Jimmy Cliff 1944-2025.
“He causeth the grass for the cattle and the Herb for the service of man”
─ Psalms 104:14
‘… the oppressor is trying to keep me down, making me feel like a clown‘ – Jimmy Cliff in ‘The harder they come‘.
I was first introduced to reggae music by Jimmy Cliff, before Bob Marley. The film was ‘the harder they come.’ It starred Jimmy Cliff whose role was that of a gangster in Kingston, Jamaica. It had a real edge to it because it showed severe poverty in Jamaica. Cliff was truly political.
I rate his songs ‘Many Rivers to Cross’, ‘Beautiful world’, ‘Vietnam’ and ‘The harder they come’ as being some of his greatest songs. Jimmy Cliff came from another era: singer, Sam Cooke, boxer, Muhammad Ali, criketer, Gary Sobers, the Draft, and Counter Culture, Reggae, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley.