The following is a complete transcription of the narration and song lyrics from the “Power of Song” CD, which recreated the concert on April 15, 2005. Audio clips for selected tracks have also been included. An audio clip is available if you see a link. To listen, click on the song title. For printable versions of the narration and song lyrics, follow this link. To jump to the transcription for a specific track, follow the links below.
Speaker 1 – Music has always been integral to the African American struggle for freedom. The music of the Civil Rights Movement was shaped by those who participated in the rallies; the marches, those who went to jail, those who marched to the courthouse to register to vote; –as they marched– they sang.
Speaker 2 – From December 1955 to December 1956, Blacks in Montgomery , Alabama , chose to walk rather than ride segregated city buses. To sustain and unify the community during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, mass meetings were held. There were speakers and– there was singing.
Speaker 3 – In 1960, when Black students sat in and were beaten at segregated lunch counters across the South, they sang.
Speaker 4 – They sang as they were dragged in the streets.
Speaker 1 – They sang in the paddy wagons and in the jails.
Speaker 2 – And they sang when they returned to the Black community’s churches for rallies.
Speaker 3 – When the buses carrying the Freedom Riders were stopped and burned, when the riders were pushed to the ground and beaten, they sang.
Speakers 4 – When the Freedom Riders were jailed in Mississippi ‘s Hinds’ County Jail and Parchmen Penitentiary, again and again they sang.
Speaker 1- During the summer of summer of 1961 when students in Macomb , Mississippi were suspended from school for participating in the first voter education project, they marched and as they marched, they sang.
Speaker 2 – In Albany, Georgia in 1962, when mass arrests followed the Federal ruling that facilities serving commerce across state lines had to be integrated, songs thundered from the massive community-base movement that was born.
Speaker 3 – In Selma & Birmingham, in Greenwood & Hattiesburg, in Danville & Pine Bluff, and Baton Rouge & Cambridge; in segregated communities across the nation; freedom-loving people came together. Central to their gatherings: mass meetings, rallies, marches, pray-ins, jail-ins, were their freedom songs.
Song: Freedom Medley
Lead, Bernice Johnson Reagon
This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine;
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine;
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine;
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
I’ve got the light of freedom,
I’m gonna let it shine.
I’ve got the light of freedom,
I’m gonna let it shine.
I’ve got the light of freedom,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
I’m On My Way to Freedom Land
I’m on my way to freedom land.
I’m on my way to freedom land.
I’m on my way to freedom land.
I’m on my way, Praise God, I’m on my way!
If you don’t go, don’t hinder me.
If you don’t go, don’t hinder me.
If you don’t go, don’t hinder me.
I’m on my way, Praise God, I’m on my way!
I asked my sister, come and go with me,
I asked my brother, come and go with me,
I asked my friend, come and go with me,
I’m on my way, Praise God, I’m on my way!
We Shall Not Be Moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
Just like a tree, planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
We’re fighting for our freedom,
We shall not be moved,
We’re fighting for our freedom,
We shall not be moved,
Just like a tree, planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
We want our equal rights,
We shall be moved,
We want our equal rights,
We shall be moved,
Just like a tree, planted by the water,
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
We shall not, we shall not be moved,
Just like a tree, planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
Speaker 4 – During the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, 89 leaders were arraigned for organizing an illegal boycott. After they left the courthouse, they were led by Reverend Martin Luther King back to the church. Rev. King offered a new song set to the tune of this spiritual:
Song: Old Time Religion
Lead, Jeanine Johnson
Old Time Religion
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
It’s good enough for me.
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It’s good enough for me.
It was good for the Hebrew children.
It was good for the Hebrew children.
It was good for the Hebrew children.
It’s good enough for me.
It will make you love everybody.
It will make you love everybody.
It will make you love everybody.
It’s good enough for me.
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
It’s good enough for me.
Speaker 1 – The new words came right out of the determination to continue the boycott.
Song: We Are Moving on to Victory
Lead, Jeanine Johnson
We Are Moving on to Victory
We are moving on to Victory,
We are moving on to Victory,
We are moving on to Victory,
With Hope and Dignity.
