My Name is Emmett Till
I was born a black boy, my name is Emmett Till
I walked this earth for 14 years, one night I was killed
For speaking to a woman whose skin was white as dough
That's a sin in Mississippi but how was I to know
I'd come down from Chicago to visit with my kin
Up there I was a cheeky kid, I guess I's always been
But the harm they put upon me was too hard for what I'd done
For I was just a black boy, I never hurt no one
They took me from my uncle's house, Mose Wright was his name
He later standing, without hesitation point the blame
At the ones who beat and cut me and shot me with a gun
They threw me in the river like I was trash and they were done
I was sent back to my mother, at least what was left of me
She kept my casket open for the whole wide world to see
The awful desecration and the evidence of hate
You could not recognize me, the mutilation was so great
There came a cry for justice
To be finally fulfilled
All because of me, a black boy
My name is Emmett Till
Oh, but I'd have rather lived 'til I was too old to die young
Not miss all I left behind, all that might have come
Summer clouds above my head, a grass beneath my feet
The warmth of a good woman, her kisses soft and sweet
Perhaps to be a father with a black boy of my own
Watch him grow into a kinder world than I had known
Where no child would be murdered for the color of his skin
And love would be the only thing inside the hearts of men
They say the horror of that night is haunting heaven still
Where I am one more black boy, my name is Emmett Till
I walked this earth for 14 years, one night I was killed
For speaking to a woman whose skin was white as dough
That's a sin in Mississippi but how was I to know
I'd come down from Chicago to visit with my kin
Up there I was a cheeky kid, I guess I's always been
But the harm they put upon me was too hard for what I'd done
For I was just a black boy, I never hurt no one
They took me from my uncle's house, Mose Wright was his name
He later standing, without hesitation point the blame
At the ones who beat and cut me and shot me with a gun
They threw me in the river like I was trash and they were done
I was sent back to my mother, at least what was left of me
She kept my casket open for the whole wide world to see
The awful desecration and the evidence of hate
You could not recognize me, the mutilation was so great
There came a cry for justice
To be finally fulfilled
All because of me, a black boy
My name is Emmett Till
Oh, but I'd have rather lived 'til I was too old to die young
Not miss all I left behind, all that might have come
Summer clouds above my head, a grass beneath my feet
The warmth of a good woman, her kisses soft and sweet
Perhaps to be a father with a black boy of my own
Watch him grow into a kinder world than I had known
Where no child would be murdered for the color of his skin
And love would be the only thing inside the hearts of men
They say the horror of that night is haunting heaven still
Where I am one more black boy, my name is Emmett Till
Credits
Writer(s): Emmylou Harris
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Link
Other Album Tracks
Altri album
- Queen Of The West (Live)
- Love Wore A Halo (Back Before the War)
- Beyond the Palace (Live 1983)
- Pbs Soundstage
- Always On The Sunny Side (Live, Santa Cruz '79)
- Our Secret Song (Live 1970)
- Long Island Lullabies (Live 1976)
- Kyrie (feat. John Paul White)
- Golden Country: Emmylou Harris (Live)
- Hot Night in Roslyn (Live)
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