Glory by Common featuring John Legend (2014)
Glory is a song released on December 11, 2014 by Columbia Records and performed by American rapper Common featuring John Legend. The hip hop song was a theme song from film Selma (2014), which portrays the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. Based on the US Billboard Hot 100, Glory reached at number 49 and won the award at the 87th Academy Awards (2015) and the 72nd Golden Globe Awards (2015) as the Best Original Song, as well as the award won at the the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016) as the Best Song Written for Visual Media. [1]
Key Lyrics
Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon
Formed against, yes glory is destined
Every day women and men become legends
Sins that go against our skin become blessings
The movement is a rhythm to us
Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtaposition in us
Justice for all just ain't specific enough
One son died, his spirit is revisitin' us
Truant livin' livin' in us, resistance is us
That's why Rosa sat on the bus
That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up
When it go down we woman and man up
They say, "Stay down" and we stand up
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up
One day, when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
Oh, one day, when the war is one
We will be sure, we will be here sure [2]
Black Empowerment
Glory was inspired by the events that happened 50 years ago and the topic is still relevant today by inserting the current hot incidents and the Civil Rights Movement in general. The song was a soundtrack of film Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, both Common and Legend explained how the song can relate the recent protest in Ferguson, MO. [3] :
“I looked at Ferguson and saw what was going on, and knew that it wasn’t far from what was happening during the civil rights movement – people standing up for what they believe in, marching for what they believe in, protesting for what they believe in. We wanted this song to be inspirational. We wanted it to have that pain, but also hope.” Explained Common
Legend expressed a similar comment, “I wanted something that tied the spirit of Selma with what was happening in the streets at the time we were writing, which was people protesting in Missouri and eventually New York about injustice and police brutality.” [4]