{"id":11790,"date":"1988-03-09T11:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-03-09T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=11790"},"modified":"2026-02-08T05:48:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T13:48:32","slug":"matr-bruce-springsteen-and-jimmy-cliff-the-harder-they-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/03\/09\/matr-bruce-springsteen-and-jimmy-cliff-the-harder-they-come\/","title":{"rendered":"The Harder They Come"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Cliff wrote &#8220;The Harder They Come&#8221; for the 1972 film by the same name (in which he played the starring role). The film&#8217;s soundtrack became an international success, raising the global profile of reggae music and establishing Cliff as a star.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7Znh0OM9jiA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The Harder They Come&#8221; ranks squarely at #350 on Rolling Stone&#8217;s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and Cliff even performed it on <em>Saturday Night Live<\/em> during the show&#8217;s very first season&#8211;three years after the song was released.<\/p>\n<p>Still, most Springsteen fans are probably more familiar with the song&#8217;s B-sides (both of them) than the A-side. On its first release, &#8220;The Harder They Come&#8221; was backed with &#8220;Many Rivers to Cross,&#8221; which Bruce performed regularly on World Tour 1993. On re-release, the single was backed by Cliff&#8217;s &#8220;Trapped,&#8221; which has been a fan favorite at Bruce&#8217;s shows for four decades.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce did cover the A-side, though&#8211;once and once only, at a very special show.<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, Bruce keynoted the SxSW festival in Austin, and afterward he played a full concert at Moody Theater with the E Street Band and a stellar array of guest artists. One of Bruce&#8217;s guests that night was Jimmy Cliff himself, and the two artists kicked off their three-song mini-set with Bruce&#8217;s one and only performance of &#8220;The Harder They Come.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the venue was intimate enough that several filmers were able to preserve their performance for posterity. Here&#8217;s one of the best ones.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fdQK_ivIgLw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Harder They Come<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>First performed:<\/strong> March 15, 2012 (Austin, TX)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:<\/strong> March 15, 2012 (Austin, TX)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9August 5, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One time only: Bruce Springsteen performs Jimmy Cliff&#8217;s &#8220;The Harder They Come&#8221; with the original artist at SXSW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3609,5],"tags":[658,533,2422],"class_list":["post-11790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-little-help","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-jimmy-cliff","tag-sxsw","tag-the-harder-they-come"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/harder-1-1024x1018-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C1018&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-34a","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4265,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/09\/meeting-across-the-river-bruce-springsteen-and-jimmy-cliff-time-will-tell\/","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":0},"title":"Meeting 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fan favorite.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/trapped.jpg?fit=474%2C474&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56432,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/kingdom-of-days-april-11-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":3},"title":"April 11","author":"Ken","date":"April 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On this date: the E Street Band premiere of \"Brothers Under the Bridge,\" an early version of \"Devils & Dust,\" and pro-shot Verona footage from 1993.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Kingdom of Days&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kingdom of Days","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/kingdom-of-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2023-04-11-elmont-ny-belmont-park-long-island-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-review.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2023-04-11-elmont-ny-belmont-park-long-island-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-review.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2023-04-11-elmont-ny-belmont-park-long-island-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-review.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2023-04-11-elmont-ny-belmont-park-long-island-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-review.webp?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, 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Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6bdc5a3b_school-of-rock-guitar-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C1197&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6bdc5a3b_school-of-rock-guitar-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C1197&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6bdc5a3b_school-of-rock-guitar-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C1197&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6bdc5a3b_school-of-rock-guitar-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C1197&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6bdc5a3b_school-of-rock-guitar-logo.jpg?fit=1200%2C1197&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56175,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/15\/kingdom-of-days-march-15-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":5},"title":"March 15","author":"Ken","date":"March 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Bono inducts Bruce into the Hall of Fame, Bruce speaks and performs at SXSW, and more on a busy date in Springsteen history.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Kingdom of Days&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kingdom of Days","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/kingdom-of-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/42731839530_3e1a5e948a_o.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/42731839530_3e1a5e948a_o.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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