of the black man who was "stolen from Africa and brought to America. Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival". It is how they were used by the white man to destroy the Native people and take the land, because that was the only way to escape slavery. It's irony that it's upbeat, in that the song is purely tragic. The whole "damned if you do, damned if you don't" notion comes to mind. The undeniable genius behind Marley and his music. Just as the lyrics go "When I analyze the stench, to me it makes a lot of sense", he doesn't seem to condone, yet he tries to explain the difficult choices made by the Buffalo Soldiers.
• Angie from Ch Ch, AkIt is an awesome song with Some kind of fire that burns as you think how people could seriously be treated as cows, or less than cows.
• Angie from Ch Ch, AkThe song is warm and gives me a warmth in my stomach, especially now that i know what it means.
• Sheridan from Baguio City, OtherGen.Colin Powell said it best, "look at the black soldiers called "The Buffalo Soldier" that paved the road that you and I travel now. Be grateful and always remeber their sacrifices". Sir Bob Nesta Marley sang it best. Know your history and were you coming from.
• Louis from San Diego, CaYou are correct about the a buffalo soldier being a black soldier during the campiagn to open the west for whites to settle. They were soldiers of the ninth and tenth regiments. There were 2,000 in the regiments total. The way you said it makes it sound like that is what the calvary called themselves. They may have or may have not called themselevs that, but the term originated from the indians who referred to the soldiers as "buffalo soldiers" due to their darker skin. They also called them "buffalo soldiers" becuase the Sioux tribe feared buffalo as being great and powerful beings just as they feared the U.S. army
• Natasha from Chico, CaThat's quite interesting, I always wondered what the song was about.

More Songfacts:

Wild ThingTone-Loc

Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" samples Eddie Van Halen's guitar riff from "Jaime's Cryin'."

I Just Called To Say I Love YouStevie Wonder

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" is Stevie Wonder's best-selling single worldwide. It topped the Hot 100, AC, R&B and UK charts all in the same week.

The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)Celine Dion

Celine Dion's 1998 festive tune "The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)" came from an unlikely source. It was penned by Dee Snider of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister.

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

Call Me MaybeCarly Rae Jepsen

"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen was the song of the summer in 2012 and a major meme. It got some help from her fellow Canadian Justin Bieber, who tweeted that it was "possibly the catchiest song I've ever heard."

Cigarettes And Chocolate MilkRufus Wainwright

"Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk" describes a time in Rufus Wainwright's life when he found himself hungover and pounding chocolate milk to feel better. It didn't work, so he smoked a cigarette, which is when he realized his addictive personality could be a problem.

Editor's Picks

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Black SabbathFact or Fiction

Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.