Common and Andra Day on their new song about 'standing up against injustices'
“It could have taken place in the '60s or '70s, but it’s relevant to today."
— -- Music powerhouses Andra Day and Common joined forces for a new song, "Stand Up for Something," from the movie, "Marshall,” about Thurgood Marshall, the country's first African-American Supreme Court justice.
Common said he was “enthused” to take part in the project because the song's theme about the need to stand up against injustice is relevant today.
“It could have taken place in the '60s or '70s, but it’s relevant to today,” he said on “Good Morning America” today. “Unfortunately, we have to encounter these issues, but we have to take them head on. And I feel like we’re not afraid now. As human beings, we’ve got to look out for each other. We’ve got to stand up for whatever it may be, whether it’s animal rights, the environment, women’s rights, and standing up against the injustices.”
He said he loves that the film “Marshall” is “addressing some of those issues through a human being’s life,” but added, “this song is also a broader scope of addressing it on a universal level.”
Day said it’s “our responsibility” as artists to address social issues through music. She said artists like the late Nina Simone weren’t afraid to "make waves and effect change.”
“She had to be self-sacrificing with her art,” Day said on “GMA.” “She had to be willing to say, ‘OK, I won’t have the top pop hit because I need to talk about what’s going on and what the racial climate looks like around me.”
Oct. 2 marks the 50th anniversary of Thurgood Marshall's swearing-in as the first African-American Supreme Court justice and has been unofficially declared Thurgood Marshall Day. The film "Marshall" hits theaters Oct. 13.
Watch Common and Andra Day slay in impromptu freestyle performance after "GMA."
Take a look at the lyrics for “Stand Up For Something,” written by Common and Diane Warren.
“Stand Up for Something” full lyrics:
You can have all the money in your hands
All the possessions anyone can ever have
But it's all worthless treasure
True worth is only measured not by what you got
But what you got in your heart
You can have, you can have everything
But what does it, what does it mean
It all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
You can't just talk the talk
You got to walk that walk yes you do
It all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
And I’ll stand up for you
And I’ll stand up for you
Yes I will, yes I will
You do the best to do the best that you can do
Then you can look in the mirror
Proud of who's looking back at you
Define the life you're living
Not by what you take but what you're giving
And if you bet on love no way you'll ever lose
Take a stand, make a stand for what's right
It's always worth, always worth the fight
‘Cuz it all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
You can't just talk the talk
You got to walk that walk, yes you do
It all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
And I’ll stand up for you
Self respect, dignity
If that's all you got
Then you got all you need
And without that you don't have a thing
It all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
You can't just talk the talk
You got to walk that walk, yes you do
It all means nothing
If you don't stand up for something
And I’ll stand up for you
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