The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #91352 Message #1737195
Posted By: fretless
10-May-06 - 10:49 AM
Thread Name: Songs for the March on Washington
Subject: RE: Songs for the March on Washington
My experience from that day more or less parallels Azizi's: a festive and upbeat atmosphere. By the time the Rev. king gave his now-famous speech I was sitting with my feet in the water of the Reflecting Pool, about half way between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington monument.
Of the songs you cite, maybe the Drinking Gourd was sung by some performer in between the speeches, but it NEVER was a marching song on the big march in Washington or for any of the CR demonstrations I participated in back then. Of the ones on the list, We shall overcome, Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round, and Woke up this morning with my mind on freedom are the ones I remember singing most frequently. Nothing formal or organized. Just clusters of similarly minded folks singing as we walked from the busses or Union Station to the west end of the National Mall. Add to the list "This little light of mine." It's surprising that Josephine missed that one.
One or two others from the list are conceivable as active CR songs from the march("Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round" perhaps) but I couldn't guarantee it.
On the other hand, the idea of folks on that march or any other from that era breaking out into a lusty rendering of "Swing low sweet chariot" is just laughable.
Finally, I don't remember seeing a book of "Songs for the March on Washington, August 28, 1963," either at the march or in CR activities thereafter. And I tend to be a collector. If I'd seen the book, I'd probably still have a copy at home.