A voice so pure - a vision so clear
I gotta learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Where are you now ?
Broken up or still around ?
The CIA says you're a guilty man
Will we see the likes of you again ?
Can anyone make a difference anymore ?
Can anyone write a protest song ?
Pinky lefty revolutionary
Burnt at the stake for
A voice so pure - a vision so clear
I gotta learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Went to Cuba to meet Castro
Never got past sleepy Moscow
A giant man with a heavenly voice
MK Ultra turned you paranoid
No passport 'til 1958
McCarthy poisoned through with hate
Liberty lost still buried today
Beneath the lie of the USA
A voice so pure - a vision so clear
I gotta learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Pass the mic
Believe the hype
JDB is flying the kite
Come into the valley where the sun don't shine
Standing in the shadow of a colliery mine
Face the mic 'cos I'm a righteous type
I'm a night time sleeper, day time preacher
Playin' in Cuba like a Manic Street Preacher
Teacher, teacher turned onto preacher
Rockin' in Havana like a Manic Street Preacher
Rockin' in Havana like a Manic Street Preacher preacher, preacher, preacher, preacher...
A voice so pure - a vision so clear
I gotta learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Sing it loud, sing it proud
I will be heard, I will be found
Sing it loud, sing it proud
I will be heard, I will be found
Sing it loud, sing it proud
I will be heard, I will be found
Lyrics by:
Nick Jones
Format:
Released 10th September 2001:
Let Robeson Sing / Masking Tape / Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel (traditional) / Let Robeson Sing (video-clip) (Sony Music, add catalogue number here, CD1)
Let Robeson Sing / Let Robeson Sing (Ian Brown Remix) / Let Robeson Sing (Thee Electro Club Mix By Felix Da Housecat) / Let Robeson Sing (Live From Karl Marx Stadium, Havana, Cuba, 17th February 2001) / Let Robeson Sing (CD-ROM Video) (Live From Karl Marx Stadium, Havana, Cuba) (Sony Music, 671 773-5, CD2)
Fear Of Motion / Let Robeson Sing (Ian Brown Remix) / Let Robeson Sing (Thee Glitz Mix By Felix Da Housecat) (Sony Music, 671 773-6, 12")
Also available on:
Let Robeson Sing CD2 (as b side)
Details:
This is an Ian Brown mix of a 2001 Manic Street Preachers single, Let Robeson Sing, with fine rapping from Ian. The Stone Roses and Manic Street Preachers had crossed paths before, at what was to be John Squire's final gig with the band - Wembley (29 / 12 / 95) - with the Welsh outfit providing support. The Stone Roses have long been an influence on the Manic Street Preachers and the band have always been praising of the Roses' in the press. Here is Nicky Wire, bassist of Manic Street Preachers, choosing his highlight of 1996's Knebworth:
Paul Robeson (1898 - 1976) was an athlete, scholar, performer and activist for civil rights. Rising to prominence in a time when segregation was legal in the United States, he was a courageous fighter against racism, standing firm against the persecution he suffered during the Cold War. In the late 1940s, when anti-Communist fear in the U.S. was beginning to reach paranoic levels, Robeson openly questioned why African Americans should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism. Because of his outspokenness (and his call for peaceful relations with Soviet Russia), he was accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of being a Communist. The accusation nearly ended his career. Eighty of his concerts were cancelled, and in 1949 two interracial outdoor concerts in Peekskill, N.Y. were attacked by racist mobs while state police stood by. Robeson responded, "I'm going to sing wherever the people want me to sing...and I won't be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere else" (hence, the call in the song to "Let Robeson sing").
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