Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), profess… Read Full Bio ↴Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.

Early music and with the Wailers
Tosh was born in Westmoreland, the westernmost parish of Jamaica. He was abandoned by his parents and "shuffled among relatives". When McIntosh was fifteen, his aunt died and he moved to Trenchtown in Kingston, Jamaica. He first learned guitar after watching a man in the country play a song that captivated him. He watched the man play the same song for half a day, memorizing everything his fingers were doing. He then picked up the guitar and played the song back to the man. The man then asked McIntosh who had taught him to play; McIntosh told him that he had. During the early 1960s, as an aspiring musician, Tosh went to vocal teacher Joe Higgs, who gave free music lessons to young people. Through his contact with Higgs, Tosh met Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) and Neville O'Reilly Livingston (Bunny Wailer). He then changed his name to Peter Tosh and the trio started singing together in 1962. Higgs taught the trio to harmonise and while developing their music, they would often play on the street corners of Trenchtown.

In 1964 Tosh helped organise the band the Wailing Wailers, with Junior Braithwaite, a falsetto singer, and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Initially, Tosh was the only one in the group who could play musical instruments. According to Bunny Wailer, Tosh was critical to the band because he was a self-taught guitarist and keyboardist, and thus became an inspiration for the other band members to learn to play. The Wailing Wailers had a major ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down", and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States with his mother, Cedella (née Malcolm) Marley-Booker, and for a brief time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory. He returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. Tosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Marley returned from the US, and the three became very involved with the Rastafari faith. Soon afterwards, they renamed the musical group the Wailers. Tosh would explain later that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express one's feelings vocally". He also claims that he was the beginning of the group, and that it was he who first taught Bob Marley the guitar. Also according to Bunny Wailer, the early Wailers learned to play instruments from Tosh.

During the mid-1960s Tosh, along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, were introduced to Danny Sims and Johnny Nash who signed the three artists to an exclusive recording contract on Sims' and Nash's JAD Records label as well as an exclusive publishing agreement through Sims' music publishing company, Cayman Music. Rejecting the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed their music to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages inspired by their new-found faith. The Wailers composed several songs for the American-born singer Nash before teaming with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to record some of the earliest well-known reggae songs, including "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Small Axe". The collaboration had given birth to reggae music and in 1970 bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton Barrett, joined the group. They recorded the album The Best of The Wailers, which was produced by Leslie Kong and released in 1971.[citation needed]

In 1972, Danny Sims assigned the balance of the JAD Records recording contract with the band to Chris Blackwell and Island Records company and released their debut, Catch a Fire, in 1973, following it with Burnin' the same year. The Wailers had moved from many producers after 1970 and there were instances where producers would record rehearsal sessions that Tosh did and release them in England under the name "Peter Touch".

In 1973, Tosh was driving home with his girlfriend Evonne when his car was hit by another car driving on the wrong side of the road. The accident killed Evonne and severely fractured Tosh's skull. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, to whom Tosh often referred with a derogatory play on Blackwell's surname, 'Whiteworst'. Tosh had written many of the Wailers' hit songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up", "400 Years", and "No Sympathy". Tosh began recording and released his solo debut, Legalize It, in 1976 with CBS Records company, and Treasure Isle. The title track soon became popular among endorsers of cannabis legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafari all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh's concerts.

That was his last album from the Wailers, Island Records. In 2013, a book co-written by French scholar Dr Jeremie Kroubo Dagnini and American Lee Jaffe, his former associate, says Tosh was part of a smuggling operation that raised money to fund this album.

Solo career
Tosh started to make his own albums with Rolling Stones Records and CBS Records Equal Rights followed in 1977, featuring his recording of a song co-written with Marley, "Get Up, Stand Up", and a cover of "Stepping Razor" that would also appear on the soundtrack to the film Rockers.

Tosh organised a backing band, Word, Sound and Power, who were to accompany him on tour for the next few years, and many of whom performed on his albums of this period. In 1978, the Rolling Stones record label Rolling Stones Records contracted with Tosh, on which the album Bush Doctor was released, introducing Tosh to a larger audience. The album featured Rolling Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and the lead single – a cover version of The Temptations song "Don't Look Back" – was performed as a duet with Jagger.

During Bob Marley's free One Love Peace Concert of 1978, Tosh lit a marijuana spliff and lectured about legalising cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to enact such legislation. Several months later he was apprehended by police as he left Skateland dance hall in Kingston and was beaten severely while in police custody.

Mystic Man (1979), and Wanted Dread and Alive (1981) followed, both released on Rolling Stones Records. Tosh tried to gain some mainstream success while keeping his militant views, but was only moderately successful, especially when compared to Marley's achievements.

In 1984, after the release of 1983's album Mama Africa, Tosh went into self-imposed exile, seeking the spiritual advice of traditional medicine men in Africa, and trying to free himself from recording agreements that distributed his records in South Africa. Tosh had been at odds for several years with his label, EMI, over a perceived lack of promotion for his music.

