"We Gotta Pray" is a song recorded by American recording artist

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

. A piano ballad, the song is regarded as Keys' response to the police brutality controversies, namely the killings of

Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...

and Michael Brown, that have caused nationwide protests in the United States.

Background

Keys was one of the many artists who, by releasing a song publicly, reacted to the grand jury decision not to indict the police officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner. Although released the same night the no-indictment decision was announced, the song was written months earlier. In an interview with ''

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'', Keys stated that she was inspired to write the song after being moved by the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The song was posted on Keys'

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account on December 3, 2014. Keys later tweeted that "I wrote #WeGottaPray awhile ago, yet the lyrics have never meant more to me than during this time".

Composition

"We Gotta Pray" is a three-minute ballad and is driven by "a single sparse piano accompaniment". In the song, Keys sings "Violence everywhere, barely holding on, what the hell going on, do you know who you are". Additionally, Keys sings about sirens and violence being everywhere. Andrew R. Chow of ''

'' described the composition as having a "hymnal quality" that the song features "declarations of uplift and self-affirmation" such as “We are extraordinary people / Living ordinary lives”. Justin Davis of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' wrote that "We Gotta Pray" is a song that "brings attention to the troubling social issues we live in today". As described by ''

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'', Keys encourages to "keep the faith and continue on a righteous path in life" and "spreads the message of prayer to the world". '' Billboard'' compared it to Keys' previous single " We Are Here", and noted that it is another "socially conscious" ballad from the singer.

Video

The video for the song consists of various pictures of protestors and quotes from prominent civil rights activists.

References

External links

{{Alicia Keys singles 2014 songs Alicia Keys songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Alicia Keys