I’ve mentioned this a couple of times before, but I am not satisfied I made my point.

“We shall overcome” is a love song masquerading as a protest song. Of course, it is a protest song. But it has origins before that as a hymn, or two, or perhaps more than two. While it is a protest song, it is pretty imprecise as a protest song. What exactly is it a protest against? Nothing, really. It is an anthem of unity to bring protesters together.

“We” as in “all of us gathered” and not the royal “We.” But those of us here, together, right now. We shall overcome.

But it is clearly not a love song as most people think of a love song. It certainly does seem to reflect any of the seven steps in writing a love song as described in this wikiHow article. When I hear this song, or when I sing it, I feel an act of defiance against the universe in the name of love. Whatever happens, I will stand by your side and we will overcome whatever we face.

Take a traditional wedding vow:

“To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.”

Is this any different than saying “we shall overcome”?

Regardless of the difficulties we face – health, loss, challenge, and poverty – we shall overcome these things to love one another, to each meet the needs of the other.

It really sounds like a love song to me. The first stanza sets the stage – we shall overcome.