A Revolution in Song
Writing Art Life
Dr. Elizabeth Woodworth
English 1017
16 November 2011
A Revolution in Song
The United States is arguably one of the most coveted places to live by people from other countries with limited human rights. There are opportunities for everyone to do whatever they want with their lives, equal rights to get the same education as everyone else, and its citizens cannot be thrown in jail for no reason. Commonly referred to “the land of the free” because of a lyric in the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner,” ironically written in 1814 before everyone had equal rights, the U.S. was not always such a free place to live. We all know about the institution of African slavery that served as the colonial industries’ labor force until 1865, and how before the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s African-Americans could not live in the same houses or go to the same schools as other citizens.
The Civil Rights Movement lasted from 1955 to 1968 and was made up of peaceful protests and civil disobedience to fight for equal rights to end segregation, discrimination, and repression. It was centered in the South, primarily in Mississippi and Alabama, as the Northern states did not have the segregational Jim Crow laws that were put in place after the South’s defeat in the Civil War. They could not even vote until 1964, which is ironic because voting rights have always been a boasting entitlement of the U.S. due to some other countries’ non-democratic, oppressive policies against its citizens. I find it mind-boggling that by the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. was still not an equal place to live.
The power of music has been prominent in the black community since the days of slavery centuries ago. It was a way for them to express themselves and connect in an otherwise suppressive environment. “During slavery, spirituals and work songs provided affirmation and strength in the face of a system meant to debilitate and degrade” (Dixon 9). This custom carried into the Civil Rights Movement, in which songs and singing further brought the protesters together. In the documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution, congressman and former Civil Rights activist John Lewis tells how music affected him and his protesting counterparts: “It was the music that gave us the courage, the will, the drive to go on despite of it all” (Soundtrack for a Revolution). The music was the one thing that could not have been taken away. Even when people were getting arrested after protests, they would sing in handcuffs.
Since the times of slavery, music for African-Americans was not only a liberation that could not be taken away, but it was also a way for them to communicate secret messages. “The gospel song ‘Wade in the Water,’ for example, taught escaping slaves how to hide when bloodhounds chased them” (Levinson 22). Often associated with Harriet Tubman helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad, “Wade in the Water” was one of the many songs that survived over the generations from the slaves to the people fighting for their rights in the 20th century. Here is one form of the lyrics (they vary depending on the source):
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water
Well, some say Peter and some say Paul
But God’s a-gonna trouble the water
There ain’t one god that made us all
God’s a-gonna trouble the water (“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs,” n.d.)
When you listen to this song, it is almost impossible to not feel submerged in its ominousness. Even without knowing its initial meaning, it has such a degree of direness and urgency that you feel like you are in the water, slowly sneaking along to escape the bloodhounds. This song very likely has Biblical references, not only because African slave songs were often religious in nature, but also because of Bible verse John 5:4, which says “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had” (“John 5 King James Version,” n.d.). In other words, an angel blessed this water so that whoever swam in it would be cured of their disease. It most likely is not a coincidence that this Bible verse and the song “Wade in the Water” use the word “trouble” when referring to the water, especially with the religious undertones that occur in different slave songs. Also, different variations of this song’s lyrics include references to Moses saving the slaves in Egypt as told in the Book of Exodus in the Bible:
Well, who are these children all dressed in red?
God’s gonna trouble the water
Must be the children that Moses led
God’s gonna trouble the water (“Wade in the Water Lyrics, 2002.)
