by Peter Berryman
I'll We I Will Shall Overcome
Every now and then a simple song becomes part of the national musical lexicon by sticking inexplicably in the culture's craw. One of the craw-daddies of them all is the tiny but powerful song of freedom, We Shall Overcome.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a concert and book signing in Madison by one of the early purveyors of this anthem, venerable labor balladeer Joe Glazer, who has traveled the world for fifty years performing and educating for the sake of unionism. Lou and I had had the thrill of meeting Joe and his wife Mildred a couple of years ago at one of our house concerts in Maryland. Joe has a number of ties to Madison, including his stint providing music for the Senate campaign of Ed Garvey (who showed up for the book signing) a number of years ago. Before that, Glazer worked and sang tirelessly for Hubert Humphrey's campaign in the 1960 Wisconsin primary. During World War II, he was an instructor at Truax Field in Madison, teaching math while taking graduate courses at the University. He soon found himself distracted, however, by his wife's books about the labor movement, Mildred being a labor economics major. Glazer soon switched his own major from math to labor economics and industrial relations, so Madison and the UW played some role in pointing Joe in the direction of his noble career, which blooms internationally throughout this fascinating book.
Labor's Troubadour is required reading for anyone interested in how valuable folk music can be in shaping society, and how one person can contribute magnificently to social justice by giving the gift of their own creativity.
We Shall Overcome was one of the many effective songs that Joe sang early in his career. It was based on a hymn written in 1900 by Charles Tindley, called I'll Overcome Some Day.
I found out a few things about Charles Albert Tindley, who was born in the 1850s in Berlin, Maryland, to slave parents. He taught himself to read and write, took night school classes and correspondence courses, and eventually became pastor of the church in Philadelphia where he had started years earlier as a janitor. With his 6'5" height, booming voice, and spellbinding writing skills, he built a congregation from 200 members to well over 10,000, and wrote at least 50 hymns, many of which have become standards. Eventually the church was renamed in his honor, and you can visit the Tindley Temple web site listed below.
It would be very interesting to hear all the versions of the ...Overcome song between Tindley's original and the much different song that is so popular today. Joe Glazer learned the song from labor educator Agnes Douty, who coincidentally had taught at the University of Wisconsin. She had learned the song from Zilphia Horton, the music director at the legendary Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, and taught it to Glazer in New York in 1947. Horton, according to Glazer, learned the song from several black workers who were attending the school, and who explained that the original hymn had been rewritten by Food and Tobacco Workers Union strikers in 1945.
As Joe points out, at the same time he was beginning to sing the song as a union song, Pete Seeger learned it from Zilphia Horton, made a few changes, and started singing his version around the country. Then in 1959, the incredible musician and civil rights activist Guy Carawan replaced Zilphia Horton as music director at Highlander and incorporated the song extensively as a Civil rights tool. In 1963, Guy and his wife Candie released the definitive Southern Freedom Music songbook, and named it We Shall Overcome.
What was the song like when it began its trek? Here's a verse from Tindley's original song:
A thousand snares are set for me,
And mountains in my way,
If Jesus will my leader be,
I'll overcome some day
I'll overcome some day
I'll overcome some day
If Jesus will my leader be,
I'll overcome some day.
Here's the new version:
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
O deep in my heart, I do believe
We shall overcome some day
The original is in 3/4 time, and has a verse and chorus. The new version is in 4/4 time, and is really just the chorus. And the melody is very different. Here's the original:
The original had more of an extended refrain than a chorus. A refrain is a line that recurs at the end of each verse. As can be seen in the original, the verse rhyme is ABAB, with the final "B" being the refrain, I'll overcome some day. This rhymes with And mountains in my way. The refrain is repeated two more times, then the third line of the verse is repeated, then the refrain again.
In the song's journey, not only was the ABAB scheme dropped, but the entire verse was dropped, leaving the repeated refrains, which have NO RHYME AT ALL, unless you count the internal rhyme of overcome some. Odd, because it wouldn't be hard to rhyme with the word day: We shall overcome I say (or some say, or some way, or -- in Wisconsin -- yah hey). But not only did Pete Seeger change will to shall; not only did the time signature change, and not only was the melody rewritten, but the verses were eliminated completely, leaving a verseless song without a rhyme. In this mangled state, the misshapen ditty went on to become one of the most beloved and internationally famous works in the history of populist songwriting. My confusion about such mysteries of mass appeal is a good indication why my own songs may rhyme, but usually don't travel too far beyond Waubesa Street.
Miscellography: