I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" | |
---|---|
Single by Nina Simone | |
from the album Silk & Soul | |
Released | 1967 |
Genre | Gospel, jazz |
Length | 3:06 |
Label | RCA |
Songwriter(s) | Billy Taylor |
"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a
Taylor said: "I wrote this song, perhaps my best-known composition, for my daughter Kim."[2]
Cover versions
The song served as an anthem for the
Lighthouse Family covered it as "(I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be) Free/One", a medley with U2's "One".[4]
Other artists who have covered the song include Don Shirley (1968), Junior Mance (1968), Illinois Jacquet (1968), Solomon Burke (1968), Marlena Shaw (1969), Cold Blood (1969), John Denver (1969), Doris (1970), Mary Travers (1971), John Fahey (1976), Jools Holland (1997), The Derek Trucks Band (2006), Levon Helm (2009), John Legend and the Roots (2010), Mavis Staples with Levon Helm (2011, released 2022), Emeli Sandé (2012), and The Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Béla Fleck (2021).
The song was also covered by Andra Day for the 2018 film Acrimony.[5]
An arrangement of the song for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Margaret Bonds was commissioned by Leontyne Price for her albu with the Rust College Choir, but Price did not record Bonds's arrangement.[6]
Dionne Farris performed the song for the soundtrack of the movie Ghosts of Mississippi, released in 1996.[7]
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[8] Nina Simone version |
Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Gunn, Alison (November 28, 2016). "The Life of a Song: 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free'". Financial Times. London. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Billy Taylor Discography". Archived from the original on December 5, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ISBN 1-58115-416-X.
- YouTube
- ^ "Andra Day's 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free' Cover from 'Acrimony' Released". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- ^ Leontyne Price, Rust College Choir – I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free (1971, Vinyl), retrieved February 19, 2021
- ^ Meeker, David (2019), Jazz on the screen: a jazz and blues filmography (PDF) (8th ed.), Washington, DC: Library of Congress, p. 796
- ^ "British single certifications – Nina Simone – I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Fr". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
External links
- "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free". American Treasures of the Library of Congress. July 27, 2010.