R.I.P. Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff has passed away at 81 years old. I saw the news this morning and it bummed me out. At first I had hoped it was one of those hoax announcements and it would be revealed later that he was still here. Unfortunately though, Cliff did pass.

I first knew of Jimmy Cliff when I was a young kid. I used to love the movie "Cool Runnings" growing up. I must have watched that movie a billion times when I was younger. I tried to get my teachers to show it when they would put on movies in class. I memorized most of the lines, and when I rewatched it as an adult, all the quotes were still there. I bring up "Cool Runnings" because the song that played over the end credits was Cliff's version of "I Can See Clearly Now". I knew this song as well as quotes from the movie. I would walk around the house singing it when I was a kid. That didn't stop as I continued to get older. That song is so easy to sing along with, and it may be the very first "reggae" song that I ever heard. Of course I found my way to Bob Marley and other reggae greats, but Jimmy Cliff was most likely my first time listening to reggae.

When I eventually stopped watching "Cool Runnings", I forgot about Jimmy Cliff. As I got older I focused the majority of my reggae listening around Bob Marley. I heard other artists in the genre, but I was all Marley pretty much all the time. One day when I was about 16 I was visiting my oldest brother in Columbia and he knew of my love for Bob Marley. He asked me if I had ever listened to or seen "The Harder They Come". I had no idea what he was talking about. He then showed me the movie and it was an eye opener. First off, the movie is really good. It is an underrated gem. It is a hard, hard Jamaican movie about falling into the world of crime. The accents are so thick that, when I have watched it every time since my first viewing, I have to put the subtitles on. That's no bother when the movie is as good as this one was. I was all in from the first viewing, and that was when my brother told me that Jimmy Cliff played one of the main characters in the movie. I was shocked because he was just the guy that sang over the end credits of "Cool Runnings". I had no idea he had acted in the past, but more importantly to me, that he was an icon in the world of reggae music. He did a bunch of the songs on that album. He did four of the songs, writing and singing them, and they are all bonafide hits in reggae music. He opens the soundtrack with "You Can Get it if You Really Want", which is this fun and bouncy tune. It is all about going out there and trying to get the things you want by any means, but the way the song is arranged and sung, it sounds fun. He then performs "Many Rivers to Cross" which is one of the most beautiful songs ever put to vinyl. It is such a beautifully sung song. I love this one so very much. It is one of my favorite songs ever recorded. I truly adore this song. He also does the title track, "The Harder They Come", which is a true hit. It mixes pop instruments of the time with electric reggae vocals. And he closes the soundtrack with an almost five minute version of "Sitting in Limbo" which is just haunting in all the right ways. This is a song that I truly feel like everyone should listen to at least once in their lifetime. It is an achievement and one of the best songs ever written.

After seeing the movie and devouring the soundtrack I became a pretty big fan of Jimmy Cliff's. I wanted to listen to more and more of his music. I went back and listened to more of his older stuff because the stuff from the 90's and 2000's had more of the "I Can See Clearly Now" sound, which while good, that's not the reggae I tend to gravitate towards. The older stuff was more raw and heartfelt in my opinion. It is more barebones which i like. You can hear his voice over the music, which is a plus because Cliff had such a great voice for reggae music. That being said, I'm glad he was still making new music all the way up until 2022.

Jimmy Cliff is a musical icon. Even if you may not be familiar with the name, I bet you have heard him sing before. His music seems to end up in movies or tv shows, and I appreciate that fact. I am going to miss Jimmy Cliff, but I'm glad I have an older brother who knew that I liked reggae music and went out of his way to show me how great of an artist he was. Rest in Peace Jimmy Cliff. I hope you are singing wherever you may be right now. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Revisits the Iconic Music of Jimmy Cliff

As I stated last week, I have been in a reggae music listening mood. I have had it on pretty consistently for the past couple weeks. It was mostly Marley, with some other off shoots here and there. It’s been great.

The most played artist on my mixes, after Marley, was Jimmy Cliff. Now I know for some, myself included, the first song I ever heard from Jimmy Cliff was "I Can See Clearly Now". I loved the movie "Cool Runnings" as a child, and this song was prominently featured in the trailer and on the soundtrack. As I got a little older, and branched out to Marley and Lee Perry and Desond Dekker and The Melodians, Cliff was kind of Velveeta to me. He was cheesy and corny. He wasn't like these other guys. These bands had stuff to say, they had a message. It also helped that they were incredible musicians and performers. I kind of put Jimmy Cliff in the same category as I did with Phish when I listened to jam music. I just never gave him a fair shake.

Well, a few years into my 20's, my oldest brother heard me giving Jimmy Cliff a hard time. He was the one who really introduced me to a lot of the reggae I was listening to then, and still listen to now. He told me that I was wrong. He said there was only one thing I needed to see, and then hear, and my opinion would immediately shift. One evening when I was visiting him in Columbia, he showed me the movie "The Harder They Come", and then had me listen to the soundtrack right afterward. He was one hundred percent correct. Any kind of irrational thoughts and feelings I had about Cliff instantly disappeared. He became this whole new person to me. He wasn't the cheesy "I Can See Clearly Now" Cliff anymore. He was different. "The Harder They Come" is one of the better movies I have ever seen, and Cliff is electric in it. He is menacing and charming at the same time. He does some great work. I bought every single ounce of his character. I rooted for him even though he did some shady stuff. But the soundtrack, and especially his songs, moved me. "You Can Get It If You Really Want" is quintessential reggae music. It is also a great way to kick off the record. The title track is hard and, for a reggae song, kind of like rock and roll. It is just so good and so awesome. "Sitting In Limbo" is devastating and rough and perfectly tells a story of a person who truly does not know what their next move should, or will, be. But "Many Rivers to Cross" is one of the most heart breaking, yet beautiful songs ever written. This song still moves me to this day., It has some kind of excellent power grip on me. I can never skip it. I have to always sing along to it. It is the song that I want played at my funeral. It is so goddamn perfect.

So, obviously, this all changed my perception of Cliff. I gave him another shot. I slowly started to discover his older music, and realized he was not only prolific, but a great, great writer who wrote very important songs. He is on that Lee Perry and Desmond Dekker level. To me, he is second only to Bob Marely. I love Peter Tosh, but I think Cliff is a better overall musician, and made more music, only because he wasn't killed. But Cliff has been doing this since 1967. He put out his first record then, at the age of 19. He actually put out six records prior to "The Harder They Come" is the classic, and probably has his best songs on it. He also starred in the movie. Since 1972, Cliff has put out a record almost every year all the way up to 2012. He also has a myriad of live albums that further show his greatness. I mean, this guy has been at it for a very long time, and most of his stuff is great. Hell, as an adult, I adore "I Can See Clearly Now". It is a lovely, and vibrant song. I couldn't have been more wrong on my initial impression of him. But this is why it is good to have people in your life who are willing to call you out, and then show proof of how awesome someone may be that you have discounted.

I am forever grateful to my brother, and love that I was proven wrong. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go listen to some Jimmy Cliff. I suggest you do the same.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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