All songs have to be contextualized, IMO. That's what performers do on stage when they 'grab' an audience. Pacing and context. It's the job of the performer to ace where a given audience 'is' and take 'em where the performer convinces them they wanna go.

A tremendous rendition of WSO can be found on Seeger's WSO Concert at Carnegie Hall. It worked, and the audience was up for it. It was a song meant to give people heart and determination.

Some demonstrations were pretty damned scary. Having an 80-90 pound German Shepherd straining at the end of a leash snarling at you is a situation calling for a .357 or some serious spiritual support. That's what the songs were meant for, IMO. They were the expressions of dreams and hopes for a better world; the expressions of will from the singers: little kids to old adults. They helped give a sense of comfort--as much as one can find that while looking down the muzzles of rifles held by kids who were just as scared as the people who were protesting.

Still, today, great oratory can move people, even when it's 'old' oration. I read MLK's "I have a Dream" speech to grade 11 or 12 students after establishing the historical context. I am a percent of a percent of a percent the speaker that King was, but my students love it. Imagine the feeling in that crowd when King did it in person? Wow!

Good eye, sc and PG.

Later.

BM