“A voice so pure - a vision so clear
I've gotta learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you”
Manic Street Preachers had many reasons to write a tribute to Paul Robeson. Robeson was a black athlete, singer and political activist who used his songs in the political ways, and with similar left leanings, that the Manics have ambitions towards. He was linked with Cuba as they were but he also had a role in Welsh history too. While in Britain in the 30s Robeson got himself involved with justice for Welsh miners; thirty years before the height of his country’s own civil rights’ campaign a black man was standing alongside the miners of the Rhondda Valley! Another Welsh singer Martyn Joseph has also paid tribute in song.
The powerful thing about the Manic’s tribute is a man whose life and vocation for singing were intrinsically linked. Robeson’s father was a minister and Robeson was the first singer to use Negro Spirituals in performance. Though he didn’t end up being a lifelong Church member he had a deep spirituality that linked art and life and justice. The lesson of the Manic’s song is a lesson for artists everywhere.
Comments