First Line: 
I wish I knew how it would feel to be free

Artist & Tune

Composed by: 
Billy Taylor
Rec/Performed by: 
Nina Simone

Reference

Genre: 
jazz / swing
Culture: 
African-American

About the Song

Taylor's original version (as "I Wish I Knew") was recorded on November 12, 1963, and released on his "Right Here, Right Now!" album on Capitol Records the following year. The original version (& the one used in Taylor's own performances & recordings) was a jazz instrumental.

Taylor’s daughter Kim Taylor-Thompson, a law professor in New York, had initially inspired her father to write the song when she came home from school singing a spiritual. Taylor wrote the first verse early on, but got stuck on the verses and received help from the lyricist Dick Dallas in completing the other 2 verses. Account of the song's origins: https://www.ft.com/content/2ae1f31c-b339-11e6-9c37-5787335499a0

Nina Simone turned the song into a civil rights anthem. Her original cover of the song was on her 1967 album "Silk & Soul" on RCA Victor. The live performance below was from Montreux in 1977.

Some good covers:

  • The Lighthouse Family (as a song mashup) in 2001
  • Wynton Marsalis Septet & Susan Tedeschi at a Lincoln Center gala in 2007 - included on the 2018 album "United We Swing" benefiting educational programs that introduce children to jazz
  • Levon Helm 2009
  • John Legend & The Roots in 2010
  • Emeli Sandé in 2013
  • Marcy Marxer on her 2013 "Things Are Coming My Way" album
  • Andra Day recorded a slow, soulful version that was used in the 2018 film "Acrimony"
  • Annie Patterson & Mary Witt on their 2020 "Fearless: Celebrating Women Singers" album 
  • Blind Boys of Alabama with Béla Fleck in 2021

Here is a comprehensive listing of many covers of the song: https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/500693/versions

I wish I knew how
It would feel to be free
I wish I could break
All the chains holding me
I wish I could say
All the things that I should say
Say 'em loud say 'em clear
For the whole round world to hear

I wish I could share
All the love that's in my heart
Remove all the bars
That keep us apart
I wish you could know
What it means to be me
Then you'd see and agree
That every man should be free

I wish I could give
All I'm longin' to give
I wish I could live
Like I'm longin' to live
I wish I could do
All the things that I can do
Though I'm way overdue
I'd be starting anew.

Well I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
How sweet it would be
If I found I could fly
I'd soar to the sun
And look down at the sea
And I sing 'cause I know
How it feels to be free

Wikipedia Entry