NPR Music has reached into its expansive vault for an archival Jimmy Cliff performance from the Tiny Desk Concert series. The concert for the public radio station’s popular series was originally published on July 12th, 2010.
As the pandemic rages on and the shutdown of live music continues, NPR has adapted to the changes just like any other production company. Tiny Desk performances have now been taking place in musicians’ homes across the country, in addition to the rollout of archival videos.
Related: Watch Bob Marley Play “Could You Be Loved” At His Largest Concert Ever In 1980 [Video]
The 1970’s reggae hitmaker begins his Tiny Desk session with “something from the past,” as he refers to “Sitting Here In Limbo”. The tune’s cheery melody and thoughtful lyrics eventually gives way to “something from the present” in the form of “I Got To Move On”. The song’s prescient lyrics confront the reality of somebody like Cliff who found great success in the 1970’s, appearing in and providing for the film The Harder They Come. Throughout the song, Cliff communicates his appreciation for the fame he found with songs like that 1972 picture’s title track, but also that he is “moving on.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Cliff won’t give the people what they want, and he obliges them with one of his biggest hits, “You Can Get It If You Really Want”. Even 40 years after the song took Cliff to #3 on Billboard‘s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is still able to compel audiences with his feel-good reggae stylings.
Watch Jimmy Cliff perform for NPR‘s Tiny Desk Concert series in 2010.
Jimmy Cliff — Tiny Desk Concert
[Video: NPR Music]