We're A Winner - The Impressions (1968)

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The anthem of '68, "We're A Winner." The Impressions. Written by Curtis Mayfield. "We're A Winner" was the number-one single on the Billboard R&B Chart during the week of March 1, 1968. The concept for "We're a Winner" came to Curtis Mayfield one night in a dream; the musician quickly woke himself and ran with his inspiration. The resulting song was an uplifting composition whose lyrics encouraged the listener that the time for self-pity is over, and that one should acknowledge his or her worth, even in the face of opposition. Intended as an inspirational song for the group's primarily African-American audiences, Mayfield urges his audience to "Keep on pushin'/like your leaders tell you to" - the "leaders" being figures involved in the Civil Rights Movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and others. To accentuate the song's uplifting feel, "We're a Winner" was recorded with a live audience in the RCA Victor and Universal studios in the Impressions' homebase of Chicago, Illinois. The song was number one on many radio stations on April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee.