#97

Jimmy Cliff (and various)

The Harder They Come (1972)

The past is the past, and I don't want to divulge anything here that a future employer might misunderstand, but let me say that while at college I was at a place in my life where I had the opportunity to really, really get into reggae.  The opportunity presented itself at least once, usually twice a day.  But I never did.  I never got down on that Kingston sound.

There are a few Bob Marley songs I really enjoy, (like anyone can really dislike "Redemption Song" or "Three Little Birds", cliche or not) but the vast, vast majority of reggae I have heard bores the ever-loving shit out of me.  I just don't feel it, and though I have tried on numerous occasions to challenge this notion, I have never been persuaded.  The most I can get out of an attempt is maybe one or two tracks that transcend the formula.  On the whole, however, it is a formula that does nothing for me.

Aside that, as my latest attempt, The Harder They Come brought me as closer than I have come before to bringing reggae to my main file (outside of a Marley and the Wailers greatest hits album I had in high school).  These are great, great pop tracks.  Sparkling.  The sentiment is wonderful, the emotions real, and Cliff's biography and the story of the album is intriguing.  If you like reggae, you will go bonkers over this album.   But outside one or two situational tracks and one track that, for some reason, transcends all time and space for me, I probably won't be listening to this again anytime soon.

That being said, you probably want to know what track transcends all time and space.

Mix Singles:

(hey dummy left or ctrl+click the song name into a new tab/window)

Pressure Drop

There is something transcendent to this song that upon truly hearing for the first time a few months ago, it shot up to the top five of my favorite songs of all time.  No exaggeration.  Somewhere my psyche matches up cosmically with Toots' when he made this song, and the song just makes me ache.  Maybe this will change someday, later, when I am a hundred personal iterations away from where I am now.  As for right now the tortured vocals, the sentiment, and something inherent in the phrase "pressure drop" (combining the sense of falling and being crushed at the same time) all work to tap into the core of every moment in my life in which I have tried to quash self-pity, and failed. Believe me when I say that this is a rich goddamned vein to tap.  This song fucking kills.  Kills.  

(Send me an email or drop a comment and I will explain more about how the fact that I worship this song doesn't undermine my above comments regarding my apathy towards reggae.  Seriously, some aesthetic things go beyond personal taste.)

also good though I am too drunk and indifferent to want to comment in depth before posting:  "The Harder They Come", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "Johnny Too Bad".  These are good songs, fully suitable for well-intentioned jamming, but I seriously don't care enough personally to write about them individually.  If you have reggae affinity, you will recognize the solid quality, pick them up, and love them.

Also, this ain't no passin' craze.

Next:

#96

Iggy Pop

The Idiot (1977)