Reggae is the musical expression of Rastafari, a belief system of migrants to Jamaica. A popular song, ‘Rivers of Babylon,’ offers a window into their spirituality and longing for their homeland.
Psalm 137 – best known for its opening line, ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’ – is a 2,500-year-old Hebrew psalm that deals with the Jewish exile and is remembered each year on Tisha B’av.
Frederick Douglass used the words of Psalm 137 in his famous speech, ‘What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?’ For centuries, this poem has resonated with writers and composers on how humans deal with trauma.