"I Shall Overcome" is the third single from

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Hard-Fi Hard-Fi is an English indie rock band, formed in 2003 in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey. The band consists of Richard Archer ( lead vocals and guitar), Ross Phillips (guitar and backing vocals), Kai Stephens (bass guitar and backing vocals) and S ...

's second album ''

Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati, based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, playing against t ...

''. It was released on 29 February 2008. Written and co-produced by

Richard Archer Richard Archer (born 18 January 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter and main composer of indie rock band Hard-Fi. Hard-Fi have produced several top 10 hits and two No. ...

, it features a

gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compos ...

and acoustic guitars along with a mariachi trumpet on the "Per un Pugno di Hard-Fi version".

Tracy Ackerman Tracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor. Ackerman has written for artists including Geri Halliwell, Cher, Boyzone, Tina ...

contributes backing vocals on the song. The song reached #35 in the UK Singles Charts, despite the fact that 1,000 copies were not counted due to a mistake made by Concert Live. It followed the success of "

Suburban Knights "Suburban Knights" is the first single from British rock band Hard-Fi's second studio album ''Once Upon a Time in the West''. The physical format of the single was released on 20 August 2007, the digital version was released on 6 August 2007. ...

" and " Can't Get Along (Without You)" in

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by reaching #4.

History

The song started off as a rough demo during the recording of ''

Stars of CCTV ''Stars of CCTV'' is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was first released on 4 July 2005 through Necessary Records and Atlantic Records. It received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the 2005 Mercur ...

''. The song is apparently based on people watching over and looking out for others, telling people not to give up and "to not let the bastards drag you down".YouTube – NME Video: Hard-Fi track by track album interview
/ref> Going deeper, the song is a tribute to frontman Richard Archer's late father, who was one of the few people to support his musical ambitions before he became successful, he told

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

"When you're from a town like ours and you wanna be in a band, everyone thinks you're just wasting time. There's always people out there who'll tell you 'Give it up, you're not good enough.' There's always haters that wanna criticize you and put you down just because you're there and they're not. It's about having someone standing there and saying 'I believe in you', and I was lucky enough to have that person. They're not around anymore, but this song's for them." Archer added: "It's my old man. I was lucky enough to have someone like him and he deserves these props."

said that the person in the song is his father and that he loves the groove on the track. He also announced the ''Per Un Pugno Di Hard-Fi version'' which has been stated to be different from the version that appears on ''

'', Archer explains;

"Those of you who came along on our December tour will know that ISO live was slightly different from the album version with a mariachi trumpet – we wanted to get a bit of that Ennio Morricone does Spaghetti Western vibe, hopefully you'll agree this worked and wasn't less Fistful of Dollars and more Three Amigos. Anyway we got Ben (who played trumpet on tour) in and did a studio version with a few extra bits and pieces."

The song was first announced as a single along with the live CD called '' Once Upon a Time in December''. On 10 March 2008, the band promoted the single by organizing a CD signing in

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

, Staines. The band also performed a select set list including "I Shall Overcome" in acoustic, "

" and " Hard to Beat" plus some covers including "A Town Called Malice" and "'' Should I Stay or Should I Go''".

B-sides

On 17 January 2008,

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

left a

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blog talking about the b-sides for the single.

"''Don't Wanna Fight'' was inspired by two things,
The Slickers The Slickers were a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae group in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Slickers centred on Derrick Crooks, one of the founding members of The Pioneers along with his brother Sydney. In the mid-1960s, The Slickers consis ...
track 'Johnny Too Bad' and a documentary I saw maybe a year ago about this bloke who was caught up in gangs and petty crime. The doc was following his attempt to leave that life behind for the sake of his girlfriend and young child. No Matter what he did he always seemed to find himself back where he started, you got the impression that he didn't really want to change at all."

"''Empty Streets'' – ever walked home alone from the pub a bit pissed and feeling a bit sorry for yourself??? Contrary to how it sounds – no weed was smoked whilst recording this track..."

"''Pain in My Heart'' – this was written some time ago not long after I lost my old man and I guess is about that. It's been slowly put together over time, so much so that most of the recording was already done, all we did was add some real piano."

also went on to mention an acoustic version of the track;

"We thought about making the acoustic version of ISO something different in its own right, a bit like the acoustic version of Livin for the Weekend – but it felt best just totally stripped down, just me singing and playing it into a mic. I think it adds another dimension to the song."

