Bruce Springsteen covers "We Shall Overcome"

6/8/1963: Pete Seeger “We Shall Overcome” recorded

We Shall Overcome Pete Seeger

Writer(s): Charles Albert Tindley (see lyrics here) Recorded: June 8, 1963 First Charted: -- Peak: -- (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.1 video, 1.2 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

We Shall Overcome Joan Baez

First Charted: November 9, 1963 Peak: 90 US, 28 UK (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 6.1 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

cover of We Shall Overcome album

We Shall Overcome Bruce Springsteen

Released: March 17, 1998 (cut on Where Have All the Flowers Gone tribute album First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.12 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “We Shall Overcome” dates back to 1901 when Charles Albert Tindley published a hymn called “I’ll Overcome Some Day.” WK He was a noted minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, authoring roughly 50 gospel hymns. The songs were rooted in African American folk traditions, frequently featuring short refrains which allowed the congregration to join in. His audiences were comprised of many former slaves who were often impoverished and illiterate. WK The music is said to date back to “No More Auction Block for Me,” an 1833 song sung by former slaves in Canada after Britain abolished slavery. WK Bob Dylan said he used the same melodic motif from “Auction Block” in composing his own classic protest song, “Blowin’ in the Wind.” WK The modern version of the song is thought to have emerged in 1945 when Lucille Simmons led tobacco workers in singing the song during a cigar workers strike in Charleston, South Carolina. WK It was published in 1947 under the title “We Will Overcome” in an edition of the People’s Songs Bulletin, a publication of People’s Songs, an organization directed by Pete Seeger. WK That version was contributed by Zilphia Horton, the music director of Highlander Folk School, an adult education school in Monteagle, Tennessee that trained union organizers. She learned the song from Simmons and taught it to many others, including Pete Seeger. WK Martin Luther King, Jr. saw Seeger perform the song in 1957 and remarked how the song stuck with him. WK He recited words from the song in his final sermon before his assassination in 1968. It was sung at his funeral. WK When Guy Carawan became the music direction of Highlander in 1959, his version became associated with the civil rights movement. Seeger and others, such as Joan Baez, sang the song at rallies, festivals, and concerts. WK Ivan Cooper, a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, is shown singing the song in the film Bloody Sunday shortly before British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a 1972 civil rights protest march. WK Hundreds of thousands of Czechs sang the song in 1989 in Prague during the Velvet Revolution. Roger Waters covered the song in 2010 as a protest against the Israeli blockade of Gaza. WK Bruce Springsteen covered the song for the 1998 tribute album Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger and again in 2006 for an album of songs inspired by Seeger, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. He performed the song in 2012 during a memorial concert for Norwegians killed in terrorist attacks the year before. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pete Seeger DMDB encyclopedia entry for Joan Baez DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bruce Springsteen WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 9/23/2022.