10 February 2014 Last updated at 02:21

Freedom2014: 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free'

Human emotions can profoundly shape a musical performance - and in the mid 1960s, when Nina Simone recorded jazz pianist Billy Taylor's I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, she helped to secure the song's place at the heart of the American civil rights movement.

But a decade later, in a live performance at Montreux in Switzerland, she redefined her interpretation of the anthem.

Here - for the BBC World Service's Freedom2014 Season - Candace Piette examines the song's origins and Nina Simone's emotional performances.

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I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free is on the BBC World Service on Tuesday 11 February 2014 between 2000-2030 GMT.

All images subject to copyright. Additional images courtesy AP, Getty Images and Rex Features.

Audio by Candace Piette. Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 10 February 2014.

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