“MLK Interlude” is a track by Justin Bieber from his 6th studio album Justice.
Background[]
Justin Bieber revealed to RADIO.COM why he included the song to Justice. "One of the main injustices in this country and all over the world is racial injustice and one of my favorite most inspirational people to ever live for me is Martin Luther King. I've learned a lot from his messages and I really wanted to amplify his voice to people who haven't heard some of his talks and just continue that conversation."[1]
Composition and lyrical interpretation[]
Contains an excerpt from “But If Not”, a sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr from November, 1967.
Audio[]
Lyrics[]
[Speech: Martin Luther King Jr.]
I say to you this morning, that if you have never found something so dear
And so precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren't fit to live
You may be 38 years old as I happen to be
And one day some great opportunity stands before you
And calls upon you to stand up for some great principle
Some great issue, some great cause
And you refuse to do it because you are afraid
You refuse to do it because you want to live longer
You're afraid that you will lose your job
Or you're afraid that you will bе criticized
Or that you will lose your popularity
Or you're afraid that somеbody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house (Yeah)
So you refuse to take the stand
Well you may go on and live until you are 90
But you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90
And the sensation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit
You died when you refused to stand up for right (Yeah)
You died when you refused to stand up for truth
You died when you refused to stand up for justice
Release[]
With the release of the album Justice, Justin supports many organizations, including "Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change", commonly known as "The King Center". Created by MLK wife Coretta Scott King. Martin's daughter, Bernice King, The King Center CEO, she thanked Justin on twitter: “Each of us, including artists and entertainers, can do something, Thank you, @justinbieber, for you spport, in honor of #Justice, of @TheKingCenter's work and of our #BeLove capaign, wich is a part of our global movement for Justice. #MLK #EndRacism”.
Controversy[]
Justin Bieber received criticism on social media for being white and putting MLK on his album, Justin commented on Clubhouse chat, "Being Canadian,... they didn't teach us about black history. It was just not a part of our education system".
Justin was also criticized for making racist jokes as a kid. He commented, "I think for me, coming from Canada and being uneducated and making insensitive jokes when I was a kid and being insensitive and being honestly just a part of the problem because I just didn't know better. For me to have this platform to just share this raw moment of Martin Luther King in a time where he knew he was going to die for what he was standing up for". "I want to keep growing and learning about just all social injustices and what it looks like for me to be better, what it looks like for my friends to be better. And I know I have a long way to go".
Another controversy was putting MLK speech on "2 Much": "I love that when people are listening to my album, these conversations are coming up and they're like, 'Well, how is he going from Martin Luther King into a love song?". Also people thought that between MLK Interlude (track 7) and "Die For You" (track 8) there is a connection; MLK Interlude: "You died when you refused to stand up for right, You died when you refused to stand up for truth, You died when you refused to stand up for justice", next song: "Die For You", a love song. Justin wanted to make it clear that "the songs are not connected". He was also called out for cutting the last word of the speech, "justice" in between to reportedly make the word sound like his name, which people thought he was trying to make the line: "You died when you refused to stand up for Justin".
Credits[]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[2]
- Composer: Martin Luther King Jr.
- Lyricist: Martin Luther King Jr.
References[]
- ↑ Zipper, Marni (March 22, 2021). "Justin Bieber reveals how sessions with Shawn Mendes and marriage to Hailey helped shape 'Justice'". Radio.com.
- ↑ "Credits • Justice (The Complete Edition) • Justin Bieber – TIDAL". Tidal.
[es:MLK Interlude]][