IN the 60s right through the mid-seventies and early 80s, a young reggae artist, a musician by the name of James Chambers known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, a native of Jamaica captivated the imagination of the music world stringing hit after hit of deeply poetic revolutionary songs.
He shot to fame reaching the peak of his career and arguably, he single handedly radicalised half the downtrodden and discriminated, most especially the black communities of the world, those who bought and listened to his music worldwide.
They quietly resisted and showed solidarity with brothers who suffered the numerous atrocities perpetuated against them. Even in the safety of their living rooms, and from the loudspeakers of their radios and stereo systems, the resistance and consciousness grew from strength to strength.
His melodies where a welcome sound to the ear, an easy listen; a mid-range tenor usually soft and infectious, but rebellious genre of Caribbean influenced music, a mellow combo of the unmistakable rub-a-dub thumping reggae sounds, a more subtle but powerful beat.
His message (s) mainly spoke to the thriving black consciousness movement around the world, an emerging voice of resistance against pockets of white superiority and segregation against especially the minorities like the black people.
Cliff sang about the platitudes of more than 400 years of slavery and generally the poor and unfair work and squalid conditions of living of the minorities. This message also resonated well with the Africans who were at the time fighting their own wars slowly emerging from the shackles of colonialisation, an era which witnessed numerous African countries gain independence from countries like Britain, France, Spain Portugal and many others.
He produced hit albums in his career with songs like “Ive been dead 400 years” “The price of
Peace”, “ Remake The World”, “Vietnam, “Hard Road To Travel”, “Oh Jamaica”, “Look At The Mountains” “No Woman No Cry” “I Can See Clearly” “Brother”, “You Can’t Be Wrong and Get Right”, “Many Rivers To Cross”, “Sitting In Limbo”.
Other notable hits were “The News”, “Under The Sun, Moon and Stars”, ‘I See The Light”, “World of Peace”, ‘Poor Slave”, “Born to Win”, ‘Time Will Tell”, ‘Be True’, ‘Hello Sunshine”, “Suffering In The Land”, “Wonderful World”, “Hypocrites”, “Who Feels It Knows It”, “I’m Gonna Live”, “Dear Mother”, ‘Going Mad”, “Look At The Mountains”, “Wahjahka Man”,
However, with these new found freedoms also came a new breed of despotic African leaders who spread a reign of terror against their own people with mass extra judicial killings of fellow countrymen and an escalation of grand corruption, outright rape of national resources, reversing the gains from what they had taken over as flourishing economies.
Jimmy Cliff in his own way had this ability to wrap up all these messages of desperation, exploitation, slavery, hunger and poverty and he packaged them into beautiful lyrical arrangements coupled with music that you could hardly resist listening to, and occasionally danced to.
If you did not listen carefully to the message, you would miss the whole essence of what he was seeking to communicate.
Jimmy Cliff was (still is) the kind of prolific, prophetic Jamaican singer who unceasingly sounded the warning gong for despotic leaders with dictatorial tendencies and when in 1972, he produced his grammy winning film and song, “ The harder they Come, The harder they Fall”.
He again hit them where it hurt the most
The song was and still resonates as a critique of oppressive systems and authorities that try to keep people down. The lyrics reflect on how difficult it can be to get what is rightfully yours and how oppressors can be relentless in in trying to keep people oppressed.
The song suggests that it is best to fight for freedom and be a free person rather than living as a puppet or a slave to a repressive system. The chorus expresses a determination to stand up for ones self and ‘Get my share right now, what is mine’ The message of the song is ultimately one of hope and strength in the face of oppressive systems and authorities.
Here below are the full lyrics of the song:
Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you’re born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry
So 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
Ooh, the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all
Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they’ve done
‘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
Ooh, the harder they come
Harder they fall, one and all
And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you’re dead you can’t
But I’d rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave
So 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
Ooh, the harder they come
Harder they fall, one and all
Hey, the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all
Hey, the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all
Hey, the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all
In more ways than one, especially in Africa and Zambia in particular, the messages of the Jamaican singer were roundly received with much enthusiasm, somewhat in cult proportions.
In 1982, Jimmy Cliff visited Zambia for the very first time and boy did he make News. Not quite the kind of News he made when he visited one of Africa’s most populous countries Nigeria, which he immortalized in his song “Have you heard the News”, where he talks about all manner of hell he went through,
He was thrown in jail and was accused of serious crimes against that nation.
