A Look at ‘Pride’ and ‘MLK’ by U2 in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today (4/4) is the anniversary of a tragic event that took place in 1968. The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was taken from us in a horrible act of…
Today (4/4) is the anniversary of a tragic event that took place in 1968. The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was taken from us in a horrible act of violence. Pierre Robert remembered Dr. King during the Workforce Blocks with two poignant songs by U2.
The band's fourth studio album The Unforgettable Fire was released several years after MLK passed, in 1984. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is the standout single from the LP, which references Dr. King's death in the line "Early morning, April four / A shot rings out in the Memphis sky." Since those lyrics were originally penned, Bono has acknowledged the error in them; the assassination took place at 6pm, and when the song is performed live, it's now sung as "Early evening, April four."
Pierre played live version of "Pride" from the famed Amnesty International concert, but he led into it with a lesser known piece by U2. "MLK" is the closer on The Unforgettable Fire, a quiet tribute that's only two minutes long but bears a hopeful message: "Sleep tonight / And may your dreams / Be realized."
Over the years, Bono and the band have worked closely with the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, founded by Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King. You can learn more about that organization here. Today we remember Dr. King's powerful message, and continue to work towards the realization of the dream of equality for all.
10 Of Martin Luther King’s Most Powerful Quotes
Here are 10 Martin Luther Quotes that we all could use right now.
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Frank Rockstroh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
.(Photo by Reg Lancaster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)"There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Roger Jackson/Central Press/Getty Images)"A riot is the language of the unheard."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Todd Bennett/Getty Images)"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by MICHAEL REYNOLDS-Pool/Getty Images)Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by William Lovelace/Getty Images)"Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last."
10 Of Martin Luther King's Most Powerful Quotes
(Photo by Jeff Kamen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
