Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press

Roger Waters has performed folk standard ‘We Shall Overcome‘ during a Brazilian livestream event celebrating labor holiday May Day.

“I know this is something of a celebration of the great labor movement in Brazil,” the former Pink Floyd visionary shared. “So my heart is with you.”

“Anyway,” he continued, “these are troubling times so stay safe.”

Waters then performed the song before offering some closing remarks.

“I’m so happy that I’m with you,” he concluded. “We’ve got to continue the fight. We have to save this planet. And it’s only we who can do it. The unions, the working class, the ordinary people are the only ones who can save the planet from THEM!”

Organized by labor unions across the country, the event also featured former Brazilian presidents Lula, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and Marina Silva.

Roger Waters’ appearance would not have come as too great of a surprise to his Brazilian fanbase.

In past, he has frequently expressed a critical view of the nation’s right-wing government.

In particular, current president Jair Bolsonaro.

“I know it’s none of my business,” Waters shared of the former military official at a 2018 concert, “except that, by and large, I am against the resurgence of fascism all over the world.”

The livestream is not first time Waters has performed ‘We Shall Overcome’.

Roger also released a version of the song for 2016’s ‘Freedom March to Gaza’ protest.

Based on the hymn ‘U Sanctissima’, ‘We Shall Overcome’ became a popular standard in Black American churches across America in the early 1900s.

Adopted as a civil rights anthem during the 1960s, the song reached an even broader audience when it became a chart-topping single for folk singer Joan Baez (who would also perform the song at Woodstock).

Today, ‘We Shall Overcome’ remains a universal statement of peaceful resistance and solidarity.

Self-isolating during the contrarious pandemic, Roger Waters also released a cover of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara’s ‘The Right to Live in Peace’.

Following this he shared a video of previously unreleased 2012 composition ‘The Child Will Fly’ – a song written for South American charity Early Learning and featuring Eric Clapton, pop star Shakira as well as several other notable South American acts.