We will all stand together,
We will all stand together,
We will all stand together,
Until we all are free.
We are moving on to Victory,
We are moving on to Victory,
We are moving on to Victory,
With Hope and Dignity.
Speaker 3 – In Nashville, Tennessee like Montgomery, Alabama the new songs often came out of old ones. Congressman John Lewis, one of the leaders of the Nashville Sit-In Movement, remembered the spiritual Amen:
Song: Amen
Lead, Deloni Clark
Amen,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Sing it over,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen,
Amen, Amen, Amen
See the baby
Amen,
Lying in the manger
Amen,
On Christmas morning.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
See him in the temple,
Amen,
Preaching to his elders,
Amen,
And they marvel at his wisdom.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
See him on Calvary
Amen,
Yes, he got to save us!
Amen,
And he rose on Easter!
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Hallelujah,
Amen,
In the Kingdom,
Amen,
Crossing Over,
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Speaker 2 – In Nashville, Amen became Freedom. This song represented the coming together; hundreds and thousands of students from different colleges and universities gathered downtown in a Black Baptist Church . It became the heart of the Nashville Movement.
Song: Freedom
Lead, Deloni Clark
Freedom
Everybody sing,
Freedom,
Freedom,
Freedom
Everybody sing,
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.
Sing it over,
Freedom,
Freedom,
Freedom,
Sing it over,
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.
On the picket line,
Freedom,
Want my Freedom,
Freedom,
Want my Freedom,
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.
I can’t hear you now,
Freedom,
A little louder now,
Freedom,
Everybody wants
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.
Speaker 2 – The Freedom Rides began May 4, 1961. They were organized by the Congress of Racial Equality called CORE.
Speaker 3 – The riders, Black and White, gathered in Washington, DC and bought tickets to travel from Washington to New Orleans, Louisiana . When they boarded the bus, some of the white people went to the back of the bus, some of the black people sat in the front of the bus, and on some seats black and white riders sat side by side. This ride was different.
Speaker 1 – They got through Virginia, they got through North Carolina; they got through South Carolina; they got through Georgia .
Speaker 4 – In Alabama the bus was burned and the Freedom Riders were brutally beaten by a mob. They were met with so much violence that CORE cancelled the freedom rides.
Speaker 2 – However, students from the Sit-In Movement in Nashville and Atlanta decided to continue the rides. They believed that non-violence was stronger than violence, and if violence stopped the freedom rides, it could stop the entire movement.
Speaker 3 – Many students traveled to Alabama and the freedom rides continued.
Speakers 1 – When their bus arrived at the Jackson, Mississippi station, the Freedom Riders were arrested.
Speaker 4 – Locked up in Parchman Penitentiary they sang; one of the most popular new freedom songs was based on a hit by Harry Belafonte called The Banana Boat Song:
Song: The Banana Boat Song/Calypso Freedom
Lead, Antwaun Stanley
Banana Boat Song
Day O, Day ay ay O
Day light come and me wanna go home.
Day esa Day esa Day esa Day ay ay o.
Day light come and me wanna go home.
Well, me work all night and me drink a rum,
Daylight come and me wanna go home.
And we load the bananas ’til the morning come,
Daylight come and me wanna go home.
Chorus:
Day O,
Day O, Day O Huh!
Daylight come and me wanna go home.
Day O
Day O, Day O, Huh!
Daylight come and me wanna go home.
Calypso Freedom
Well, I took a trip on a greyhound bus,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
To fight segregation, and this we must,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Chorus:
We want Freedom,
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Freedom
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Well, I rode on a bus down Alabama way,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
We met with much violence on Mother’s Day,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Chorus:
What do we want?
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Freedom, Freedom
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Well, over the Mississippi with speed we go,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
De blue shirt policeman meet me at the door,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Chorus:
Give us Freedom!
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Freedom,
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Well, the judge say local law must prevail,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
And we say no and we land in jail,
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Chorus:
What do we want?
