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| pittsyltucky |
 Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:23 pm |
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*Johnny*
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 4268
Location: Pigg River District, Pittsylvania County, Virginia
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MOTEL IN MEMPHIS
Were you there when the man from Atlanta was murdered in Memphis?
Did you see him layin’ at the Lorraine Motel?
Did you hear them say that the CIA is witness -
To the murder of a man at a motel in Memphis?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water, rolling to Memphis
If you were there, you’d swear it was more than a man who died
Did you see Coretta? She was sobbin’ on the corner in a black veil.
Did you watch Mr. Crump in a white coat grin?
Did you walk downriver where the cottonwoods are swingin’ -
With the ghostly bodies of men?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water, rolling to Memphis
If you were there, you’d swear it was more than a man who died
Were you there with Mahalia wailing at the funeral?
Did you watch them lower his casket in?
Did you tremble when you thought about the future -
And cry out for a martyred man?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water, rolling to Memphis
If you were there, you’d swear it was more than a man who died |
_________________
"Johnny get your gun, we'll have a little fun." |
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| Kitty |
| Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:53 am |
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*Mrs. Kitty*
Joined: 23 Oct 2006
Posts: 2344
Location: Durham, NC
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| old-mose-harper |
| Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:11 pm |
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Old Crow
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 658
Location: Spindale, NC
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Chatham County Line, a bluegrass band out of the Piedmont of North Carolina, has a song out that eerily reminds me of Motel (although I by no means am implying that they ripped Old Crow off):
[Birmingham Jail/url=http://ia311234.us.archive.org/2/items/chathamcountyline2008-08-02.galaxybarnstage-matrix.flac16/chathamcountyline2008-08-02-galaxybarnstage-matrix-track12_64kb.mp3]
you know what, I f'n give up on this url tagging bulljive:
Here's the link to "Birmingham Jail" take a listen:
http://ia311234.us.archive.org/2/items/chathamcountyline2008-08-02.galaxybarnstage-matrix.flac16/chathamcountyline2008-08-02-galaxybarnstage-matrix-track12_64kb.mp3
Here's some of the lyrics:
Four little girls tying their sash in the basement room that day
Poking fun and making jokes before getting on their knees to pray
Just so young with all their dreams and years to their end
Strewn away in the rubble by the hatred of scared white men
It was early December in the year of ‘63
George Wallace defied what the federal courts they did decree
They said make your school doors open for the child of black & white
Wallace clenched up both his fists and he called out for a fight
Down in the Birmingham Jail
Down in the Birmingham Jail
You’ve had a chance to live your life but now you’re locked. . .
Birmingham Jail
When the locals heard the news that day, their blood began to boil
They decided the only good coloured man is down beneath the soil
So with their hate and money, they began to conspire
And soon in Birmingham the air was thick with powder and fire
Down in the Birmingham Jail
Down in the Birmingham Jail
You’ve had a chance to live your life but now you’re locked. . . |
_________________
"Do you have anything to say before we find you guilty?" - Judge Roy Bean |
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| GumboStu |
| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 3:21 am |
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*Irish Stew*
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 3666
Location: Joe's Cornfield
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that's a storming track. I wouldn't have associated it with Motel, though I can imagine that if it's a brand new song then the subject matter would certainly ring some bells.
Also if they were doing this in early August they were pretty quick off the mark ...
It does beg the question: Is it unusual for modern string/bluegrass/americana bands to write biting songs about the Civil Rights era? I can't recall any other tracks that fit the bill, right now, but I'm not steeped* in the tradition.
(*Dipped perhaps or even soaked, but not steeped) |
_________________
Walkin' the line between faith and fear. |
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| Kitty |
| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:49 am |
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*Mrs. Kitty*
Joined: 23 Oct 2006
Posts: 2344
Location: Durham, NC
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This being the 45th year since that tragedy, there was a lot of news coverage about that day on the anniversary. I remember they had the last surviving parents of the girls on TV talking about that day and what happened.... it was heart wrenching.
