How Jimmy Cliff Turned His Early Professional Struggles Into an Eternal Anthem

If you sit down and consciously try to write an anthem, chances are you’ll come up woefully short. You’re better off writing something that’s personal to you. Those are the songs that often resonate with the wider public. Jimmy Cliff perpetrated that kind of alchemy with “Many Rivers To Cross”. It took a few years to find a big audience. But the song now stands as one of the most moving testaments to overcoming obstacles ever penned.

Reggae Superstar

Jimmy Cliff, who passed away in 2025, earned his rightful recognition as one of those most responsible for bringing reggae music to the masses. Born in Jamaica, he eventually found his way to the United Kingdom.

Considering he had started writing songs while still a boy, Cliff’s skills were well-established when he made it to England in the mid-60s. He signed with Island Records. But the record industry didn’t quite know how to market him. At first, they tried to market him as a rock musician.

Cliff kept after it. He started incorporating reggae, the prevailing sound in his home country, into his music more often. In 1969, the song “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” hit the Top 10 in the UK, giving him his first taste of widespread success. That same year, he wrote “Many Rivers To Cross” and recorded it on his self-titled album.

“Cross” Purposes

In an interview with The Quietus, Cliff explained how “Many Rivers To Cross” tied in directly with his struggles to make it in music:

“When you hear the line in that song, ‘Wandering I am lost, as I travel along the White Cliffs of Dover,’ that came from the number of times I crossed the channel to the continent. Most of the time it was France but sometimes it was Germany. It was a very frustrating time. I came to England with very big hopes and I saw my hopes fading. And that song came out of that experience.”

“Many Rivers To Cross” gained much more exposure when Cliff included it in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, in which he also starred. That film introduced even more people to both Cliff’s music and his magnetic presence.

The list of singers who’ve covered the song is ridiculously impressive. Each one of them can locate their own personal obstacles to lend to their own interpretations, just as Cliff mined his own when he wrote it.

It’s fascinating how the yearning melody of “Many Rivers To Cross” suggests resilience, even as the lyrics make clear just how frustrating the narrator’s quest for transcendence has been. “Many rivers to cross,” Cliff laments in the opening lines. “But I can’t seem to find my way over.”

Cliff doesn’t skimp on the anguish of this character, even as he admits his intangibles are sustaining him. “And it’s only my will that keeps me alive,” he admits. “I’ve been licked, washed up for years/And I merely survive because of my pride.” After listing all the reasons that he feels so down, he shrugs and finds the strength to continue: “I guess I’ll have to try.”

Cliff never released “Many Rivers To Cross” as a single. That the song still found its way to so many artists and listeners testifies to its brilliance. Its underdog trajectory was quite fitting as well, considering it highlights the willingness to strive against seemingly impossible odds.

(Photo by John van Hasselt/Sygma via Getty Images)

The post How Jimmy Cliff Turned His Early Professional Struggles Into an Eternal Anthem appeared first on American Songwriter.