Music certainly added strength to the Civil Rights activists wherever they were, and mass meetings were no exception. These meetings added organization to the movement by allowing everyone to collect and inspire each other. According to Bernice Reagon, the first mass meeting was held in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961 (106). She interviewed a man that was there, Charles Sherrod, and he spoke of the power of music in that first imperative meeting: “Tears filled the eyes of the hard, grown men who had seen with their own eyes merciless atrocities committed… and when we rose to sing ‘We Shall Overcome,’… I threw my head back and sang with my whole body” (Reagon 106). These mass meetings further carried out the already-present congregational nature of African-American culture, so it makes sense that the songs were sung in the same way as church songs. “The core song repertoire of the civil rights movement was formed from the reservoir of Afro-American traditional song, performed in the older style of singing” (Reagon 106). Older gospel songs were readapted so that they had the same unifying power, only with lyrics that now represented their struggle for equality. “Lyrics were transformed, traditional melodies were adapted, and procedures associated with old forms were blended with new forms to create freedom songs capable of expressing the force and intent of the movement” (Reagon 106).
Ever-present throughout the Civil Rights movement was the song “We Shall Overcome.”
“‘We Shall Overcome’ was sung everywhere: on buses and in prisons, at lunch counters and on marches… In fact, no song was more important to the movement. Yet this most emotional of songs was not originally about civil rights at all. In its first version, ‘We Shall Overcome’ was a religious song. Written in a style called gospel, it dates from 1900- long before any organized effort to integrate the South. The original song had a different melody and even a different title. Composer Charles Tindley called it ‘I’ll Overcome.’ Over the years, ‘I’ll Overcome’ changed. With a new melody and title, the song appealed to labor organizers, who also changed a few of the words. Labor leaders found that the song helped keep up workers’ spirits during strikes. People who knew the labor song adapted the words again to fit civil rights pro-tests. The gospel hymn had become a freedom song. ‘We Shall Overcome’ was not unusual in this way. Most songs from the African American church tradition were used in the movement” (Currie 20).
This song has become the theme song for the Civil Rights movement, due to its highly relevant lyrics and powerful message. There was (and still is) widespread respect for this song. Countless artists adapted this song in the 1950s and 60s, notably Joe Glazer, Laura Duncan & the Jewish Young Singers, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez, the latter having sung it during the March on Washington in 1963. Here are the lyrics (again, they vary depending on the source; many songs of the Civil Rights movement were dynamic and changed at different events to better describe what was happening at the time):
Deep in my heart I do believe
We shall overcome some day
We’ll walk hand in hand
Some day
We shall live in peace
Some day
We are not afraid
Today
The whole wide world around
Some day (“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs,” n.d.)
“This Little Light of Mine” was another church song that turned into a Civil Rights tune, composed by Harry Dixon Loes. This song was not from the 19th century like others from the Civil Rights movement; rather, it started as a children’s gospel song.
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Down in my heart
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Down in South America
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Ain’t gonna make it shine
Just gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine (“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs,” n.d.)
This song was prominent throughout the movement, being sung at all types of events. “It was ‘If I Had a Hammer’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ that buoyed up the Freedom Riders and lunch counter protesters” (Margolick 107). What is so interesting to be about this song is how I remember hearing it in Sunday school as a child, and until I started my research for this paper, I never knew its role in the Civil Rights movement. The fact this was such an important song to the activists makes a lot of sense to me, though, because I can’t help but feel a strong sense of pride when I hear this song. This song has a solid connotation with inner strength and perseverance.
“Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” was another hymn that became an essential for activists. The original song was called “Hold On” and also “Gospel Plow,” until activist Alice Wine revised it in the 1950s. Other distinguished recordings were done by Odetta, Duke Ellington with Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, and Pete Seeger. “They sang ‘Keep Your Eyes on the Prize’ to help them focus on their cause and not their fears. ‘The fear down [South] is tremendous,’ one SNCC member admitted, ‘but when the singing started, I forgot all that’” (Levinson 22).
Paul and Silas bound in jail
Had no money for to go their bail
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, why don’t ya
Paul and Silas began to shout
The jail doors opened and they walked right out
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, why don’t ya
Hold on, Hold on (“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs,” n.d.)
“We Shall Not Be Moved” was a labor song that Civil Rights activists used for their protests. “Labor songs such as ‘We Will Overcome’ and ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’ were adapted to the cohesive needs of the movement” (Denisoff 242).
