Black History Music Pt. 26

In celebration of Black History Month, the Ear Candy Update intends to celebrate landmark recordings by black artists that have shaped the collective consciousness, mentality, and sense of cool the world over. Next, Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come."

If Bob Marley was the reggae artist who made the greatest impact on the world, these are the songs that had the biggest impact on him. 

This is the soundtrack to a motion picture of the same name. The movie is entertaining enough, if comparable to Blaxploitation films of the same era. Perhaps the best way to explain the culture surrounding this gem is to quote the liner notes themselves.

"Shanty Town - Jamaica - where the best grass in the world sells for two dollars an ounce in the street, where shooting a film can be held up when an actor is shot (2 have died since it was completed), where people sing in church till they have an orgasm (thank you Lord). Reggae was born and grew in these slums..."

These slums. 

To consider that something this magical, this soothing, this... sublime could emerge from a place so poverty-stricken is a testimony to human creativity and love. 

"You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try, try and try
You'll succeed at last, mmh, yeah
Persecution you must fear
Win or lose you're about to get your share"

We've heard hundreds and thousands of songs that document hard-scrabble life from the Queensbridge Projects (Nas) to South Central Los Angeles (N.W.A.) to the Motor City (Stevie Wonder & Marvin Gaye), and to the Mississippi Delta (Robert Johnson), but we rarely hear songs of triumphant optimism in the face of abject depression. This is the enduring testament of "The Harder They Come."

Fate can bring it all down on the people of this cast-aside shanty town and they will respond with a fat spliff, clever smile, and lyrics like...

"So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine
And then the harder they come
The harder they'll fall, one and all"

The bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section drive this entire album, and you can't help but feel at ease, somewhere deep in your soul, and that ease will radiate through you and out of you. It makes the world around you and inside you less... less... hurried. Less anxious. Less worried. It's having a lover gently touch your back and neck. The pressure, quite literally, drops. 

There's powerful inspiration on this album. I'm not a churchgoer. I tried and it wasn't me. I've never received the gift of belief. John Coltrane's saxophone and the Harlem Gospel Choir got me the closest. If I'm completely wrong I do sincerely hope God's voice is either that of Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin. (The devil's voice is obviously Mick Jagger's) This album is my church. The almighty simplicity, the peace in the face of total unrest and social injustice, and the comprehensive reconciliation between what is and what can be all make me feel holy.  

And by the way, please play "Many Rivers to Cross" when I die.