Alpharita Constantia Marley Anderson, better known as Rita Marley (born Jul… Read Full Bio ↴Alpharita Constantia Marley Anderson, better known as Rita Marley (born July 25, 1946 in Santiago de Cuba) is a Jamaican singer. She is the widow of legendary Reggae musician Bob Marley, and a member of the trio the I Threes, Bob Marley's back up singers.

She grew up in Jamaica, and was singing with a trio named The Soulettes in the mid sixties recording for Studio One when she met Bob Marley. She married him in 1966, and then became a singer in his backing vocals group, the I Threes. She had three children with him and two outside of the marriage. She converted to the Rastafari movement after witnessing Haile Selassie on his visit to Kingston, Jamaica on 21 April 1966. She convinced Bob Marley to convert as well. She wrote many of the songs recorded by Bob while backing him.[citation needed] After Marley's death, she recorded few albums under her name with some success in the United Kingdom. She took care of Marley's estate and mentored her son, Ziggy Marley.

In January 2005 it was claimed that she wished Bob Marley's body be reburied in Ethiopia, but she denied that there were any such plans. Rita currently lives in Ghana and spends a lot of time in Florida, and sometimes her home in Jamaica. Some of her family reside in Canada.

Rita appears on Fergie's new album The Dutchess

To Love Somebody
Rita Marley Lyrics

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There's the light
Certain kind of light
That never shone on me
I want my life to be
Lived with you
Lived with you

There's a way

Everybody said
Each and every little thing
But what good does it bring?
If I aint got you
If I aint got you

Baby

You don't know what it's like, baby
You don't know what it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

In my pain
I see your face again
It's burning in my mind
You aint got to be so blind
that I'm alive
and breathe for you

I'm a woman
Can't you see what I am?
I live an breathe for you
But what good does it do?
If I aint got you
If I aint got you

Baby

You don't know what it's like, baby
You don't know what it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah,
baby
yeaaaaaaah

There's the light
Certain kind of light, baby
That never shone on me
I want my life to be
Lived with you
I wanna live with you
For the rest of my life
Yeah

You don't know what it's like, no no no no no
You don't know what it's like
To love somebody (To love somebody)
To love somebody (to love somebody)
The way I love you
(love you)
Oh
(oh)
Baby baby baby baby baby

You don't know what it's like, baby
You don't know what it's like
To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

Oh...

nah nah nah nah nah
nah nah nah nah nah
no no

nah nah nah nah nah

nah nah nah nah nah
no no

Overall Meaning

"To Love Somebody" by Rita Marley is a soulful ballad that portrays the yearning and desire of a woman to live her life with the person she loves. The lyrics express a deep sense of longing for a special kind of love that has yet to be experienced. The song begins by describing a certain kind of light that has never shone on the singer. She wants her life to be lived with the person she loves, indicating that she is incomplete without them. The chorus is a plea, where the singer tells her "baby" that they don't know what it's like to love somebody with the intensity she feels.

The second verse continues the plea, as the singer wonders if her love will ever come to fruition. She describes how her pain is something that is only eased by thinking of the person she loves, whom she wants to live and breathe for. The singer declares that she is a woman and lives and breathes for her lover, but what good does it do if she doesn't have him? The chorus reiterates the message of the song, as the singer tells her lover that they don't know what it's like to love somebody the way she loves them.

Line by Line Meaning

There's the light
There is hope

Certain kind of light
A specific type of hope

That never shone on me
Which I have never experienced before

I want my life to be
All my aspirations for my life

Lived with you
Include being lived with you

There's a way
There is a path

Everybody said
People have told me

Each and every little thing
All the details

But what good does it bring?
But what is the point?

If I aint got you
If I do not have you

You don't know what it's like, baby
You do not understand the feeling, my love