How a Cover Song Fueled Two Revolutions
How did this cover of a Bob Dylan song by Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone help inspire revolutions?
In the 1960s and 70s ‘I Shall Be Released’ became an anthem of the era in both South Africa and the US. What did these musical movements have in common? How did the song change as it traveled the globe?
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@TheVuduYuDu
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Thank you!
@jkgannon1049
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Beautiful
@cheifwhat
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
You know, Jesus is a colonial imposition too.
@killbillionaires1312
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
PBS is the USA's free TV right? The stuff anyone can access with a screen, not needing subscriptions? Y'all please don't let this die, this is more informative than anything I've seen from the BBC in ages!
@Uminustaka
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Thank you for this video!
@DeRien8
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
I first heard Pata Pata a couple months ago on WNYC and they talked about its apartheid ban and impact as a protest song. I'm glad to have found this, to learn even more and get a broader view after the quick footnote on the radio!
@SeanLawrenceKearns
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
"hurt turned into happiness" … Yep… Ooof.
@KingfisherTalkingPictures
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
I heard The Band’s version and knew it had to be the heart of my first film. This song opened a light in my heart. To hear that it helped liberate so many people makes my heart swell with joy. Thank you so much for this wonderful video.
@TheNotSoMightyThor
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Thank you so much for this video! The timeliness seems amazing (seemingly impossibly so – like magic – like, truly serendipitous). Not only because more than ever we have to learn the lessons of human rights movements of the past, but for me specifically, because I just started teaching a course on music and culture in Japan this past Wednesday, and our very first lesson included Bob Dylan and Nina Simone (though I was focusing on Hurricane and Strange Fruit, respectively). I will share this with my students and we will discuss it deeply. I will encourage them to comment, like and subscribe. We have to save PBS.
@kolyabarnez1774
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Jacob Miller covered this song as well!
@kimjodoin868
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
You forgot Joan Baez and Pete Seeger!
@HenryCasillas
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
🧭
@mikecaetano
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Jamaica too! The Heptones "I Shall Be Released" (1969)
@mstaaby
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
I didn’t know a thing about the South African plight! Nice video
@justalittlebawn
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
These stories of hope and liberation and togetherness are so important right now
@BrakeForLoop
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
This is wonderful! Music and the arts are so important.
@BarrioFabulous
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Mysterious forces known to me as the algorithm of GORT brought me to this superior video. I found essential history and music wrapped compellingly together here. Kudos, bravo. The Internet is a better place with Sound Field in it.
@Radar_of_the_Stars
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Such a cool story, and a good reminder that there is more that links us than there is that drives us apart!
@kijekuyo9494
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Nicely structured video.
Now, I'm off to arrange a reggae version of the song.
@starfox5467
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
I tried watching this video, but I got sea sick a few seconds in and had to take a break
@LaurenBerns
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Thanks a lot; this channel is great.
@hansvandermeulen5515
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
"Segregation and discrimination."
Sounds like Apartheid to me.
@TaliaOutwrong
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
I’m so excited that you’re back!!!!!
@elihyland4781
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
This is incredible
@mandobrownie
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Didn’t know any of this! I’ve heard the song before, I think the Dylan version, but I didn’t know it was so instrumental to one of the biggest political movements of the twentieth century.
@timarasa
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
4:14 Huh, Jeff Buckley was not a contemporary of the artists listed who covered the song in that era. He was born in 1966. Tremendous folk-rock artist of the 1990s, died young. His father Tim Buckley was a folk musician in the 1960s…maybe the doc creators conflated the 2 men into 1 persona? It seemed odd purely from a time perspective to mention him.
Other than that, LOVED the documentary 🎉
@daltongrowley5280
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
New recommendation unlocked!
@christopherhughes2492
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
End Apartheid Israel!
@Carthage_o.o
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Support Public Broadcasting
@OhWellHereIAm
April 10, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Remember War by Bob Marley?
Comments are closed.