Tosh also participated in the international opposition to South African apartheid by appearing at anti-apartheid concerts and by conveying his opinion in various songs like "Apartheid" (1977, re-recorded 1987), "Equal Rights" (1977), "Fight On" (1979), and "Not Gonna Give It Up" (1983). In 1987, Peter Tosh seemed to be having a career revival. He was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Performance in 1987 for No Nuclear War, his last record.

Death
On 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house on motorcycles demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours and tortured Tosh in an attempt to extort money from him. Over the hours, as various associates of Tosh arrived to visit him, they were also taken hostage by the gunmen. The gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the chief thug, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, a man whom Tosh had previously befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban and the fellow gunmen began opening fire in a reckless manner. Tosh was shot twice in the head and killed. Herbalist Wilton "Doc" Brown and disc jockey Jeff 'Free I' Dixon also died as a result of wounds sustained during the robbery. Several others in the house were wounded, including Tosh's common law wife Andrea Marlene Brown, Free I's wife Yvonne ("Joy"); Tosh's drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis, and musician Michael Robinson.

According to Police Commissioner Herman Ricketts, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban surrendered and two other men were interrogated but not publicly named. Lobban went on to plead innocent during his trial, telling the court he had been drinking with friends. The trial was held in a closed court due to the involvement of illegal firearms. Lobban was ultimately found guilty by a jury of eight women and four men and sentenced to death by hanging. His sentence was commuted in 1995 and Lobban remains in jail. Another suspect was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The other two gunmen were never identified by name.

Discography
Legalize It (1976)
Equal Rights (1977)
Bush Doctor (1978)
Mystic Man (1979)
Wanted Dread & Alive (1981)
Mama Africa (1983)
No Nuclear War (1987)

Fire Fire
Peter Tosh Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Would you kindly reduce the temperature on this earth, it's too hot down here]
Fire fire, fire fire, fire fire, they have no water
Babylone burning, babylon burning, babylon burning, they have no water

Come on you weary souls
A who you tellin' again
All you weary souls

Who you gonna run to, who you gonna run to, who you gonna run to, ain't have no mercy
Stand up and fight it
Stand up and fight it
Stand up and fight your fight and a-give me freedom

Come on and tell the truth
Why you been treating me crude

See the fire burning
And you don't know where you're turning

Overall Meaning

The song Fire Fire by Peter Tosh is a call to action against the oppression and injustice that exists in the world. Tosh begins the song by asking for the temperature to be reduced on the earth, indicating that the world is too hot due to the anger and frustration felt by those who are being oppressed. He then goes on to sing about the burning of Babylon, a metaphor for the oppression and suffering experienced by many people around the world. Tosh sings that Babylon is burning, but there is no water to put out the fire, meaning that those who are in power are not doing enough to alleviate the suffering of those who are oppressed.

Tosh then addresses the people who are being oppressed, calling on them to stand up and fight for their rights. He asks them who they will run to since there is no mercy for them from those in power. He encourages them to stand up and fight for their freedom, telling them to tell the truth about the way they have been treated. Tosh sings that the fire is burning and they do not know where to turn, indicating that the situation is dire, and action needs to be taken urgently.

Overall, Fire Fire is a powerful and stirring call to action against the oppression faced by many people around the world. It encourages people to stand up and fight for their rights and seek freedom from the oppression they face.

Line by Line Meaning

Would you kindly reduce the temperature on this earth, it's too hot down here
Peter Tosh is pleading for the temperature of the earth to go down because it's too hot for life to thrive.

Fire fire, fire fire, fire fire, they have no water
There are fires everywhere and nobody has any water to put them out.

Babylone burning, babylon burning, babylon burning, they have no water
Babylon is burning and nobody has any water to put it out.

Come on you weary souls
Peter Tosh is calling out to all the exhausted people.

A who you tellin' again
He is asking who they are telling the story to again.

All you weary souls
Peter Tosh is addressing all the tired people once again.

Who you gonna run to, who you gonna run to, who you gonna run to, ain't have no mercy
There is nobody left to help them and show any mercy.

Stand up and fight it
Peter Tosh is urging them to stand up and fight rather than give up.

Stand up and fight it
He repeats his call to action.

Stand up and fight your fight and a-give me freedom
He wants people to fight for their rights and freedoms and he supports them.

Come on and tell the truth
He calls for people to be honest.

Why you been treating me crude
He is asking why people have been treating him unfairly.

See the fire burning
He is reminding everyone of the burning fires that are destroying everything.

And you don't know where you're turning
People don't know what to do or where to go because of the chaos surrounding them.

Writer(s): Peter Tosh

Contributed by Samantha F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@GrammaWilli

5y↑1

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Fire Fire

Fire, fire
Fire, fire
Fire, fire
They have no water

Babylon burning
Babylon burning
Babylon burning
They have no water

Come on, you weary soul
A who you tell dem again
Come on, you weary soul

Who you gonna run to?
Who you gonna run to?
Who you gonna run to?
Ain't have no mercy

Stand up and fight it
Stand up and fight it
Stand up and fight your fight
And give me freedom

Come on, and tell the truth
Why you're treating me crude
You see the fire burning
And you don't know where you're turning

Bless Up Bob and Peter thanks for the music.