Deep in my heart, I do believe

March 16, 2015 6:58 AM

Birth of a Freedom Anthem: We Shall Overcome, We Shall Overcome.
posted by flapjax at midnite (4 comments total)

My progressive, liberal, white church sings this like a dirge. But it's a good one.
posted by Melismata at 8:13 AM on March 16, 2015

It's the weirdest thing: whenever I hear this song, no matter where I am, the air gets really dusty.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:30 AM on March 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I really liked the article on the origins: I knew about the civil rights movement connection (growing up in the DC public school system, how could I not?) but not the labor movement connection. Nor that Pete Seegar tweaked its current title.

I've been singing it as a lullaby to the toddler -- works as well as, say, "Simple Gifts" in that regard.
posted by Quasirandom at 9:42 AM on March 16, 2015

Just watched the Emmy-winning Pete Seeger: The Power of Song; really satisfying for this kid who was raised on his records. I'm closest to the folk tradition so I tend to prefer his or Joan Baez's renditions, and I really like the call-and-response method Seeger uses to get a crowd singing or to introduce a verse. At an MLK Day event at my college, in the 1980s, I was a bit surprised that nobody seemed to know more than one or two verses, so I unashamedly called out "We'll Walk Hand in Hand" and "We'll Work Side by Side" from Seeger's repertoire. It made for a great moment in my memory.
posted by dhartung at 4:35 PM on March 16, 2015 [1 favorite]