1. A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood.
A Finger fired the trigger to his name.
A Handle hid out in the dark, a hand set the spark,
two eyes took the aim behind the man's brain,
but he can't be blamed, he's only a pawn in their game. |
4. From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the cracks,
and the hoof beats pound in his brain.
And he's taught how to walk in the pack, shoot in the back,
with his fist in a clinch to hang and to lynch
to hide 'neath the hood to kill with no pain
like a dog on a chain he ain't got no name
but it ain't him to blame, he's only a pawn in their game.
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2. A South politician preaches to the poor white man,
'You got more than the blacks, don't complain.
You're better than them, you been born with white skin', they explain.
And the negro is named is used it is plain
for the politician's gain as he rises to fame.
And the poor white remains on the caboose of the train,
but it ain't him to blame, he's only a pawn in their game.
|
5. Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught.
They lowered him down as a king.
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one that fired the gun
he'll see by his grave on the stone that remains
carved next to his name, his epitph plain: only a pawn in their game. |
3. The deputy's sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid,
and the marsahls and cops get the same.
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool.
He's taught in his school from the start by the rule
that the laws are with him to protect his white skin to keep up his hate.
So he never thinks straight 'bout the shape that he's in
but it ain't him to blame, he's only a pawn in their game. |
Background information:
While southern opponents of racial equality have on occasion turned out in mass protests,
a few have also resorted to political murder. The list of martyrs, black and white,
to the civil rights movement includes Medgar Evers, who had announced an
anti-segregation drive in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 12, 1963, had requested the appointment
of a bi-racial committee to discuss grievances, which was rejected by the Mayor, had launched his campaign
on May 28 with a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter and a march of black school children in support
of civil rights. On June 12, returning home from an integration rally, Evers was shot in the back.
The FBI arrested Byron de la Beckwith, a resident of Mississippi for thirty-eight years, on the charge of murder. At Beckwith's
trial, Governor Barnett strode into the courtroom, greeted Beckwith warmly, and shook hands with him. On February 7, 1964,
the jury reported itseld deadlocked; a second trial also resulted in a hung jury. Beckwith,
now free, continued harassing civil rights workers.
The song Only a Pawn in Their Game is on the following CD: |
