Remembering Jimmy Cliff With A Look Back At His Top 5 Songs on Genius

Jimmy Cliff, one of the most popular and important reggae artists of all time, died today at the age of 81. According to his wife, he suffered a seizure followed by pneumonia.

While Cliff never quite achieved the worldwide fame of Bob Marley, the one reggae artists most people can name, he was hugely instrumental in popularizing the genre beyond Jamaica. Cliff is best known for appearing in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, the soundtrack to which became a global smash. In the film, Cliff portrays Ivan Martin, a musician-turned-outlaw whose antihero exploits left a deep mark on popular culture. U.K. punk rockers The Clash name-check Ivan on their 1979 track “The Guns of Brixton.”

But Cliff’s career wasn’t limited to The Harder They Come. Like many Jamaican reggae greats of his generation, Cliff—born James Chambers in 1944—got his start playing ska, the island’s first homegrown form of popular music. The uptempo early-’60s ska sound slowed down to become rocksteady in the middle part of the decade and eventually morphed into reggae. Cliff was active in all three eras, and he kept making records into the 21st century.

In 2012, Cliff teamed up with Tim Armstrong of the punk band Rancid for the excellent album Rebirth, and in 2022, he returned with Refugees, a collection of songs inspired by those forced to flee their homelands. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an institution that has only honored one other reggae artist, Bob Marley.

In celebration of Cliff’s smooth voice and evocative songwriting, here’s a look at this Top 5 songs on Genius as measured by pageviews. These are the ones people keep coming back to, and they’re a great place to start with his amazing catalog.

5. “The Harder They Come”

The title track from Cliff’s star-making 1972 film is a self-penned song of inspiration for the downtrodden. It’s all about how the oppressed have the power to fight back and take what’s rightfully theirs. There’s a David-and-Goliath quality to the chorus, as Cliff vows to knock his antagonizers on their asses.

‘Cause as sure as the sun will shine
I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine
And then the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all

4. “Journey”

The closing track on Cliff’s 1983 album The Power and the Glory is all about how life is long and unpredictable. The best you can do is learn from your defeats and keep on rolling—ideally with genuine curiosity and excitement for the next adventure. In the third verse, the only thing that reads as dated is Cliff’s mention of the year.

Like the sun and sea life is flowing free
I’ve got to be free nineteen eighty-three
Journey, journey on
So from the lessons learned and the tables turned
The victories earned and my heart still yearns
Journey, journey on

3. “You Can Get It If You Really Want”

First released in 1970 and later included on the soundtrack to The Harder The Come, “You Can Get It If You Really Want” plays like a caveat to “The Harder They Come.” Sure, you can topple your mighty foes and live the life you deserve. But the only way to achieve this is to work hard and play the long game. It’s a universal message that’s led everyone from the Nicaraguan Sandinistas to British politician David Cameron to co-opt the song for their political purposes. Cliff was not happy in either case. “I looked up the meaning of politics—poli means people and tics is a bloodsucking parasite,” he once told Uncut.

Persecution you must fear
Win or lose you got to get your share
You’ve got your mind set on a dream
You can get it though hard it may seem now

2. “Many Rivers to Cross”

Cliff’s hymn-like “Many Rivers” arrived in 1969 and later found a home on The Harder They Come. While it’s among Cliff’s most famous tunes, he wrote the songs during a dark period in his life. He’d left Jamaica for the U.K. in 1965 with dreams of reaching a larger audience, and initially, he had little to show for his efforts. “It was a very frustrating time,” he told The Quietus. “I came to England with very big hopes and I saw my hopes fading. And that song came out of that experience.”

1. “I Can See Clearly Now”

This is kind of an outlier. Cliff didn’t write “I Can See Clearly Now.” The quasi-reggae-flavored 1972 soul-pop tune is the handiwork of American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash, and it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cliff covered the tune for the soundtrack to 1993’s Cool Runnings, starring John Candy as the coach of the Jamaican bobsled team, and his version—which includes a drum loop and lots of modern production flourishes that don’t necessarily improve on the original—reached No. 18, giving Cliff the biggest American pop hit of his career.