Author Archives: Jake

We Shall Overcome

Posted on by

Download PDF file of We Shall Overcome

Download PDF file of an arrangement for marching band of We Shall Overcome.

I’m not saying that this isn’t a good song but I can’t sing this any more. I’m old and I remember the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Dr. King and the Kennedy brothers, the war in Nicaragua, the Gulf War and the War in Iraq, the seemingly endless mass murders in schools, churches, synagogues, supermarkets and in the streets; and now the present horror show with concentration camps in authoritarian countries that are unaccountable to the citizens of the United States. The increase in stateless people in endless peregrination as they search for a place to settle has long been foreseeable given the totally predictable damage we are doing to the environment. Yet we who foresaw it have been incapable of doing anything to prepare for this time, while those who use cruelty and viscousness as their tactic of choice to enrich themselves leapt on the unprotected. The truth is, I am not certain that we shall overcome. Yet, the joy I take in building solidarity with the poor and the good-hearted is very great. What is a collection of protest songs without, We Shall Overcome? The PDF has two harmonized versions, the second one is very churchy, with a kind of Southern Baptist feel to it. You could play it on a Wurlitzer organ with the vibrato turned up high to get the full effect; and I have just added an arrangement for brass band for which I wrote a descant obligato for piccolo, which I am stupidly proud of.

Here is a recording from 1965 of Joan Baez (who else?) singing We Shall Overcome.

The Beatitudes

Posted on by

Download a PDF file of The Beatitudes

Chant from the Russian Orthodox liturgy — Matthew 5:2–12

I have a fantasy of getting together a small choir and singing this on the steps of the Capitol, maybe singing it repetitively—a lot of times—to make sure it is heard.

Below is an excerpt of this wonderful harmonized chant from the Russian Orthodox tradition. Download the PDF above for the full thing, or go to the Episcopal Church’s The Hymnal 1982 (hymn number 560).

You can hear this chant, beautifully sung by the choir of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Fort Worth in the embedded YouTube recording below.

A note about Chant

This site is, of course, about politics, but on a deeper level it is about clearing and healing our spirits through singing. Chanting is a kind of active meditation that goes very deep. I’d like to do more of it in vigils and witnessing actions, moments when we want to influence the course of events with the power of our own inner centeredness and peace, rather than with anger, times when we come together to remember those who have died or who are imprisoned.

Most of my experience is within the Christian Church; but chant is found in all faiths and spiritual traditions. A good book about chant is, The Sacred Art of Chant, by Ana Hernandez; however, better to start by chanting rather than reading about chanting.

The Beatitudes sung at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fort Worth, Texas

We are the Movement

Posted on by

Download PDF of We are the Movement

The Peace Poets are family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City.  Some have been friends since as early as three years old and over time they have built an artist collective of poets, Hip Hop performers, and educators founded on this friendship and their common love for community and creative expression.

“A freedom love song to us, the movement for liberation. This is a song to GROUND, INSPIRE, AND CONNECT us when we gather…”

We Go Down to the Ground

Posted on by

Download PDF of We Go Down

The Peace Poets are family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City.  Some have been friends since as early as three years old and over time they have built an artist collective of poets, Hip Hop performers, and educators founded on this friendship and their common love for community and creative expression.

“A deescalation song to signal to protesters that it’s time to sit down. We can use this song when faced with external threats to literally sit down and be grounded in the power our our unity, our connection to the earth and our vision of liberation.”

We Choose Democracy

Posted on by

Download PDF of We Choose Democracy

The Peace Poets are family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City.  Some have been friends since as early as three years old and over time they have built an artist collective of poets, Hip Hop performers, and educators founded on this friendship and their common love for community and creative expression.

“A bold song to face hate and choose democracy. This song can be used to ENERGIZE AND CLARIFY our vision of our community.  It can be offered in moments of gathering or closing, online or in the streets.”

Till We Stop this Coup

Posted on by

Download PDF of Stop this Coup

“The Peace Poets are family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City.  Some have been friends since as early as three years old and over time they have built an artist collective of poets, Hip Hop performers, and educators founded on this friendship and their common love for community and creative expression.”

Till we stop this Coup is “…a loud, direct song to call out an attempt at a coup and reaffirm our commitment to resistance. This song is an ENERGIZING AND UNIFYING song to call out any attempt at a coup and declare our commitment to resistance. It can be used early and often to express to media and any observer of our action that we are both peaceful and committed to our cause.  It can also be used when we might feel shaken up or confused, we can sing this to remind ourselves: ‘we know what to do.’”

Everybody’s Got a Right to Live

Posted on by

Download PDF file of Everybody’s Got a Right to Live!

This song was written for The March on Washington in 1968. It was originally directed at the way racism resulted in poverty. Both the original words and the simplified words are included on the PDF. It’s a great song when you have a bunch of people who don’t know many songs. The words are simple and the tune is easy to learn in a call and response way.

The is a video from the Poor People’s Campaign in 2021

Here are Rev. Frederick Douglass KirkPatrick and Jimmy Collier, who wrote this song, singing the original version in 1969.

Everybody ought to know

Posted on by

Download PDF of Everybody Ought to Know
Download MuseScore lead sheet for Everybody Ought to Know

Everybody Ought to Know is a good song for kids. I have added some suggested chord symbols and raised the key from C Major to F major (otherwise it starts on a low G and children should learn to use the higher registers of their voices!). The kids here sound great (if someone has some money to send them to tune the piano, I bet they would love it!) and the song has a lot of potential. It’s a song for which you can make up new verses as needed, add harmonies (as able), add percussion, clapping, etc., and add simple dance and mime movements.

With kids, I think this should be sung antiphonally, with half the kids singing the “call” and the other half singing the “response”; then, everybody sings the last line together. It would be easy to write a simple, two-part harmony for the last line if your kids are up to it.

Here is a YouTube video of by the kids from the Erickson Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Mississippi singing Everybody Ought to know.

We shall not be moved

Posted on by

Download PDF of We Shall Not Be Moved

We Shall Not Be Moved was adapted by the labor movement in the 1930s and in the 1950s and ’60s was sung in Civil Rights movement. It originates from, I shall not be moved, an African-American slave spiritual, hymn, and protest song dating to the early 19th century. It was likely sung originally at revivalist camp-meetings as a slave jubilee. [Information from Wikipedia]

I like this version of Mavis Staples singing We Shall Not Be Moved because it has an actual video of Mavis singing and also includes her telling a great story about singing this in the late 1950s in the Civil Rights movement.

However, this recording of Mavis singing We Shall Not Be Moved may be better, musically.