Song of the Day: The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff


RIP, Jimmy Cliff.

Today’s song of the day is The Harder They Come, taken from the soundtrack of the 1972 Jamaican film of the same name.  This film and Jimmy Cliff’s performance and the soundtrack are all often credited with introducing reggae to the rest of the world.

Well they tell me im a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when i die
But between the day your been and when you die
They never seem to hear or even cry

So as sure as the sun will shine
im going to get my share now of whats mine
And then the harder they come the harder they’ll fall
One and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they’ll fall
One and all

Well the oppressors are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive my underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them lord, they know not what they done

Cause as sure as the sun will shine
Im gonna get my share now of whats mine
And the harder they come the harder they fall
One and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they fall
One and all

And i keep on fighting for the things i want
Though i know when your dead you cant
But id rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave

So as sure as the sun will shine
Im going to get my share now whats 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

Song of the Day: Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones and Merry Clayton


Today, we continue to celebrate the birthday of Martin Scorsese with a song that has appeared in countless Scorsese films!  When Scorsese made his Rolling Stone documentary, nonetheless than Mick Jagger commented on how odd it was that this was the first Scorsese film to not feature Gimme Shelter.

From the Rolling Stones and Merry Clayton, here is today’s song of the day.

Music Video of the Day: When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going by Billy Ocean (1985, dir by ????)


Sometimes, on twitter (or whatever it’s called nowadays), people will just become fixated with something.  Yesterday, it was this music video for a song called When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Gets Going.  I lost track of how many times I saw this video shared on Saturday.

So, I figured, why not share it here as well?

This music video was made to promote the 1985 film, The Jewel of the Nile.  Along with Billy Ocean, the stars of the film — Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, and Michael Douglas — also appear in this video.  Was Danny really playing the saxophone?  No, he was not.  Apparently, in the UK, this video was briefly banned because Danny was not a member of the Musicians’ Union and his miming of the sax solo went against the rules.

The UK banning something because an American broke a rule?  Wow, that’s so unlike them!

Enjoy!