Let Robeson Sing

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 turn on the 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:
Jones / Bradfield / Moore / Brown

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")

Details:

Top: 'MK-ULTRA turned you paranoid.' Following the CIA/Belgian assisted assassination of anti-colonialist leader Patrice Lumumba in January 1961, Robeson started to question his own safety in London. Going against the advice of his wife Eslanda, who wishes to stay in London, and deciding he is ready to return to the US and assume a role in the civil rights movement he helped build, Robeson makes plans for a trip to Africa, China and lastly Cuba on the personal invitation of Fidel Castro. The CIA find out about this through an informant at the Moscow embassy. On the morning of 27th March 1961, after an uncharacteristically wild party in Robeson's Moscow suite, he locks himself in his bedroom and attempts suicide by cutting his wrists. Three days later, while under Soviet medical care, Robeson told his son that he felt extreme paranoia, thought that the walls of the room were moving and, overcome by a powerful sense of emptiness and depression, tried to take his own life. ('Went to Cuba to meet Castro, Never got past sleepy Moscow.')
Bottom: 'No passport 'til 1958, McCarthy poisoned through with hate.' Senate Investigation Sub-Committee (Senator Joseph McCarthy is front-left), 1953.

Ian Brown remixed the 2001 Manic Street Preachers single, Let Robeson Sing, and contributed a splendid rap. 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, in December 1995 - with the Welsh outfit providing support. In December 2002, Ian Brown returned the compliment, providing support for Manic Street Preachers over the course of ten shows.

Let Robeson Sing cover artwork.

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