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Freedom,
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Freedom, Freedom
Freedom, Freedom, Huh!
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long.
Speaker-Bernice Johnson Reagon -The Freedom Riders locked up in Parchman State Penitentiary began to hear that Greyhound buses coming South were being boarded by Black and White people who were continuing the Freedom Rides and these buses were headed for Mississippi.
Song: Buses Are A-Comin’
Lead, Bernice Johnson Reagon
Buses Are A-Comin'
Buses are a-comin’
Oh Yes!
Buses are a-comin’
Oh Yes!
Buses are a-comin’
Buses are a-comin’
Buses are a-comin’
Oh Yes!
Better get you ready
Oh Yes!
Better get you ready
Oh Yes!
Better get you ready
Better get you ready
Better get you ready
Oh Yes!
They’re coming through Alabama
Oh Yes!
Coming through Alabama
Oh Yes!
Coming through Alabama
Coming through Alabama
Buses are a comin’
Oh Yes!
They’re rolling into Jackson
Oh Yes!
Rolling into Jackson
Oh Yes!
Rolling into Jackson
Rolling into Jackson
Buses are a comin’
Oh Yes!
Buses are a comin’
Oh Yes!
Buses are a comin’
Oh Yes!
Buses are a comin’
Buses are a comin’
Buses are a comin’
Oh Yes!
Speaker-Bernice Johnson Reagon – On Easter weekend 1960, Ms. Ella Baker, Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Dr. King, called together a meeting of Sit-In leaders from across the South at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. This Meeting resulted in a new Civil Rights organization called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. On the first night of the meeting, they began to sing the songs that had meant so much to them during their local campaigns. When they started to sing an old church song which had been also a Union song- without prompting- they stood, they joined hands right over left, and that song, We Shall Overcome, became the theme song of the Movement.
Song: We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday.
Chorus:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome someday.
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday.
Repeat Chorus
Song: Mother and Child (William Grant Still) Gareth Johnson, Violin
Tomoko Kanamaru, piano
Selection courtesy of Gareth Johnson, Music from My Heart (Gareth Johnson, producer).
Speaker 2 – During the summer of 1962, over a thousand arrests had been made in Albany, Georgia .
Speaker 4 – The white elected City Council refused to negotiate with the Movement leaders, and they went to court to try and stop the marches.
Speaker 1 – A Federal judge issued a temporary injunction against all marches. The injunction named the leaders of the Albany Movement and Dr. King
Speaker 3 – That night in the office of Shiloh Baptist Church the leaders discussed whether they should violate a federal order.
Speaker 1 – While this meeting was going on, a local minister, Rev. Samuel Wells, was leading the mass meeting. At one point he told those gathered that his name was not on any injunction and that he would lead the march. And a song that had been a spiritual became a new song of freedom as Rev. Wells led the march down to the Albany City Hall.
Song: Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round
Lead, Brianna Clarke
Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
Ain’t gonna let nobody
Turn me around,
Turn me around,
Turn me around.
Ain’t gonna let nobody
Turn me around,
Keep on a walkin’,
Keep on a talkin’,
Marchin’ up to Freedom Land.
Ain’t gonna let no injunction
Turn me around,
Turn me around,
Turn me around.
Ain’t gonna let no injunction
Turn me around,
I’m gonna
Keep on a walkin’,
Keep on a talkin’,
Marchin’ up to Freedom Land.
Ain’t gonna let no jail house
Turn me around,
Turn me around,
Turn me around.
Ain’t gonna let no jail house
Turn me around,
Keep on a walkin’,
Keep on a talkin’,
Marchin’ up to Freedom Land.
Ain’t gonna let nobody
Turn me around,
Turn me around,
Turn me around.
Ain’t gonna let nobody
Turn me ’round,
Keep on a walkin’,
Keep on a talkin’,
Marchin’ up to Freedom Land.
