Two Feet In | Writing and the Institution

The Singer Poets First, the song itself, here sung by Baez in 1965. We shall overcome We shall overcome We shall overcome some day Oh, deep in my heart I do believe We shall overcome some day Note that this was a BBC4 production, when UK and US broadcasters felt a greater social need to reflect and cultivate culture more than make profits, including profits based on shock TV strategies just to make people angry or afraid. What I find beautiful in this video is not only Baez's beauty and her simple guitar, but her intimate invitation to an audience to participate  instead of simply observing. Her solo performance would have been moving enough, but the idyllic faces of the singers in the room make this as intimate a performance as I've seen. Not spectacular. Community-building.  Note, too, that in this video, she simply assumes her audience knows the song -- "Will you sing 'We Shall Overcome' with me, please?" and then leads a simple call a...

William Billings is one of the most important early American (British American) hymnal writers, yet is too often overlooked by believing and agnostic songwriters for his influence and his perception of the human condition as both depraved and simultaneously so divine. Billings was born in 1746 in Boston (which is why I claim he's British American) and was a tanner by trade. In those pre-revolution days, Billings new Adams and Revere and the other hot-heads, spending time in the taverns in their revolutionary public spheres, despite his bodily deformities. University of Houston's John Lienhard describes his appearance as a "gargoyle" and as a man addicted to tobacco, likely causing his early death at the age of 54 in 1800. His first psalter, New England Psalm Singer  (1770) was printed in Boston and engraved by Paul Revere. This is the first psalter entirely printed in the colonies -- Billings specifically waited to print the book until he could guarantee that th...