I do wonder if now that we have a man with African roots as our president elect, if there will be more songs like this to remind folks how far this country has come (in some respects) with civil rights. |
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| Banjopicker |
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:37 am |
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Lil' Birdie
Joined: 12 Apr 2008
Posts: 7
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| anyone getting the chords on this?? |
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| GumboStu |
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:47 am |
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*Irish Stew*
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 3666
Location: Joe's Cornfield
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.............Am..............................................................Em
Were you there when the man from Atlanta was murdered in Memphis?
..........Am.......................................Em
Did you see him layin’ at the Lorraine Motel?
..........Am.......................................Em
Did you hear them say that the CIA is witness -
............C.........................D............Em
To the murder of a man at a motel in Memphis?
Motel in Memphis
..............Am
Motel in Memphis
..............................................................Em
Run and tell somebody there’s blood on the riverside
......................................Am
Oh muddy water, rolling to Memphis
.............................................................................Em
If you were there, you’d swear it was more than a man who died |
_________________
Walkin' the line between faith and fear. |
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| pittsyltucky |
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:45 am |
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*Johnny*
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 4268
Location: Pigg River District, Pittsylvania County, Virginia
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| Stu. Woo. |
_________________
"Johnny get your gun, we'll have a little fun." |
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| Benmancrowfan |
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:28 pm |
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Old Crow
Joined: 17 Sep 2008
Posts: 570
Location: Jackson, Miss
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| sounds pretty good to me.. |
_________________
Don't You Ever Let No Woman Rule Your Mind!!!
East and West the Highway Rolls, Lord Have Mercy on My Poor Soul! |
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| ozarkbilly |
| Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:57 pm |
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Charlie
Joined: 04 Apr 2007
Posts: 866
Location: MO Ozarks
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http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/24651
some pretty powerful photos that were previously unreleased |
_________________
"Well she drug me down
Tossed me 'round
Slammed my name all over town
My good gal ain't no good to me
She makes true love more like misery" |
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| ummmdanny |
| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:41 am |
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Lil' Birdie
Joined: 08 Dec 2008
Posts: 12
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| I don't get the line about Crump. it says he's standing there grinning. Boss Crump died in 1950. is there another Crump? any memphians out there? |
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| kg |
| Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:13 am |
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*Data Miner*
Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 3427
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ummmdanny wrote: I don't get the line about Crump. it says he's standing there grinning. Boss Crump died in 1950. is there another Crump? any memphians out there?
You're correct, of course, in saying the lyrics are ambiguous in that Crump was dead when Dr. King was murdered. My reading is that Ketch is comparing Mrs. King's black veil, race, and legacy with that of Crump, who was purportedly a racist and, as a ghost, is dressed in white. His grin is juxtaposed with Mrs. King's grieving. Ketch is more explicit in the next two lines where he refers to the ghostly image of the men lynched along the riverside in the not-too-distant past. |
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Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life. --Phil Ochs |
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| frogbotfan |
| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:09 am |
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Raisin' a Ruckus
Joined: 16 Jun 2011
Posts: 59
Location: North Carolina
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Joan Baez also did a very effect song about the murders, "Birmingham Sunday":
Lyrics as reprinted in Guy and Candie Carawan, Sing for Freedom: The Story of
the Civil Rights Movement through its songs, Bethlehem, PA, 1990, pp. 122-123.
Come round by my side and I'll sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,
And the choir kept singing of Freedom.
That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun,
And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.
In an old Baptist church there was no need to run.
And the choir kept singing of Freedom,
The clouds they were dark and the autumn wind blew,
And Denise McNair brought the number to two.
The falcon of death was a creature they knew,
And the choir kept singing of Freedom,
The church it was crowded, and no one could see
That Cynthia Wesley's dark number was three.
Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.
And the choir kept singing of Freedom.
Young Carol Robertson entered the door
And the number her killers had given was four.
She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,
And the choir kept singing of Freedom.
On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choir kept singing of Freedom.
The men in the forest they once asked of me,
How many black berries grow in the Blue Sea.
I asked them right back with a tear in my eye.
How many dark ships in the forest?
A Sunday has come a Sunday has gone.
And I can't do much more than to sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
And the choir keeps singing of Freedom. |
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