“Glory” Program Notes 

We’re sure that many of our audiences will recognize “Glory” as the Academy Award-winning single written by Common and John Legend from the film Selma, a 2014 film based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches which were initiated and directed by James Bevel and led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. Rapper Common portrayed James Bevel in the film, and while he was in the midst of filming Director Ava DuVernay approached him with the idea of composing a new song for the ending credits. He then engaged John Legend to create the sung chorus of the song that formed the framework for his rap verses. 

When asked about the core inspiration for the work, Common emphasized that “this is not only for paying honor to those who lived in these times during the ’60s, but also really relevant to today. I wanted something that tied the spirit of Selma with what was happening in the streets at the time we were writing, which was people protesting in Ferguson and eventually New York about injustice and police brutality." 

As John Legend said in his acceptance speech at the Oscars, “It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago, but we say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now.” 

In essence, the song was composed with the idea of moving the needle forward—of acknowledging that there is still work to do. That is the same spirit with which TWC’s own Eugene Rogers approached the project of adapting this work for chorus and soloist. 

In order to achieve that, and to make the song less specific to the film for wider performance uses, Rogers created new spoken lyrics with permission of both Common and John Legend (you can read the original text here). These new lyrics build on the motivation of the original, offering comfort to the community while still motivating individuals to keep working for a better tomorrow. 

Tonight’s performance of “Glory” is presented in remembrance of the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, which took place between March 7 and March 25, 1965.