PERHAPS SHE was somewhat overwhelmed by the importance of the occasion, but Rita Marley's rendition of 'No Woman No Cry' was tinged with a note of great loss and sorrow that tugged at the heart strings of the small gathering of dignitaries, well-wishers and family members yesterday morning.

The occasion was 'One Love', a floral tribute in honour of Bob Marley, in commemoration of the musical icon's 55th birthday, held at Independence Park, near the National Stadium.

Under three tents, erected in the middle of Arthur Wint Drive and with chairs facing the Bob Marley statue, the ceremony played out with the colour and panache with which Marley lived his life.

There were no speeches, but the words of Marley's platoon of hit songs spoke volumes about the social woes, emotional conflicts and political turmoil that characterised Jamaica then and even today.

Floral tributes were laid by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson; Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) MP Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, representing the Leader of the Opposition; Rita Marley, Bob Marley's widow; Desmond Young, president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians; Neville Garrick, former head of the Bob Marley Foundation; Marjorie Scott-Anderson, of the Bob Marley Foundation; and Ann Druyan, creative director of NASA's Voyager, Interstellar Messages.

Fifteeen-year-old Donesha, Marley's oldest grandchild and daughter of Sharon Marley, laid a floral tribute on behalf of the Marley children, while Rita Marley's youngest daughter Serita, 14 (her father is footballer Owen 'Ital Stew' Stewart) looked on. Afterwards both curtseyed in front of the reggae icon image.

Loud, almost euphoric cheers, greeted Mortimer Planno, former spiritual adviser to Bob Marley, who plagued by chronic back pains, plodded towards the statue to lay his floral tribute. Shouts of "Jah Rastafari" and "Jah will never give the power to a baldhead" rose up from a group of dreadlocks men when the St. Jago High School choir sang 'Babylon Throne Gone Down'.

A buzz of excitement ran through the crowd like an electric current during the singing of 'One Love' when the drone of a small airplane flew over with a streaming red banner that said 'Happy Earth Day Bob Marley, February 6, 2000. Open Your Eyes and Look Within - Exodus'.

Outstanding performances came from Nicholas Laraque of the Jamaica Regiment Band who 'blew away' the audience with a superb rendition of 'Redemption Song' on the soprano saxophone and dancer Patsy Ricketts who interpreted the mournful 'Johnny Was'.

Senator Arnold Bertram, Minister of Local Government, Youth and Community Develop-ment, served as chairman of the event which closed with the singing of the national anthem.