Thread: Lionel's Wellbeing, mayhem and mischief corner

Not a problem as Tomorrow Never Dies.

Hello All,

After experiencing some technical issues attempting to access the company network and its main location for accessing all the files relating to my being able to perform well in my new job - I travelled home and put on some music. One of my first ports of call was a Jimmy Cliff song. Playing it brought some thoughts to mind .... please see below. Oh. when the same technical issues dogged me and from prevented me from accessing the intranet the next day, I came home and my playlist started with Rammstein, Linkin Park and Iron Maiden... all played very, very loud! Hmm... filed under the title of "rage or vent" songs. Oh, this was not helped by the IT person located in a capital city sending email replies to my assistance requests that amounted to... "My computer monitor here in the capital city says ..." While meanwhile located where I am in a regional city my computer was saying something totally different. More evidence sent to said capital city - more replies of what the IT person maintained was what their computer said... arrgggghhhhhh Increase in stress levels .... need to come home and play music really .... really .... really loud. There are some benefits of living on acreage after all.

Here is a matching clip - not sure if it contains rude words - so beware... Accessed 9th August 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ka8NykO_g The clip sums up the situation. Oh there is a Kevin B. Wilson song that can be found on YouTube after typing in Operator 42 - however, that does contain lots and lots of potty mouth language!

Kind regards
Lionel

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The following document was written on the 29th of July 2025.

Jimmy Cliff "Many Rivers to Cross" ... and changes in perspective
There are times when we either need to chill out or to find some source of encouragement for when things sometimes inescapably look a bit bleak. For example, multiple efforts have been launched, and success remains elusively just out of our grasp. During these times we might feel a bit flat when we attempt to gather our energy so that we can keep on persevering. Our battery is running low. Over time I have developed a song list to match different moods. The list is also used when I am attempting to shift out of a current mood and shift over to a more desirable emotion. One of the songs on my 'Chill' or 'Perseverance' playlist is a song by Jamaican born Jimmy Cliff. There is a story behind this version of the song that I will provide a hyperlink for you to access. This version represents changes in life and subsequent changes in one's perspectives. Back in 1969 when Jimmy Cliff was 21 years old, he wrote the song "Many Rivers to cross". Some years later, approximately in 2008, Jimmy updated the lyrics of the song to note changes in perspective that he had experienced over his life. The 1969 version represents a young person's quest to find a way across 'the many rivers', or barriers that life can sometimes throw up at us. The 1969 version of the song represents a statement of fact, or a snapshot of the time.

The second half of the 2008 version of the song is written from the perspective of a more mature individual. Barriers mentioned back in 1969 were overcome... even when the only motivating factors were, "my will" and a "because of my pride". This is a bit dire, especially when one's will and pride is the only things left in the arsenal. As years progressed periods of reflection revealed other things that got Jimmy across the multiple 'rivers' were how "love is my foundation; wisdom is my capital; truth is my redeemer. Perhaps these are sources that we can draw upon too, while we seek out some energy to keep ourselves going during the times when things start to look a bit bleak. This song was recorded in Jools Holland's show "Later" when Jimmy was 60 years old! The best version of the song can be found by clicking on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBzXtc8CrrM. The strength of Jimmy's voice at 60 years of age is testament to the power of true enduring talent and artistry.

Out of interest - Just before the end of the song appearing on the wings of the stage, is Paul Weller - the main force behind the UK band the Style Council, Now, here is a surprise! Some of the Style Council's songs feature on some of my lists too. However, that is a story for a different time.

Copyright July 2025 Dr. Lionel G. Evans

Are you familiar with Toni's version, Lionel?

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Are you familiar with Toni's version, Lionel?

Hello Ian,

Yes, I am very familiar with Toni Child's version. I like many of Toni's songs. Apparently, Toni left living in Hawai'i and moved to Australia. Toni's music just exudes soul. I also like UB40s more ska version. Joe Cocker used to pump out a great version too. Accessed, 9th August 2025 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHI0lRql8jAHowever, that version of Jimmy's version is the only one which is reflective. A split in the middle of the song with a 21 year old's perspective in the first half and a mature aged person's perspective in the second half. It is the getting over part and what keeps an individual moving forward through hard times was my main motivation for selecting that track.


Kind regards
Lionel

I thought Toni came from mainland USA. Her parents were fundamentalist Christians, who did not allow music.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

I thought Toni came from mainland USA. Her parents were fundamentalist Christians, who did not allow music.

