"American Prayer" is a 2002 song co-written by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

of U2, Dave Stewart of the

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

, and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. The song, which "reflects the ... hope that America, and American Christians in particular, will respond to the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

crisis", was first performed during Bono's Heart of America speaking tour in December 2002 in Lincoln, Nebraska. According to Bono, he hopes that the United States, "with its unparalleled economic, technological, military, and cultural power, will rethink its humble origins, the purpose that made it great." Bono described the song as a "paean to America" based on the "poetry of the Declaration of Independence and the taut truth in the Constitution", as well as '' The New Colossus'', the poem written by Emma Lazarus for the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

. In writing of the origin of the song, Stewart said, "Bono was crafting the words in a way that would make people think about the fact that 'America' as a concept was a truly great idea, based on the bedrock of equality." On 3 December 2003 '' USA Today'' published a draft of the lyrics. Echoing Dr Martin Luther King Jr., the song ends with, "If you get to the top of the mountain, will you tell me what you see / If you get to the top of the mountain, remember me". Bono, The Edge,

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, and Stewart performed the song on 29 November 2003 at the 46664 concert in Cape Town, South Africa to "break the stigmatisation that goes with being HIV positive". In the final chorus they sang "African Prayer". The song was the final song performed by the final six contestants on ''

Idol Gives Back ''Idol Gives Back'' was the name of a charitable campaign that spanned two episodes of ''American Idol'' during its sixth season. A second ''Idol Gives Back'' concert and fundraiser occurred on April 9, 2008, during the seventh season of the s ...

'' on 25 April 2007. Bono directed the group and spoke to the audience about the ONE Campaign.

2008 version

In 2008, Dave Stewart reworked the song after concluding that Barack Obama represented "the embodiment of a new anthem for change", seeing him as the continuation of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stewart did not see the song as an endorsement as much as "a celebration of all those who have picked up a sign, who have registered to vote and are working to make the world a better place". He produced a music video with a number of other celebrities, releasing it on YouTube and '' The Huffington Post'' on 21 August 2008 just prior to the Democratic National Convention, 2008. Stewart received permission from Dr. King's family to use film of Dr. King making his final speech the night before he was assassinated, which has been incorporated as a spoken word lyric of the song. The video features, in order of appearance, Dave Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Amy Keys, Macy Gray,

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

, Colbie Caillat, Whoopi Goldberg,

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, Buju Banton,

Ann Marie Calhoun Ann Marie Calhoun ( Simpson; born May 26, 1979) is an American classically trained violinist who has performed as a bluegrass and rock musician in a number of prominent acts, including Jethro Tull, Steve Vai, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Ba ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

, Linda Perry, Cyndi Lauper, Sérgio Mendes,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Mike Bradford Michael Bradford (born 1961) is an American musician. A native of Detroit, Michigan he is known mainly as a bass guitarist but also plays guitar and keyboards, and has done extensive work in music production and engineering. Among others, Brad ...

, Margaret Cho,

Cindy Gomez Cindy Gomez is a singer, songwriter, actress and model who grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She is of Colombian and Belgian descent and can sing in 8 languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Hindi, Cantonese and Mandarin. ...

, Martin Luther King Jr., Joan Baez, Daedelus, Pamela Anderson, Peter & Gordon, Sierra Swan, Nadirah X, and Perez Hilton.

References

External links

* * (2008 Obama version)
MyAmericanPrayer.com
official website of 2008 version {{Authority control 2002 songs HIV/AIDS activism Political songs Songs written by David A. Stewart Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Bono

2008 version

See also

References

External links