(This short note to the Queen of Soul)
Her Voice was her refuge
Her unfailing thunder
In a world suborned by silence
There was melody
In that Voice
And memory in its method
Tinged, so indelibly, with pain and promise,
That Voice taught a reluctant world
The true spelling of
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
And the delicate sweetness
Which sometimes springs
From the abyss of adversity
But now, alas,
The Songbird is gone
Long live the songs
Yeah, Sista,
Tell Paul* Ol’ Man River is still rollin’ along
Tell Otis** We [still] got dreams to remember
(Pause)
Yeah…..
* Paul Robeson: legendary African American lawyer, star athlete, actor, singer, and civil rights activist. Ol’ Man River is one of his most remembered songs.
** Otis Redding: African American singer with a magnificently melodious voice; often called The King of Soul.