Barack Obama skips verse of “We Shall Overcome”

by Christian Grantham - 3:35 pm January 20, 2008

In this video from earlier today, Barack Obama sings “We Shall Over Come” at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Watch what Obama does for the entire verse “God Is On Our Side.” I’m not sure why he did it (advance to 3:16), but the woman to the far left appears to look at him and recognize what he is doing. This is a five minute video so you can see Obama sing every other verse just fine.

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| related: 2008 Presidential

12 Comments » | RSS for these comments TrackBack URL

1. Comment by Sean Braisted — January 20, 2008 @ 4:27 pm

   I don’t see a link to the video…but I’d imagine that he skipped it because he didn’t want to give people the impression that he was God’s chosen candidate.

   
   
   

2. Comment by Sean Braisted — January 20, 2008 @ 4:40 pm

   Also, many versions of the song don’t have the phrase “God is on our side” in there. But while I don’t know which version you are looking at, watching the Cspan video I can’t tell if his lips are moving when his head is bowed (which it is numerous times during the song).

   Either way, you bring up the question, I ask you, what is your point to asking it?

   
   
   

3. Comment by Christian — January 20, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

   Sean, i think you’re right. Once YouTube approves, it will be linked. But when you see it, you’ll know it. It happens around 3:16 into the video.

   No point other than recognizing it seemed out of place, enough for a woman sharing the stage to appear to notice it in front of the congregation. But I could be completely misreading it.

   
   
   

4. Comment by Sean Braisted — January 20, 2008 @ 5:10 pm

   Watch the whole video carefully, there are many times when his head is bowed and he is singing, where you can’t see if his lips were moving. As for the woman looking over at him, she does that numerous times throughout…and I know I probably couldn’t help but do so too if I were in the presence of a great leader.

   I’m not reading malice into your question, but I think you are making much ado about nothing.

   
   
   

5. Comment by Christian — January 20, 2008 @ 5:36 pm

   It looks to me Obama kept his head bowed through the entire verse not singing a single word very unlike what he did for any other verse. If he did that for reasons you suggested he might have, that’s curious to me.

   
   
   

6. Comment by Sean Braisted — January 20, 2008 @ 5:47 pm

   Maybe its because the verse wasn’t Allah is on our side?

   
   
   

7. Comment by Christian Grantham — January 20, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

   I think it’s more in line with your first idea. He might not want to be seen in public or at Church singing God is on his side so he skipped that verse while the rest of the congregation sang it.

   
   
   

8. Comment by Concerned Citizen — January 20, 2008 @ 7:36 pm

   It’s clearly because he is so inherently evil that he is completely incapable of even PRETENDING to say ‘God’ for political reasons.

   Get a grip. There are a lot of terrible people who will praise God with their lips every single day, and you focus on this? Do you really think things are that simple?

   
   
   

9. Comment by Christian — January 20, 2008 @ 8:46 pm

   Actually, I do think there is a simple answer why he did what he did. And I don’t think it’s sinister. It was just an odd moment I noticed as I watched Obama’s sermon today on CSPAN.

   
   
   

10. Comment by Ginger — January 21, 2008 @ 11:22 am

    Actually, it looks like he bowed in a prayerful moment in that particular verse, as it was referring to God. I could see how and why he’d do that, and then it appears he’s singing again toward the end of the verse.

    Meh, no harm/no foul.

    
    
    

11. Comment by Christian — January 21, 2008 @ 7:54 pm

    That sounds reasonable to me. Never thought of that.

    
    
    

12. Comment by Khady — January 25, 2008 @ 8:55 pm

    I think it is a combination of factors, though I do like the astute comment put forth about him not wanting to suggest having God on his side. It may also be that he wanted to reflect about the greatness of being surrounded by the beautiful congregation of Ebenezer Baptist Church in commemoration of Dr. King and his living legacy.

    
    
    

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