Who Did It Better
People Get Ready
People get ready, there's a train a-coming
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
People Get Ready 0:30 calls a train that has been running longer than the tracks. You do not need baggage. You do not need a ticket. You just need to be ready to go. The invitation is open to everyone who hears the whistle.
The train does not check your name or your past. It asks if you are ready to leave the station where they kept you waiting. Faith enough to step aboard is the only requirement.
The Original -- 1965
The Impressions
"People Get Ready" is a promise that the train is coming for everyone. Curtis Mayfield wrote it for the Impressions in 1965 as a song about hope that refuses to be defeated by evidence. The evidence said the movement was struggling. Mayfield wrote the song anyway. He understood that hope is not a prediction. It is a decision. The train is not a metaphor for an actual vehicle. It is a metaphor for the decision to keep moving forward even when the tracks are not visible. There is room for everyone. The only requirement is the willingness to board.
The Staple Singers covered it and brought the church into the station. The Impressions sang it as a call. The Staple Singers sang it as a response. Roebuck Staples' guitar and Mavis Staples' voice turned the invitation into a revival. The train is still coming. The Staple Singers are here to make sure you hear the whistle before it passes.
The Cover -- 1972
The Staple Singers
Pops Staples taught his kids to harmonize on their Mississippi porch. The family group refused segregated shows in the 1960s.
Image Credits
1,414 artist portraits across 5 genres (Rock, Jazz, Soul, Blues, Folk). 1,363 sourced from Wikipedia (Creative Commons / Public Domain), 50 from Deezer (promotional artwork).
