Songfacts®:

• The Dave Stewart produced Black Magic is in effect a record of duets by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff with the likes of Sting, Annie Lennox and Wyclef Jean. On this track, Clash frontman Joe Strummer, who died in 2002, made one of his last appearances. Cliff recalled to Gibson.com their collaboration: "Joe and I had met previously only at a distance, and we had never really had a chance to talk. But we had admiration for each other's work. He just came into the studio one day. I don't know how he learned that we were recording, but he had some lyrics he had written, and he said, 'You know, I can hear Jimmy Cliff singing these words.' Dave Stewart asked him how he thought the song should go, and he said, 'I don't know. I just hear Jimmy Cliff singing these lyrics.' The two of them began playing guitar, and I came up with the melody, and then Joe chipped in with some help on the melody as well. We recorded the song right away. That was a really special moment for me. You can imagine the shock I felt after hearing that Joe was not with us anymore."