Song 182: “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff
12/18/20251 hr 50 min
This episode, we look at the song “Many Rivers to Cross”, the birth of reggae, and the career of the late Jimmy Cliff. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAndrew Hickey· Host0:00
[reggae music] A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs by Andrew Hickey. Song 182, Many Rivers to Cross by Jimmy Cliff. Before we begin, I have to note that Jimmy Cliff, the subject of today's episode, sadly died just a few days ago. I had actually written most of this episode when it was announced that he died, and obviously I've had to do a bit of rewriting as a result of that. Originally, while Cliff's song is the hook that the episode is hung on, the episode was not going to be as much about Cliff and his career as a whole as it was a more general look at the development of reggae, with Cliff's music just the lens to see it through. With Cliff's death, it felt a little inappropriate to do that, so this completed version now has far more about Cliff himself than I initially intended, while still being about the development of reggae and its popularization outside Jamaica. But this episode can still only cover a tiny fraction of the 60-year career of one of the most important Jamaican musicians of all time, and I should note that Cliff was an extremely private man, so this really does cover his career rather than his life. The episode also discusses racism, both anti-Black racism from white people and racism from Black Jamaicans against people of Chinese descent. James Chambers always knew he wanted to be a singer