Competitions

In February 2008, a minisite called I Shall Overcome.co.uk (of which is advertised on the front cover of each physical release) was opened. It stated that the band wanted fans to show off their creative skills by remixing the track or creating a cover sleeve for the single.HARD-FI // I Shall Overcome
The winner of the remix competition would have their remix officially released by the band and serviced to club DJs while they would also receive a framed vinyl with their remix recorded on it. Winner of the cover sleeve competition would receive a framed copy of their design signed by each member of the band. The remix competition's winner was chosen by the public, it was possible to give each song a rating out of five. The remix by "DJ Newsagent" ended with the highest average rating and won the competition. The winners of the cover sleeve competition were chosen by the band themselves.

Music video

On the video from Pulse Films directing trio D.A.R.Y.L, was filmed in the ''All Stars'' boxing gym on the

Harrow Road Harrow Road is an ancient route in London, North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow, London, Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queen's Park, London, Queens Par ...

in west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The band offered a chance to fans, 18 years old or above, who looked like genuine boxing fans to appear as extras in the video through an online competition. A photo of the person had to be sent in and then the people who looked most appropriate for the video were given a phone call confirming that they had been chosen.Hard-Fi : News
/ref> The video is said to be inspired by the movies

Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto (in his final film role). The film ...

and Snatch. The video, filmed in black-and-white, depicts two boxers with one being the underdog who throughout the video is shown to either be given support by the crowd (with Archer standing among them as he sings) or shown on the roads of west

, being shown encouragement by his friends. The underdog eventually wins, staying true to the song title, "I Shall Overcome".

Trellick Tower Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed building, listed tower block on the Cheltenham Estate in Kensal Town, London. Opened in 1972, it was commissioned by the Greater London Council and designed in the Brutalist architecture, Brutalist style by ...

, a block of flats which has become a

landmark, makes a cameo appearance in the video.

Track listings

Notes *The "Per Un Pugno Di Hard-Fi Version" was originally called the "Over the top Extended Version", the name change often causes fans to think of the two names as two different versions, it is named after the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

name for the

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film,

Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (, (''For a Fistful of Dollars'')) is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Siegh ...

. It was available from 11 March 2008, exclusively through 7Digital. It was originally scheduled for release on 25 February 2008, but was pushed forward to 10 March 2008. Due to difficulties on the website it was pushed forward again to 17 March 2008 but ended up being available for download on 11 March 2008. *The Limited Edition CD is also referred to as 'I Shall Overcome CD2' and was also available by purchasing the '' Once Upon a Time in December'' multi-format bundle. It was released in various bundles, a live CD + download bundle and a bumper edition featuring the Live CD and download as well as all 3 formats of the forthcoming single ''I Shall Overcome''.Hard-Fi : News
/ref> *Live album + exclusive download of "I Shall Overcome" *Live album + exclusive download of "I Shall Overcome" + 3 physical These bundles were exclusive to those who attended one of the concerts during the band's December tour. One of the formats, which is the limited edition CD, was available only through this promotion. # Empty Streets # Pain in My Heart

CD 2 – Limited edition

# I Shall Overcome (

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello ...

Remix) # Don't Wanna Fight # I Shall Overcome (Video)

7"

# I Shall Overcome (Radio Edit) # I Shall Overcome (Acoustic)

Digital download

# I Shall Overcome (Album Version) # I Shall Overcome (Per Un Pugno Di Hard-Fi Version) # I Shall Overcome (

Remix) # I Shall Overcome (

Shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...

Remix)

Charts

"I Shall Overcome" has been listed for 1 week on the UK Singles Chart. It fared better than its predecessor " Can't Get Along (Without You)" which peaked only at #45. This single charted ten places higher in the UK Singles Chart, peaking in the UK Top 40 at #35 on 16 March 2008, where it dropped out of the Top 75 altogether the following week.

Uncounted sales

On 20 March 2008,

posted a blog stating that due to an administrative mistake, around 1000 copies ordered during the December tour were not counted towards the chart position, he said, "you can imagine we're not pleased."

References

External links

I Shall Overcome.co.uk
* * {{authority control Hard-Fi songs 2008 singles Songs written by Richard Archer 2007 songs Warner Music Group singles Black-and-white music videos