Bill Wither's "Lean On Me" Sung During Anti-Police Brutality Rallies (June 2020)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about African American singer/songwriter Bill Withers as well as information about his 1972 song "Lean On Me". A 1973 video of Bill Wither singing "Lean On Me" is showcased in this post.

This pancocojams post also showcases four videos of participants at anti-police brutality protest rallies in the United States (June 2020) singing Bill Withers' song "Lean On Me". Notice that I've found no documentation of this song being sung by people marching in protest demonstrations.

Selected comments from the discussion thread for one of these videos are included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Bill Withers for composing and performing "Lean On Me". Thanks to all those who have participated in peaceful protest rallies and marches. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of all those videos that are included in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BILL WITHERS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Withers
"William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician.[1] He recorded several major hits, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977), and "Just the Two of Us" (1980). Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill.[1] He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.[2][3] Two of his songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Withers worked as a professional musician for just 15 years, from 1970 to 1985, after which he moved on to other occupations."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT BILL WITHERS' SONG "LEAN ON ME"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_on_Me_(song)
“ “Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100; the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972.[1] Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972.[2] It is ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[3] Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the US Singles Charts with versions recorded by two different artists.[4]”...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO - Bill Withers - Lean On Me (1973 live)



Old Jazz, Oct 4, 2019
-snip-
Click https://genius.com/Bill-withers-lean-on-me-lyrics for the lyrics to Bill Withers' song "Lean On Me". I don't know if the entire song is sung at these protest rallies. However, "Lean on me" is a relatively familiar R&B song whose first verse, chorus, and bridge perfectly fit the underlying theme of those rallies that regardless of race, creed, or color people should be able to depend on others in times of difficulty.

"[Verse 1]
Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

[Chorus]
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

[....]

[Bridge]
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on"...

Click https://genius.com/Bill-withers-lean-on-me-lyrics for the complete lyrics for this song.

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SHOWCASE PROTEST VIDEOS
Video #1: Protesters sing “Lean on Me” at Asbury Park demonstration



NJ.com, Jun 1, 2020
-snip-
Asbury Park is a city in New Jersey (United States)


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Video #2: Richmond Protestors Sing Lean On Me | June 2, 2020



VPM, Jun 2, 2020

Thousands of protestors in Richmond, Virginia sang Lean On Me minutes after curfew broke. The marchers were gathered at the Robert E. Lee Monument, protesting police brutality and chanting "tear it down" in reference to the monument. The evening before, marchers at the same location were met with tear-gas, which sparking community outrage.

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Video #3: Thousands of Peaceful Protesters Sing "Lean on Me" Outside White House



Kryptospotted, Jun 3, 2020

Just over a week after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, thousands of peaceful protesters sing the late Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" in front of the White House, as 10 buses of military personnel descend on the area blocks away.

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Video #4: Washington Voices stand upto Trump & sing 'Lean On Me'



Tony Dortie - 24/7 Eyes, Jun 4, 2020

Washington Voices stand upto Trump & sing 'Lean On Me'
-snip-
Washington here means "Washington D.C." , the capital of the United States and not the state of Washington.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only. Unless otherwise noted, these comments are from June 4, 2020.)
1. serpentinefire77
"Thank you, the late and visionary Bill Withers for this modern day hymn of solidarity. I can still hear my mother singing around the house when l was child. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾"

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2. Sf Bentley
"Beautiful to see all races come together. Peaceful protest for justice."

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3. Ana Carrera
"I love how people have come together in union as one from all kinds of backgrounds, color, race, gender, religion, ethnic and aged as humans to plea for change and to end the horrible abuse of power, social injustice, inequality, racial discrimination because under the eyes of God we all are precious and equal and we are commanded to love one another as we love yourself."

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4. Ruthie Monroig
"This is touching 💗this is what the American people should continue to do..lets stand together like brothers and sisters 💯"

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REPLY
5. Aleta Mize, June 5, 2020
"Amen my family of awesome colors of Americans . We are in this all together."

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6. Universal acoustic radio
"I think this is fantastic....but have ye forgotten about the virus..?..all of the best of people out mixing close..?
Please be careful"

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7. 2011Mamamia
"People are more afraid of Trump’s very bad attitude than the Covid virus. Thats how angry USA are!"
-snip-
Read the excerpts in the comment section for this pancocojams post about coronavirus and protest marches/rallies as well as singing (and probably also chanted although that isn't mentioned) being a factor in catching the coronavirus.

Notice that a large number of protesters worn/wear face masks so they haven't disregarded the risk of getting Covid-19. However, it appears that these protesters consider the reality of police brutality and the unjust police system is more of a threat (particularly to People of Color) than the possibility of getting Covid-19.

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