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pre> |
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Em g d |
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In the state of mississippi many years ago |
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Am em |
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A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern law |
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Em g d |
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He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime |
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Am em |
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And the blood upon his jacket left a brand upon his mind |
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Am d g |
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Chorus: too many martyrs and too many dead |
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Am d g (em optional) |
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Too many lies too many empty words were said |
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Am d g |
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Too many times for too many angry men |
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Am d em |
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Oh let it never be again |
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His name was medgar evers and he walked his road alone |
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Like emmett till and thousands more whose names we'll never know |
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They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground |
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But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down |
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*chorus* |
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The killer waited by his home hidden by the night |
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As evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight |
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He slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side |
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It struck the heart of every man when evers fell and died. |
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*chorus* |
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And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear |
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Laid him in his grave when the victory was near |
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While we waited for the future for freedom through the land (*) |
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The country gained a killer and the country lost a man |
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*chorus* /pre> |
