Oh Freedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcNN5SEb-Kg

For my civil rights song, I chose the song "Oh Freedom", which was originally recorded by Odetta in 1956, but it was redone by Joan Baez on the morning of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. She opened this ceremony with the singing of this very song.

Some of the lyrics of this song include:

Oh-o freedom.
Oh-o freedom
Oh freedom over me,
(Over me.)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)

No segregation
No segregation
No more segregation
Over me
(Over me)
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave.
And go home to my Lord and be free.
(and be free.)

I chose this song because it is so meaningful and deep. The fact that freedom was finally granted for the African American population was something that changed everyone's life for the better. There would hopefully be no more racial hostility and everyone would have an equal chance to apply for jobs or get the chance to have equal pay. The line that got to me the most was "and before I be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave". I think you can interpret this line in various ways. The way I interpreted it was that no one could make anyone of African American descent be a slave anymore. The individual would rather be buried in their grave than to go back to the time of slavery because this time was unbearable and torture. This song raises the spirit of the population and stresses that freedom has finally come and it is here to stay. It was a good choice to sing it before the ever so famous "I Have a Dream" speech because it was a happy, delightful precursor to this speech that will live on forever.