Cry No More by Rhiannon Giddens (2015)

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Cry No More Cover

Cry No More a new song released by Rhiannon Giddens as a one-take, live video. The song talks about black people who suffer at white hands. The song was first written in 2015 in the wake of the Charleston church shooting, one of the largest racial massacres in the United State. [1] [2]

The singer share her reason of writing the song:

The massacre at the AME church in Charleston is just the latest in a string of racially charged events that have broken my heart. There are a lot of things to fix in this country, but history says if we don’t address this canker, centuries in the making, these things will continue to happen. No matter what level privilege you have, when the system is broken everybody loses. We all have to speak up when injustice happens. No matter what. [3]

The video features both instrumentalists and string players along with many faces that make up the Met Opera Chorus when they sing the song: The bedrock of the nation / Was laid with these brown hands,” and continue onto, “Our legacy is mighty / We can't carry this alone / You have to help us fight it / And together we'll be home.” [4]

Rhiannon Giddens

Key Lyrics

First they stole our bodies

(I can't cry no more)

Then they stole our sons

(I can't cry no more)

Then they stole our gods

(I can't cry no more)

And gave us new ones

(I can't cry no more)

Then they stole our beauty

(I can't cry no more)

The comfort in our skin

(I can't cry no more)

And then they gave us duties

(I can't cry no more)

And then they gave us sin

(I can't cry no more) [5]

Black Empowerment

In June Giddens collaborated with Met Opera Chorus on reworking her 2015 Cry No More in response to the massacre at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.

"As we have seen from the Civil Rights Movement, music has a unique way of bringing people together, and being an emotional voice for what's going on." Rhiannon Giddens said of the aim of "Cry No More". "I don't know who I will reach with this, but if one person is moved, comforted, and inspired to keep it going, that's enough for me."

"The Met's season may be canceled but the Met Opera Chorus has pledged to continue to find ways to perform that are innovative, safe, and important." said Ned Hanlon, Chair of the Met Chorus Committee. "There is so much work to be done; stories must be heard, action must be taken, and change must be enacted, but in the midst of the troubles we are facing, let this be our resounding affirmation that Black Lives Matter." [6]

References