It’s the unofficial anthem of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
It’s preserved in the National Recording Registry for its historical and cultural significance and enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Rolling Stone calls it the 24th best song of all time, Mojo notches it at number 10.
Upon its release in 1965 it rose to #14 on the Billboard pop chart and to #3 on the R&B chart.
No matter where you rank it, “People Get Ready” is an undeniably powerful, influential, motivational and just plain great song, and songwriter Curtis Mayfield is deservedly revered for his enduring composition.
With its lyrics of persistence, perseverance, and ultimate deliverance, The Impressions’ recording of “People Get Ready” inspired, encouraged and comforted civil rights activists. It’s been covered over the years by Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Eva Cassidy, and many others, and its stamp can be found implicitly and overtly in Bruce’s catalog.
“My City of Ruins” features a very similar melody to “People Get Ready,” an almost certainly deliberate homage, and Bruce’s concert arrangements of the song hew even more closely to its spiritual forerunner.
And then of course, there’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” which draws heavily on both stage and album from both “People Get Ready” and the even older “This Train” which uses similar train imagery.
Strangely, though, Bruce has never covered the song in full at one of his own concerts. He’s excerpted it at award shows, performed it a bar gig, and jammed with other artists to it at Hall of Fame events, but he’s never taken a run at it at with his own band.
He did perform it once in an arena, however–but it was on U2’s stage, not his own.
On October 17, 2005, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Bruce nonchalantly walked out onto U2’s stage without introduction (judging from the crowd’s reaction, none was needed), and he joined Bono and the band for a rousing rendition encore of “People Get Ready” (even if Bono did change the lyrics pretty significantly in Bruce’s honor). Bruce did his best to stay true to the song, but Bono would have none of it. At around the six-minute mark, Patti Scialfa joined the boys on stage to bring the song home, but by that point the performance was so loose that they didn’t quite know how to wrap, so Bruce did the honors himself.
People Get Ready
First performed: January 16, 1991 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: October 17, 2005 (Philadelphia, PA)
