Which Jamaican singer wrote the song 'Many Rivers to Cross'?

Jimmy Cliff wrote “Many Rivers to Cross.” He also recorded the song in 1969, making him the clear canonical answer to the question about its songwriter.

Cliff wrote the song while struggling to establish himself as a musician in the United Kingdom. Its imagery of wandering, frustration and crossing rivers reflected his difficulties with work, identity and belonging after leaving Jamaica. The song’s gospel-influenced arrangement helped distinguish it from more typical reggae recordings of the period.

The track appeared on Cliff’s 1969 album Jimmy Cliff and later gained a wider audience through the 1972 soundtrack to The Harder They Come, in which Cliff starred. It has since been covered by artists including UB40, Cher, Harry Nilsson and Annie Lennox, which can lead listeners to mistake a later performer for the original writer.