Songfacts®:

• Burning Spear (birth name Winston Rodney) is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter. Back in 1969 he was in a duo with bass singer Rupert Willington. When Spear ran into Bob Marley, he asked him how he could get started in the music business, and Marley told him about the Studio One recording facility run by Jamaican producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd. With Willington in tow, Spear auditioned with "Door Peep."
  
  In the late 1960s, fast-paced dance tracks and romantic ballads dominated the Jamaican charts. Burning Spear stood out with his distinct style. He presented to Dodd a powerful and ominous song, delivered in a thick patois with unconventional vocal phrasing.
  
  "The styling hit me as something new and different," Dodd recalled to Mojo magazine.
  
  Dodd didn't think Willington added anything special, so he took Spear to one side and told him, "I'm willing to invest in you, but don't worry about harmony, because we have house harmony in the studio."
• "Door Peep" has biblical lyrics that warn of the dangers of informers who reported Rastafarian activity to the police. Burning Spear encourages the faithful to unite in peace and chant down the oppressive forces of "Babylon." The weighty and forceful song was a departure from the popular music of the time.
  
  Door peep shall not enter this a holy land
  Where wise an' true man stand sipping from this cupful cup of peace
  Not one shall enter, not one
  
  The true believers in the Rastafarian faith drink from a cup of peace and wisdom, but the police informers (door peepers) will be banned from joining them in the holy land.
• Spear recorded "Door Peep" as his debut single, with tenor Delroy Hinds and Cedric Brooks on saxophone. It fared poorly on the Jamaican charts.
• The success of Spear's third album, Marcus Garvey, led to a deal with Island Records to give the album a wider release. The reggae musician re-recorded "Door Peep" for the follow-up, 1976's Man In The Hills.
• Sinéad O'Connor covered "Door Peep" for her 2005 album Throw Down Your Arms. A collection of cover versions of classic roots reggae songs, she recorded the album in Kingston, Jamaica with production by Sly and Robbie.