Song: Everybody Oughta Know
Lead, Christopher Jackson
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
What Freedom Is
What Freedom Is
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
What Happiness Is
What Happiness Is
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
What Friendship Is
What Friendship Is
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
What Justice Is
What Justice Is
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
Everybody Oughta Know
What Freedom Is
What Freedom Is
Song: So Glad I’m Here
Lead, Khireece McDaniel
So Glad I'm Here
So Glad I’m Here, Yes I’m
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
I Can Humble Down
I Can Humble Down
I Can Humble Down
Can Humble Down
I Can Humble Down
I Can Humble Down
I Can Humble Down
Can Humble Down
I Can Pray This Prayer
I Can Pray This Prayer
I Can Pray This Prayer
Can Pray This Prayer
I Can Pray This Prayer
I Can Pray This Prayer
I Can Pray This Prayer
Can Pray This Prayer
I Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
I Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
I Shout Out My Name
Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
I Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
I Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
I Shout Out My Name
Shout Out My Name (shout out your name)
Yes I’m So Glad I’m Here, Yes I am
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
So Glad I’m Here
Speaker—Bernice Johnson Reagon —Music helped to keep the Movement going. In Birmingham, there was a powerful Movement gospel choir that sang at all of the mass meetings for more than five years. One of the songs that touched people deeply was the spiritual called City Called Heaven.
Song: City Called Heaven**
Antwaun Stanley, vocal
Sidney Oliver, organ
City Called Heaven
I am a po’ pilgrim of sorrow,
Tossed out in this wide world alone.
No hope have I for tomorrow,
I’ve started to make it my home.
Sometimes I’m tossed and I’m driven,
Sometimes I don’t know where to roam.
But oh I’ve heard of a city called Heaven,
And I’ve started to make it my home.
My mother, she’s reached her bright glory,
My father still walks in sin.
My brothers and my sisters, they won’t own me,
Because I’m trying to get in.
Sometimes I’m tossed and I’m driven,
Sometimes I don’t know where to roam.
But oh I’ve heard of a city called Heaven,
And I’ve started to make it my home.
Who is that yonder coming?
My blood runs so chilly and cold.
I know it must be King Jesus,
The one who came and saved my soul.
Sometimes I’m tossed and I’m driven,
Sometimes I don’t know where to roam.
But oh I’ve heard of,
Has anybody heard of,
I’m wondering have you heard of,
Of a city called Heaven,
I’ve started to make it my home.
**Interpretation created by Cleo Kennedy, soprano and Carlton Reese during the Birmingham Alabama Movement, Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966 (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings).
Speaker—Bernice Johnson Reagon—The struggle of the Civil Rights Movement, the culture of the struggle, the singing, the coming together of people to call their country to higher ground, is important not only as a history lesson, but in contemporary times it is crucial that we try to understand the importance of organizing, the importance of non-violence, the importance of our responsibility in the practice of good citizenship.
Speaker 4 – We have just completed a national election and more than ever we see how important voting is to our democracy.
Speaker 1 – Today we must not only vote, but we must find ways to insure that all votes are counted.
Speaker 3 – During the Civil Rights Movement in too many communities in the South, Black people: men, women, and children, were beaten, arrested and some were killed in effort to stop them from voting.
Speaker 2 – The Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 was about the right to vote in Alabama. After the march to state capital in Montgomery , Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. charged the marchers and the world with his words:
Speaker 3 – “We must see that the end we seek is as a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. That will be the day not of the white man, not of the black man, but of man as man. However difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long. Because truth crushed to earth will rise again.”
Speakers 1&2 – HOW LONG?!
Speakers 3&4 – NOT LONG!
Speaker 4 – Because no lie can live forever
Speakers 1&2 – HOW LONG?!
Speakers 3&4 – NOT LONG!
Speaker 1- Because the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Speaker 2 – HOW LONG? NOT LONG!
Speaker 1 – Because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord…
Speaker 2 – He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored…
Speaker 3 – He has loosed the faithful lightning of his terrible swift sword…
Speaker 4 – His truth is marching on!
Speaker 2 – Glory Hallelujah!
Speakers 2&3 – Glory Hallelujah!
Speakers 2, 3, &4 – Glory Hallelujah!
ALL – His truth is marching on!
Song: Closing Collage
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Songs included: