"I Shall Overcome" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Hard-Fi | ||||
from the album Once Upon a Time in the West | ||||
B-side | "Empty Streets, Don't Wanna Fight, Pain In My Heart, I Shall Overcome (acoustic)" | |||
Released | 29 February 2008 | |||
Format |
CD single, 7", Limited Edition CD (1000 copies) |
|||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Genre | Alternative dance | |||
Length | 4:16 | |||
Label | Warner Music | |||
Songwriter(s) | Richard Archer | |||
Hard-Fi singles chronology | ||||
|
"I Shall Overcome" is the third single from English indie rock band Hard-Fi's second album Once Upon a Time in the West. It was released on 29 February 2008. Written and co-produced by Richard Archer, it features a gospel choir and acoustic guitars along with a mariachi trumpet on the "Per un Pugno di Hard-Fi version". Tracy Ackerman contributes backing vocals on the song.
The song reached #35 in the UK Singles Charts, despite the fact that 1,000 copies were not counted due to a mistake made by Concert Live. It followed the success of "Suburban Knights" and "Can't Get Along (Without You)" in Peru by reaching #4.
The song started off as a rough demo during the recording of Stars of CCTV. The song is apparently based on people watching over and looking out for others, telling people not to give up and "to not let the bastards drag you down".
Going deeper, the song is a tribute to frontman Richard Archer's late father, who was one of the few people to support his musical ambitions before he became successful, he told XFM "When you're from a town like ours and you wanna be in a band, everyone thinks you're just wasting time. There's always people out there who'll tell you 'Give it up, you're not good enough.' There's always haters that wanna criticize you and put you down just because you're there and they're not. It's about having someone standing there and saying 'I believe in you', and I was lucky enough to have that person. They're not around anymore, but this song's for them." Archer added: "It's my old man. I was lucky enough to have someone like him and he deserves these props."
Richard Archer said that the person in the song is his father and that he loves the groove on the track.
He also announced the Per Un Pugno Di Hard-Fi version which has been stated to be different from the version that appears on Once Upon a Time in the West, Archer explains;