Hello Ian, yes - Toni was born in mainland America in Orange, California, and lived in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nevada during her childhood. Then moved to Hawai'i some time later as an adult. Then Toni moved to Australia.

Please see a media press release - biography, I accessed 9th August 2025 from Grammy Award nominated 80s singer Toni Childs Now An Australian Citizen - The Write Drop

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

Without seeing Jimmy Cliff's original lyrics - each time I hear him sing the song Many Rivers to Cross, I am sure that other people who copied the lyrics to the song down in writing have made a 'mondegreen' - a word that relates to misheard lyrics. To get a copy of any of the lyrics to the songs mentioned in this article, please go online to your preferred search engine. Then type in the word Lyrics and then type in song title and the name of the artist. For example, "lyrics many rivers to cross Jimmy Cliff". Click on your choice of providers and as if by magic, the words to the song should appear...

There`ll be times when I find myself thinking
Of committing some dreadful crime.

To me this lyric is totally out of character with the rest of the song's mood or intentions. I reckon the lyric should be written

I find myself thinking
I've committed some dreadful crime

As in 'I've' is the abbreviated version of "I have". To explore this a bit further; let us substitute out 'think' and swap it with "It feels like I've committed a dreadful crime".

When in fact Jimmy has not done so. No real crime - 'dreadful' or otherwise, has been committed

Is there any words in the song lyrics that indicate why Jimmy Cliff could think or feel like he could be the perpetrator of a "dreadful crime"? Yes, there is. The most significant are these four lines.

And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's such a drag to be on your own
My woman left and she didn't say why
Well I guess I have to try.

Have you ever been in a relationship that has broken up and the other person does not explain why they are leaving you. Just being told that they are breaking up with you without an explanation does not tend to leave you in a very good place. Doubts and self-recriminations start flowing in. So, too does - as Jimmy has already suggested, "loneliness won't leave me alone". To provide an example of not knowing why your partner has or is leaving you visit your preferred music provide and listen to UB40's chorus of their song Where did I go wrong? The song can be accessed via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3g1ovVQzc.

Where did I go wrong to make it like this?
No warmth in your body, no touch in your kiss
Holding you now hurts more than it should
If I let you go, girl
You'll be gone for good

Apart from Jimmy's break up - without any explanation - a quick read through the lyrics of Many Rivers to Cross soon provides a significant list of trials and tribulations being experienced. Everyone has experienced a time when it seems the world is against you. We might even start looking out for where the next kick in our guts will come from. At times like these, a thought might enter into your head ...: what have I done so wrong to deserve all these bad things that are happening to me!". Here is another song that can reinforce the significance between the word in the lyrics "of" and change it to "I've" in the Many Rivers to Cross' lyrics about "I've committed a dreadful crime" this reinforcement is provided in a jazz standard song from 1929. The song, composed by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks is, (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue? Where one interpretation of the song title's lyrics could be that the person has been beaten up by life until they are black and blue

Cold empty bed, springs hard as lead
Feels like ol' Ned wished I was dead
What did I do to be so black and blue?


Another interpretation is that the singer is of African-American descent, and they are feeling mighty sad - they have the blues.

Does each of the songs I have provided feature people who have committed some dreadful crime? No, they have not. Do they feel good about something they may have done, or how people feel and act towards them? That would be a 'No' in my book.

Anyway, next time you read the lyrics or hear someone sing Many Rivers to Cross just consider whether launching an attack on the world that has been beating you down going out and committing a dreadful crime as most of the current interpretations of Jimmy's song seem to suggest -

There`ll be times when I find myself thinking
Of committing some dreadful crime.

Where "of" is the operative word...

Or looking over all the lyrics and the list of trials and tribulations thrown against Jimmy - including being dogged by loneliness because his lover had left him - without explaining why - could have left him feeling emotional bruised and wonder why the world has turned against him. Because it feels like - as the lyrics may from the perspective suggested within this document that a mondegreen has occurred and the "of" should be replaced by "I've"

I find myself thinking
I've committed some dreadful crime

Well, that was a lot of words to write about the possible difference between the implications of different interpretations offered by substituting "of" with "I've". Ah, the English language ... you just have to love its subtle nuances and complexities. The type of analysis involved in interpreting the songs relates to Rom Harre's technique of 'Discursive analysis' (see: https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/647/64747729029.pdf).

Kind regards
Lionel

I haven't looked at this thread for a while. I flicked through the later stuff posted after my last comment but didn't didn't read any of Lionel's walls of text.

I simply couldn't be bothered reading airy-fairy crap stuff.