We Shall Overcome by Joan Baez (1963)

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We Shall Overcome Cover

We Shall Overcome is a descent song from “I’ll Overcome Some Day” that was first published in 1901, a hymn by Charles Alber Tindley. A gospel song turned out to be a protest song and became associated with the civil rights movement from 1959 when the song was sung by famous folk singers in the early 1960s such as Joan Baez. Since then, the song has been used in protests worldwide. [1]

Joan Baez

Key Lyrics

We shall overcome

We shall overcome

We shall overcome some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do believe

We shall overcome some day

We'll walk hand in hand

We'll walk hand in hand

We'll walk hand in hand some day

Oh, deep in my heart

I do… [2]

Black Empowerment

We Shall Overcome became popular in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement in America. In 1947, Pete Seeger met Horton and taught him "We Will Overcome" and he adapted the song for his show. Seeger changed the word “Will” into “Shall” and added his own verses to the song.

The adaptation of the lyrics often attributed to Pete Seeger, he also shares the copyright with Horton, Carawan, and Frank Hamilton. The contribution of the song is obvious especially to both the labor and civil rights movements, and it continues being used around the world until this day, in every protest in the name of freedom and justice. Later in 1963, the song was recorded by Joan Baez and became a major anthem for the Civil Rights movement. [3]

In 1968, Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr., recited the words of the song in his final sermon, on Sunday March 31, delivered in Memphis, Tennessee:

“We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome. And I believe it because somehow the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. We shall overcome because [Thomas] Carlyle is right; ‘No lie can live forever’. We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right, ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to speed up the day.” [4]

References