History
The song started off as a rough demo during the recording of "Stars of CCTV". The song is apparently based on people watching over and looking out for others, telling people not to give up and "to not let the bastards drag you down".
Going deeper, the song is a tribute to frontman Richard Archer's late father, who was one of the few people to support his musical ambitions before he became successful, he told XFM "When you're from a town like ours and you wanna be in a band, everyone thinks you're just wasting time. There's always people out there who'll tell you 'Give it up, you're not good enough.' There's always haters that wanna criticize you and put you down just because you're there and they're not. It's about having someone standing there and saying 'I believe in you', and I was lucky enough to have that person. They're not around anymore, but this song's for them." Archer added: "It's my old man. I was lucky enough to have someone like him and he deserves these props."
Richard Archer said that the person in the song is his father and that he loves the groove on the track.
He also announced the Per Un Pugno Di Hard-Fi version which has been stated to be different from the version that appears on Once Upon a Time in the West, Archer explains;
"Those of you who came along on our December tour will know that ISO live was slightly different from the album version with a mariachi trumpet - we wanted to get a bit of that Ennio Morricone does Spaghetti Western vibe, hopefully you'll agree this worked and wasn't less Fistful Of Dollars and more Three Amigos. Anyway we got Ben (who played trumpet on tour) in and did a studio version with a few extra bits and pieces."
The song was first announced as a single along with the live CD called Once Upon a Time in December.
On 10 March 2008, the band promoted the single by organizing a CD signing in HMV, Staines. The band also performed a select set list including "I Shall Overcome" in acoustic, "Suburban Knights" and "Hard to Beat" plus some covers including "A Town Called Malice" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go".
Read more about this topic: I Shall Overcome
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—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)
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“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)