I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free

"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a jazz song written by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas. Taylor's original version (as "I Wish I Knew") was recorded on November 12, 1963, and released on his "Right Here, Right Now!" album (Capitol ST-2039) the following year. His 1967 instrumental take was later used as the theme music for the "Film..." review programme series on BBC Television.
Taylor said: "I wrote this song, perhaps my best-known composition, for my daughter Kim. This is one of the best renditions I’ve done because it is very spiritual."
Cover versions.
The song served as an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement in America in the 1960s.
A widely played version was recorded by Nina Simone in 1967 on her "Silk & Soul" album.
Lighthouse Family covered it as "(I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be) Free/One".
Other artists who have covered the song include Don Shirley (1968), Junior Mance (1968), Illinois Jacquet (1968), Solomon Burke (1968), Marlena Shaw (1969), Cold Blood (1969), John Denver (1969), Doris (1970), Mary Travers (1971), John Fahey (1976), Jools Holland (1997), Levon Helm (2009), John Legend and The Roots (2010), The Derek Trucks Band (2006), and Emeli Sandé (2012). The song was also covered by Andra Day for the 2018 film "Acrimony".
An arrangement of the song for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Margaret Bonds was performed by Leontyne Price with the Rust College Choir (1971).
The Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Béla Fleck are releasing a version for Record Store Day 2021. It is the A-side of a two-song single. The B-side is a previously unreleased Bob Dylan song "See by Faith" from their album "Almost Home".