Yesterday I felt, the song 'We shall overcome' is outdated and not relevant at all anymore for students to continue to sing in schools as a patriotic song. 'We shall Overcome Someday' (हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन - in Hindi) is not saying much.
It was originally written by Rev. Charles Tindley, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was used as protest song during US civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and U.S. Senator for New York Robert F. Kennedy used it while leading the anti-apartheid crowds in Africa.
The website http://www.songsforteaching.com/positiveattitudes.htm has lots of 'Songs That Build Positive Attitudes and Self-Esteem', appropriate for schools.
Just a few for sample -
What a Wonderful World
by Louis Armstrong
I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom, for me and for you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, clouds of white
Bright blessed days, dark sacred nights
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of a rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do
They’re really saying, I love you.
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
A Bright Tomorrow
by Laszlo Slomovits
Painting a bright tomorrow begins here today.
I get to choose the colors, I get to have my say,
By how I think today.
I can think in the very best way.
I get to choose every day.
My mind is like a brush, I paint with each thought.
If I don’t like the way things look, I look at the paints I brought
And think a different way.
I can think in the very best way.
I get to choose every day.
Yesterday is done, there’s no way I can change it.
Tomorrow’s not yet here, but I can pre-arrange it
By how I live today.
I can think in the very best way.
I get to choose every day.
If I don’t like a color I chose, I can create another shade.
I can just paint over it again and again, till I am happy with what I made.
It’s all in how I choose to look, it’s all in how I choose to feel.
The cup may look half empty, but half full is just as real.
I choose to see the world, filled with love and grace.
I choose to see myself, in the perfect time and place
By how I think today.
I can think in the very best way.
I get to choose every day.
So, painting a bright tomorrow, begins here today.
I get to choose the colors, I get to have my say
By how I think today, by how I act today,
By how I live today.
I can think in the very best way.
I get to choose every day.
I agree that saying "we shall overcome someday" is perhaps too vague and indecisive. But it does teach you to have faith in the future - that no matter how bleak things may look, they will improve. One has only to persist and not give up.
ReplyDeletesorbry I do not understand. Also it is so lenghthy Iam not able to relish fully. But I agree with you on principle.
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