"I Shall Not Be Moved" (Roud 9134), also known as "We Shall Not Be Moved", is anAfrican-Americanspiritual,hymn, andprotest song dating to the early 19th century American south.[1][2] It was likely originally sung at revivalistcamp-meetings as aslave jubilee. The song describes being "like a tree planted by the waters" who "shall not be moved" because of faith inGod. Secularly, as "We Shall Not Be Moved" it gained popularity as a labor union song and a protest song of theCivil Rights Movement.[3]
The text is based on biblical scripture:
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
As "We Shall Not Be Moved" the song gained popularity as a protest and union song of theCivil rights movement.[3]
The song became popular in the Swedishanti-nuclear andpeace movements in the late 1970s, in a Swedish translation by Roland von Malmborg, "Aldrig ger vi upp" ('Never shall we give up').[5]
In the 1964The Andy Griffith Show episode "Aunt Bee the Crusader", a group of protesting women sing the chorus of this song to declare their intent to remain on the property of a man who's about to be evicted to make way for a highway project.
In Great Britain in the 1980s the song was used by the popular British wrestlerBig Daddy as his walk-on music, which would be greeted by cheers from the fans.[32]
David Spener has written a book documenting the history of this song title, including how it was translated into Spanish, changing the first singular to third person plural, "No Nos Moverán"[33] (meaning "They will not move us"). That version was part of the soundtrack of the well-known popular tv seriesVerano azul, which popularized the song among the Spanish youth.[34]
JB Burnett covered the song for the first episode of the third season ofSupernatural ("The Magnificent Seven").[citation needed]
Playwright Isaiah Reaves used the name for his show describing his grandmother's experiences as a Freedom Rider.[35]
In the children's television programmeRecess, Season 1 Episode 2 "The Great Jungle Gym Standoff" references the song in the context of the students' jungle gym "Old Rusty" being replaced, in response to which the students of the school all protest it's removal by gathering on the jungle gym and singing "We Shall Not be Moved".[36]
^Louise Pettersson (2010)."På jakt efter miljörörelsens sångtradition" [In search of the Swedish environmental movement's song tradition].Hgo.diva-Portal.org (in Swedish). Retrieved2019-03-25.
