Why? (The King of Love Is Dead) - Live at Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, NY - April 1968

We want to do a tune
Written for today
For this hour
For Dr. Martin Luther King
We stated before that the whole program is dedicated to his memory
But this tune is written about him, and for him, and so
We had yesterday to learn it, and so, we'll see

Once upon this planet Earth
Lived a man of humble birth
Preaching love and freedom for his fellow men

He was dreaming of a day
Peace would come to Earth to stay
And he spread this message all across the land

Turn the other cheek, he'd plead
"Love thy neighbor" was his creed
Pain, humiliation, death, he did not dread

With his Bible at his side
From his foes he did not hide
It's hard to think that this great man is dead (Oh yeah)

Will the murders never cease?
Are they men or are they beasts?
What do they ever hope, ever hope to gain?

Will my country fall, stand or fall?
Is it too late for us all?
And did Martin Luther King just die in vain?

'Cause he'd seen the mountain top
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead

Folks you'd better stop and think
'Cause we're heading for the brink
What will happen now that he is dead?

He was for equality
For all people, you and me
Full of love and good will, hate was not his way

He was not a violent man
Bigotry had sealed his fate
We can all shed tears but it won't change a thing

Teach your people, will they ever learn?
Must you always kill with burn, and burn with guns
And kill with guns and burn
Don't you know how we got to react?
Don't you know what it will bring?

Well he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead

Folks you'd better stop and think
'Cause everybody knows we're on the brink
What's will happen now that the king is dead?

'Cause see, he'd seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead

Folks you'd better stop and think and feel again
For we're headed for the brink
What's gonna happen now, in all of our cities?
My people are rising
They're living in lies
Even if they have to die
Even if they have to die at the moment that they know what life is
Yeah
Even at that one moment that you know what life is
If you have to die, it's all right
'Cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life
What's gonna happen now that the king of love is dead?

I, I heard, that, well we've heard all kinds of stories
But I heard that this was his favorite song, at least at the, near the end of his life
Uh, last year, a year ago, maybe more, longer than that now
Lorraine Hansberry left us, and she was a dear friend, and
She had her favorite song, that Langston Hughes left us
Coltrane left us, Otis Redding left us
Who can go on, do you realize how many we have lost?
Then it really gets down to reality, doesn't it?
Not a performance, not microphones and all that crap
But really something else
We've lost a lot of them
In the last two years
But we have remaining, Monk, (Miles), Miles
(Nina!)
I love you too

And of course, for those that we have left we, we, we are thankful
But we can't afford any more losses, oh no, oh my God
They're shooting us down one by one
Don't forget that
Because they are
Killing us one by one
Well, all I have to say is that
Those of us who know how to protect those of us that we love
Stand by them and stay close to them
And I say that if there'd been a couple of more a little closer to Dr. King he wouldn't have got it
You know, really
Just a little closer to him, stay there, stay there
We can't afford any more losses

He had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead (C'mon Sam)
Folks you'd better stop and think
For we're almost to the brink
What will happen, now that the king of love is dead?