Smell is supposed to be the most evocative of the senses, but for many of us there’s nothing like hearing music to evoke emotional memories. The following songs just seem right on this day, as we commemorate the remarkable event that took place on the Mall in Washington, D.C., 50 years ago today. Please add in Comments any songs you are listening to today.
Keep your eyes on the prize
Hold on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjdowef1oKE
There’s a king at the glory river
And the precious king loved the people to sing
Babes in the blinkin’ sun
Sang ‘We Shall Overcome’
I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains still binding me
I wish I could say all the things I should say
Say ’em loud say ’em clear
for the whole round world to hear.
The world won’t get no better
If we just let it be
The world won’t get no better
We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me
Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpZ_4_KhDU
I can’t stop now
Move up a little higher
Some way, somehow
‘Cause I’ve got my strength
And it don’t make sense
Not to keep on pushin’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hYdhoUu6c4
Try a little bit harder
open your eyes up
you’ve got to wise up
and then you’re gonna rise up
Keep on pushing a little bit harder
When you feel really low
Yeah, there’s a great truth you should know
When you’re young, gifted and black
Your soul’s intact
Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We’ll work in this fight and we’ll fight till we win
Deep in my heart
I really do believe
That we shall overcome
Someday
Photo of singer Odetta at the 1963 March on Washington, from Wikimedia Commons
Michele Kort is senior editor of Ms. Her four books include Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro and, most recently, Here Come the Brides! Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage (anthology coedited with Audrey Bilger).
