Song · Jimmy Cliff
“Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff
From the album Jimmy Cliff / Wonderful World, Beautiful People (1969)
“Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff appears on 8 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1969 on the album Jimmy Cliff / Wonderful World, Beautiful People. Its best result is #180 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,165 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Jimmy Cliff wrote and cut "Many Rivers to Cross" in 1969, at 25, for his album Jimmy Cliff (Wonderful World, Beautiful People), and it's a song wrung straight out of frustration. Cliff had come to England in his teens certain he'd end up alongside the Beatles and the Stones, and instead he was grinding through club dates, going nowhere, unsure of his work, his life and who he was.
He wrote words and music alone, and the ache in it even has a map: Cliff has said the image of wandering lost along the white cliffs of Dover came from all the times he crossed the Channel to France, and now and then Germany, watching the big hopes he'd brought over slowly fade.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1423 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 605 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2009 | 603 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2019 | 412 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 412 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2020 | 844 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2025 | 180 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs | 800 |
| 2026 | 1069 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Many Rivers To Cross.
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