A song line can be the start of a movement – true.
We shall overcome and you know the rest.
It’s amazing what a simple song prior to the famous one can become.
from “I will overcome” to “We will overcome” derived from gospel song it was published in 1947 by Charles Albert Tindley. Eventually Zilphia Horton taught it to Pete Seeger. He and many others included it in their repertoire. At one point, maybe Pete Seeger, it changed from “will” to “shall”. It’s very much a collected contribution of many in this song.
As you know the lyrics says “We shall overcome someday” at which you could say “someday has been said for thousands’ of years” this someday gives the hope, if one said “next week” it would be promise, one that couldn’t be kept.
To know
what you are
who you are
what you can
what you feel
you will overcome
we shall overcome
someday
even, this has been said
in a thousands’ years
every tributaries
from I to We
will lead
from violent
to peacefully action
to a free people
I ain’t afraid – she sang
of what you say, believe
or how you live
I’m afraid of
what you do
in the name of your God
Though we shall overcome – someday
it might be a bloody road ahead
We shall overcome
we shall overcome
someday
keep an eye on the price
can we pay – someday
-
she sang: Holly Near
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