You Gotta Sing, made famous by Raffi, is the Peace Song of the Day for January 7th. This song is about joy, spirit, and intention. You gotta sing when the spirit says sing!

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More about…”You Gotta Sing”

This song came from music of the Black Church. Later it was modified for the Civil Rights era. Finally, it was used by Raffi as part of his repertoire of songs for children. The original song was “I’m Gonna Do What The Spirit Says“. You can find the lyrics to that song in the Rise Up Singing songbook on page 210.

A song with such spirit and positive energy would be great for a campfire, peace march or occupation. You could add words like this: “You gotta march when the spirit says march…”; “You gotta occupy all around…”; “You gotta organize to win…”…

At Rise Up Singing, they include the verse: “I’m goin’ to jail, when the spirit says jail…”

Some lyrics:

You gotta sing when the spirit says sing,
You gotta sing when the spirit says sing,
When the spirit says sing, you gotta sing right along
You gotta sing when the spirit says sing.

You gotta shout when the spirit says shout,
You gotta shout when the spirit says shout,
When the spirit says shout, you gotta shout right out loud,
You gotta shout when the spirit says shout.