The Civil Rights movement was well publicized by 1967 when Nina Simone recorded “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free.” Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is already four years old and the movement is gaining more momentum. The song comes at a time also of success for the movement; in a supreme court, Loving v. Virginia, laws are overturned that ban interracial marriage.
Similarly to Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright,” “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free,” was used as an anthem for the Civil Rights movement. The song is said to have been one of Martin Luther King’s favorites. Simone’s music was empowering and hopeful that one day she would live in a world without segregation and racism, and she would be able to express herself freely through music without the fear of being silenced. Simone believed that to be free was “no fear.” The Civil Rights protestors feared violence from police and organizations like the Klu Klux Klan. The chains Simone references likely referred to the Jim Crow Laws.
In the 1960’s, religion is what many protestors looked to for support and answers. “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free” sounds like gospel music and Nina Simone often played in churches. She was very spiritual and had a lot of faith in God, often writing song about her faith. Whenever, Simone performed “I Wish I Knew” at jazz clubs, the audience would “erupt into applause.” They knew that it was time to feel what its like to be free. In 1976 Simone's wish in this song, has come true, and performs it as such.
-Shannon Connell
-Shannon Connell
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ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent song choice and analysis! Good work here. It's so interesting how different the last version of the song you link to is from your initial source text. From the melody to the lyrics to the tone--so very different. The latter version does sound much more hopeful. But I think my favorite part is when she says that without freedom, we're "murderous." What an amazing way to put a necessary and implicit threat of violence should freedom be retracted or not fully realized. Embedding that looming sense of intense retribution in a hopeful melody is so cool--and it makes me a little sad,as if Nina Simone could predict our time. I wonder how NS would feel about the backslide in progress that has catalyzed the BLM movement?
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I love your analysis of kairos here. Like many texts, ads, and films in the 1960s, music was also extremely influential. There is obviously no coincidence that she recorded this song at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. I also like how you included religion into your post. Her gospel like performances gave people a lot of spirit and faith in the movement.
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