We shall not
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters
We shall not be moved
On our way to victory
We shall not be moved
We’re on our way to victory
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters
We shall not be moved
I’m not going to move y’all
I want my freedom
And I’m gonna get my freedom
We’re on our way to victory
I believe we’re gonna set it free
Yes, I believe we’re gonna get there
We’re gonna get there (“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs,” n.d.)
“‘We Shall Not Be Moved,’ inspired by a gospel hymn became a favourite with social movements because of its simplicity in adding verses, telling the story of a conflict situation or praising any leader. The song [was] first put into use by West Virginia coal miners” (Denisoff 428). Indeed, this song is featured in the article “Little Red Songbooks: Songs for the Labor Force of America,” listed as a labor song from the early 20th century. I find it very interesting how so many songs from the Civil Rights movement were recycled from slave or labor songs to religious songs, or vice versa, then to protests songs. This resonates with me because of the information we have learned so far this semester about remixing being such a large part of culture, without much people realizing it.
Before I started my research for this project, I had no inkling of the crucial role music played in the Civil Rights movement. This makes perfect sense, though, because music has the power to influence, inspire, enthrall and captivate. “Some workers could not have joined protest marches without songs to help them overcome their fear. One marcher was terrified of being shot. ‘But when the singing started,’ she said afterward, ‘I forgot all that. I felt good within myself. Without these songs, we’d still be chopping cotton for 30 cents a day’” (Currie 20). In fact, according to Stephen Currie, “Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that singing was absolutely necessary. Indeed, he called music ‘the soul of the movement’” (20). Without these powerful songs, how would the world be today?
“Marchers on Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma to Montgomery March”
” 16th Street Baptist Church with stained glass window missing the face of Christ “
Works Cited
Currie, Stephen. “We Shall Overcome: The Songs Of Civil Rights.” Cobblestone 15.2 (1994): 20. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.
Denisoff, R. Serge. “Protest Movements: Class Consciousness and the Propaganda Song.” Sociological Quarterly 9.2 (1968): 228-47. JSTOR. Database. 13 Nov 2011.
Denisoff, R. Serge. “Folk Music and the American Left: A Generational-Ideological Comparison.” British Journal of Sociology 20.4 (1969): 427-42. JSTOR. Database. 13 Nov 2011.
Dixon, Rebecca S. “Music Of The Civil Rights Movement.” Freedom Facts & Firsts: 400 Years Of The African American Civil Rights Experience (2009): 9-10. History Reference Center. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
“John 5 King James Version.” Kingjbible.com. Biblos, n.d. 13 Nov. 2011.
Levinson, Cynthia. “‘We Shall Overcome’.” Cobblestone 29.4 (2008): 22-23. History Reference Center. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
“Lyrics of the Freedom Songs.” Pbs.org. Pbs, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
Marchers on Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma to Montgomery March. 1965. Alabama Deptartment of Archives and History, Montgomery. ADAH Digital Archives. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.
Margolick , David. “Performance as a Force for Change: The Case of Billie Holiday and “Strange Fruit”.” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 11.1 (1999): 91-109. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov 2011.
Raegon, Bernice. “Let the Church Sing “Freedom.” Black Music Research Journal 7. (1987): 105-118. JSTOR. Web. 13 Nov 2011.
Self, Tom. 16th Street Baptist Church with stained glass window missing the face of Christ. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery. ADAH Digital Archives. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.
Soundtrack for a Revolution. Dir. Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman. Freedom Song Productions, 2009. Film.
Volk, Terese M. “Little Red Songbooks: Songs for the Labor Force of America.” Journal of Research in Music Education 49.1 (2001): 33-48. JSTOR. Database. 13 Nov 2011.
“Wade in the Water Lyrics.” eLyrics.net. Faith E.M., 2002. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
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