RMO is working on Everybody's Got a Right to Live in collaboration with the Poor People's Campaign (PPC).
"Everybody's Got a Right to Live" originated during the original 1968 Poor People's Campaign. Singer-songwriters Jimmy Collier and Rev. Frederick Douglass “Kirk” Kirkpatrick (1933‒1987) offer a collection of original songs on civil rights themes in their 1968 album of the same title. Both men were associates of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in April 1968, just prior to the recording of this album. Collier sums up the significance of music’s role in the Civil Rights Movement through this quote in the album’s liner notes: “Music is the easiest way to tell the story of what we’re trying to do; [our] songs are one of the best tools for getting people together.” They later recorded a version with Pete Seeger.
Lyrics:
Chorus:
Everybody’s got a right to live
Everybody’s got a right to live
And before this campaign fails
We’ll all go down to jail
Everybody’s got a right to live
Call and Response Bridge:
Everybody’s got a right to live
(to live)
Everybody’s got a right to dream
(to dream)
Everybody’s got a right to love
(to love)
Everybody’s got a right to learn
(to learn)
etc.
Can also substitute the word "live" in the chorus for other words, as with many "zipper" songs.
References:
Poor People's Campaign version (may be in a different key than our sheet music)
Original version by Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick and Jimmy Collier
Version with Pete Seeger
Poor People's Campaign Songbook (page 23)
