Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)
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"Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" is a contemporary folk song written by Patty Griffin. As the subtitle indicates, the song is at one level based upon emotions surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, given the day before his assassination in Memphis.
The lyric uses visual, naturalistic imagery to describe various states of mind expressed in the speech:
- Some days I look down,
- Afraid I will fall —
- And though the sun shines ...
- I see nothing at all.
but also with enough generality to apply to contemporary events or to Griffin's work herself or to anyone on a mission. The arrangement has been variously described as "gospely" or "folkie spiritual". In any case, in trying to capture King's sense of purpose, Griffin followed in the footsteps of other popular songwriters, such as U2 with their "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "MLK" and James Taylor with "Shed a Little Light".
"Up to the Mountain" first appeared in public during Griffin's concert appearances in the spring of 2005; she has performed it both with her own acoustic guitar accompaniment and also with a band member's electric guitar. Based upon a rough demo,[1] it was suggested to and selected by soul artist Solomon Burke (who indeed had known King) for recording on his September 2006 album Nashville. Griffin participated in the recording, singing a backup part; she later said, "He sang it ten times I think, and I could tell when he got his take—little chills came on my arms."[2]
Griffin then recorded it herself for real, in a slowly-taken piano-based rendition with a string section, and it appeared on her February 2007 album Children Running Through. There it was praised by Slant Magazine for being "reverent and inspired without ever becoming over-the-top or heavy-handed,"[1] while a BBC review said it had "a feel of cinematic grandness."[3]
"Up to the Mountain" gained broader visibility through a rendition sung by Kelly Clarkson with a featured electric guitar part laced throughout by Jeff Beck. Clarkson performed this live on a special, highly-rated April 25, 2007 charity episode of American Idol season 6 entitled Idol Gives Back, dedicated towards poverty relief in Africa and in Hurricane Katrina-related areas. This event came in the middle of Clarkson's well-documented artistic battles with her record company and management, who wanted her to promote her new single "Never Again"; she thought to do so at a charity event would be "beyond crass".[4] So instead Clarkson — an avowed Griffin fan[2] — picked "Up to the Mountain". The audience gave the song and the performance a standing ovation; Beck subsequently said, "[she has] this fully developed soul voice that I wasn't expecting. It just knocked me out. It was quite riveting to listen to. At one point, the audience started to stand up. They were so moved by her."[4] Similarly, the performance was said by Idol judge Simon Cowell to be the best of the show.[4]
A live recording of the Clarkson-Beck performance was made available to download on iTunes shortly after it was aired on television; solely by these downloads, "Up To The Mountain" made its way onto the Billboard charts, debuting at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. As such it became the highest chart placement for any Griffin song.[5] Clarkson also added the song to the setlist for her 2007 My December Tour, and sang it together with Reba McEntire on the pair's 2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour 2008.
