Alastor Listens To Reggae [Hazbin Hotel Fanfic]

Alastor Listens To Reggae Chapter 4: Legalize It by Peter Tosh

Another day's end, another glass of rye. But what album to pair this glass of rye with?

Alastor had been enjoying the works of Bob Marley but started to wonder if too many trips to that well might be a bad thing. At the very least he wanted to space out Bob Marley records with something else, but with what? The last non Marley reggae record hadn't been to his taste, so who else might he turn to?

Well that may be a job for someone else, and he knew just who to turn to. A flick of his wrist later and Husk was once again summoned.

"Sigh...What do you want this time?" Husk grumbled in resignation.

"Husk my old chum, I need you to once again find me a reggae album to listen to, one that isn't by Bob Marley. It doesn't have to be quite the hidden gem as I requested last time, but try to avoid anything especially religious. That sort of thing doesn't play well in Hell," Alastor replied.

"Hmmmm, I'lll see what I can do," Husk said as he took out his smartphone and began searching.

"Here's something, it's by one of Marley's former Wailers. It's not religious but it is about drug use. It's in part a call to legalize marijuana in the face of police oppression in Jamaica," Husk reported back.

Pot use huh? Though Alastor thought lowly of most pot users, thinking of them as smelly losers, he wondered what it would be like to listen to an album that made smoking pot into a political statement. He did enjoy the more political, let's get together and make change kind of reggae. Even though once again Alastor didn't acquaint himself with too many potheads, he assumed that smoking marijuana had a different cultural background in Jamaica, one that granted a lot more meaning to the act.

"Why not I'll give it a listen."

"Didn't think that you would go for this one. Well best of luck on your enjoyment of it," Husk said as he was whisked back to the bar where he had made his camp.

Alastor then summoned a copy of Peter Tosh's Legalize It and put it to play as he partook in his rye.

The first song up was the titular track, one that was definitely for the pot users who were listening to it. It had a good groove with a hazy ambience. Simplistic lyrics permeated the song, ones that someone who was stoned would greatly appreciate. If Alastor were a ganja user himself he would immensely enjoy this song. As a person who mainly stuck to liquor, he found parts to enjoy but hoped for better to come in this album.

Then came the song Burial. Some oddly forlorn horns opened the song, a stark contrast to the hazy delights of the opening track. Alastor had a hard time with the lyrics, they were very short and very cryptic and therefore had trouble parsing what the song was trying to say. Alastor instead had to coast on the vibes of the track, which were sizable but still Alastor had heard more enjoyable tracks.

Next up was Watcha Gonna Do, a song about a family in which the father is arrested for ganja use. Once again though Alastor thought little of pot use, he felt imprisonment for the crime was unfair and thus could understand the injustice of such a situation. It was here that Alastor came to appreciate Peter Tosh's vocals, thinking of them as warm and inviting.

Alastor's thoughts then turned their attention to the contrast in the upbeat song and the bleak subject matter at hand. What sounded like cheerful music was contrasted with the futility of the situation Tosh was singing about. The song continued with more injustices, such as planting false evidence and physically violent police interrogation techniques, with the titular question "Watcha Gonna Do" interspersing these injustices. As one could probably assume there was no answer to this question, or what little answer there was implied that there was really nothing that could be done.