The adducted lyrics go something like this: “Have you heard the news, I was in Africa, down in Nigeria, Oh they threw me in Jail, I had one hell getting bail. Have you heard the News, They are scandalising my name, They want me to look shame, Because I got little fame, They want me to look shame. Have you heard the News, Everybody, have you heard the News,, It started by some liar. Spreading like wildfire, Propaganda all around. News believed in every town. In London ‘Merica,, then in Jamaica. All over Trinidad Oh Lord I felt so bad”
The song The News appeared to be a commentary on the power of the media and how it can be used to manipulate the public perception. The repetition of the phrase “Have you heard the news” emphasizes the urgency and the prevalence of the information being spread.
Jimmy Cliff recounts a personal experience where he was arrested and had difficulty obtaining bail while in Nigeria. This may symbolize how how false information or rumors can lead to the destruction of of ones reputation or personal life.
The subsequent verses highlight the ways in which the media can be used to tarnish someone’s name. The line “They want me to look shame” suggest that there are individuals or entities who want to intentionally trying to discredit and shame Jimmy Cliff, The mention of fame implies that jelousy or or personal motives may be behind the attempts to harm his reputation.
The lines “it started by some liar, spreading like wildfire” point the speed and ease with which the false information can circulate through various platforms, The imagery of propaganda and news being believed in every town reflects how easily people can be influenced and swayed by what they hear or read.
The inclusion of locations like London, America, Jamaica and Trinidad suggests that the issue of media manipulation is not limited to a specific region but is a global phenomenon. The mention of feeling “so bad” implies the emotional toll on an individual who becomes the victim of false information, as well as the potential impact on society as a whole.
Overall, “The News” by Jimmy Cliff serves as a cautionary reflection on the power and consequences of media manipulation urging listeners to critically evaluate the news they consume and consider the potential motives behind the information being presented.
And so, fast forward, on the 18th of May 2023, during a media briefing now dubbed “The numbers don’t lie Presser”, the President of the Republic Zambia Hakainde Hichilema hosts a Press conference in the State House grounds at which he engages the media to discuss pertinent issues affecting the nation, the economy, some announcements and least but not least, the question and answer session.
It is during the last segment of this engagement that a journalist (Frank Mutubila) lays across, more of an accusation than a question stating that the Head of State was harassing the former first family by sending police to questioning them on a number of matters which bordered on criminality.
I do not know if any of you noticed that as the President debunked the falsities that he was harassing the first family, his demeanor all of sudden changed from the vibrant leader who was in economic manager mode explaining in simple terms the complexities of the economy to one who was deeply hurt, recounting the atrocities that had been over time perpetuated against him.
And he appealed to the people of Zambia to be fair in the manner they judged him compared to a leader (Edgar Lungu) who had publicly declared that he would ‘annihilate’ President Hichilema (In opposition)
President Hichilema recounted how he was a dead man living during the era between 2011 until his ascension to the presidency.
Of note is how he was barred from using Zambian air-space and how he dodged bullets from police from time to time.
The Press conference was abruptly brought to an end by the president and from where I stood, he was a man in pain, reeling from the lies about his perceived harassment of a man (ECL) he had ensured should never be ill-treated.
And how some people never change, on July 4th 2023, Tasila Lungu, the daughter of the former President, who is also Chawama Member of Parliament (MP) held a media briefing at her fathers home in Ibex Hill in Lusaka where she, on behalf of her siblings and larger Lungu family cried a river of tears complaing of harassment of the family.
As she played to the gallery, she and her siblings refused to answer any questioned from the masses of reporters they had invited and instead offered them a buffet breakfast after reading her not too inspiring speech,
For crying out loud (in the literal sense) why invite hoardes of journalists when you refuse to answer any questins that may have even began to exonerate her family from some of the iniquities piled against them?
Nobody at no time has judged or misjudged anyone and so why for the love of Jesus would one not just wait and clear their name in courts of law like everyone does?
Without drawing any conclusions by proclaiming guilty or not guilty, that is for the courts of law, to decide, the lesson is in what Jimmy Cliff sang in his Hit the Harder they Come, the Harder they fall.
Everything you do in the guise of the night comes out in the light, just like a drowning man will cluth at a straw. The harder you hit on innocent people, the harder your ending will be.
Just like in the case of Tasila Lungu and the so called beligured former first family, you cannot use the news to launder yourself from any blight unless of course it is a lie, the blemish will not stick.
Just as nobody must use the all powerful media to stigmatise any human being, it is hurtful.