As America simultaneously confronts racism, police brutality, the COVID-19 pandemic, mass unemployment and more, music continues to serve as a unifying force for people of all backgrounds.

And whether listeners recognize Charles Johnson’s “My Sisters and Brothers” as a Jerry Garcia Band favorite or a gospel prayer, its lyrics are certainly as relevant as ever.

Garcia performed the song regularly from February 1976 through April 1995, offering the rallying chorus, “If we walk together, little children/ We won’t ever have to worry/ Through this world of trouble/ We’ve got to love one another/ Let us take our fellow man by the hand/ Try to help him to understand/ We can all be together/ For ever and ever/ When we make it to the promised land.”

Enjoy five versions of the uplifting ballad below:

Charles Johnson, 1995

Jerry Garcia Band, Live at the Shoreline Amphitheater 1990

Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel, Live at LOCKN’ 2014

The Sensational Nightingales, 1998

Steep Canyon Rangers, 2020