Is This Love

“Is this love that I’m feeling?”

He asks it like he genuinely doesn’t know. And that’s the whole point. Bob Marley—the revolutionary, the prophet, the man who faced down assassination attempts and kept singing—didn’t have love figured out any better than the rest of us.

This comes from Kaya, released in 1978, an album that confused people who expected politics from Bob Marley. Where was the revolution? Where was the resistance? Instead, they got love songs and weed references—and some of the most honest music he ever made.

“Is This Love” is Marley at his most vulnerable. No manifestos. No Jah Rastafari. Just a man looking at someone and trying to figure out what’s happening in his chest. “I want to know, want to know, want to know now.”

The bass line is almost absurdly simple—a few notes that cycle and recycle like a heartbeat. The rhythm guitar doing that classic reggae chop on the upbeat. The I-Threes harmonizing behind Bob like angels who’ve seen some things. None of it’s complicated. None of it needs to be.

“I wanna love you and treat you right. I wanna love you every day and every night.” That’s not poetry. That’s a promise. The kind you make when you’ve finally decided to stop running. The kind that terrifies you precisely because you mean it.

There’s something almost childlike in the repetition. “Is this love? Is this love? Is this love?” Like he’s asking the universe for confirmation. Like he needs someone to tell him it’s okay to feel this much.

The song doesn’t answer the question. It just keeps asking. And maybe that’s the answer—that love isn’t something you ever fully know. You just keep showing up. Keep asking. Keep hoping the answer is yes.

Some songs tell you what love is. This one admits we’re all still figuring it out.