Nina Cried Power by Hozier and Mavis Staples (2018)
Nina Cried Power is a song released on September 6, 2018 by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier featuring with American blues and gospel singer Mavis Staples. The song was a lead single from Hozier's second album Wasteland, Baby!.
Hozier looks back on civil rights protests for a century with Mavis Staples’ voice, whose father was personal friends with Martin Luther King Jr, as well as the voices of the movement. [1]
Key Lyrics
It's not the waking, it's the rising
It's not forgoing of the lie
It's not the opening of eyes
It's not the waking, it's the rising
It's not the shade, we should be past it
It's the light, and it's the obstacle that casts it
It's the heat that drives the light
It's the fire it ignites
It's not the waking, it's the rising
It's not the song, it is the singing
It's the heaven of a human spirit ringing
It is the bringing of the line
It is the bearing of the rhyme
It's not the waking, it's the rising
And I could cry power (Power), power (Power)
Power, Lord
Nina cried power
Billie cried power
Mavis cried power
And I could cry (Power) power, (Power) power
Hey, power
Curtis cried power
Patti cried power
Nina cried power [2]
Black Empowerment
The song is a classic protest song and a bit tribute to singer Nina Simone, as well as mentioning other artists such John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, and Curtis Mayfield. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Irish singer-songwriter talked about the song :
"[It’s] a suggestion that the battle for equality these artists championed remains an ongoing and necessary one. “The fights that took place 100 years ago or 200 years ago for whatever — civil rights or workers' right etc. — don’t stop. There is no final victory. [Staples is] the most amazing person, just fucking unbelievable. [Her] energy is still absolutely there.” [3]
“[Nina Cried Power] is best looked at as a little bit of a sampler, four corners of the world the album populates,” he explains. “That’s how I kind of picture it in my head. Every song is standing around the same awful bonfire [of the world]. Some of them are optimistic; some of them are terrified; some of them are really looking forward to just burning within it.” [4].
References
- ↑ The 50 best protest songs. January 20, 2021. radiox.co.uk. Retrieved January 25, 2021
- ↑ ina Cried Power Hozier. genius.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021
- ↑ ina Cried Power Hozier. genius.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021
- ↑ Hughes, Hilary." Hozier Unpacks His New 'Nina Cried Power' EP: 'It's a Thank You Note to the Spirit of Protest'. September 9, 2016. billboard.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021