They called you the rise of the black messiah like so many boys before you
And theyâll be more, more to follow threatening and hard to swallow
Iâm sitting underneath that hanging tree, just me and the ghost of the KKK
Poor manâs gallows in the middle of the woods - the saddest tree that ever stood
My friend I heard you tell of slaveryâs end but have you heard of mass incarceration
That olâ Jim Crow he just keeps getting born with a new hanging rope for the black manâs scourge
Hey olâ man river, what do you know of that plantation they all Angola?
The devil spawned a prison there - the saddest farm that ever lived
Your great grand-daddy, he worked that land with shackles on his feet and on his hands
He built them levees he chopped that cane he died in the mud in his chains
Now you stand where he once stood shackles on you all the same
But heâs gonna rise, heâs gonna rise and all them lynches are gonna be damned
When outta that mud walks a brand new man
They called you the rise of the black messiah and said theyâd do any damn thing the could to keep ya -
You and your brothers from spreading the word, the gospel of freedom and the black manâs worth
40 years in solitary, consider the man they just canât bury
I got this letter in my hand, saying tell this tory when you can
Heâs gonna rise, heâs gonna rise and all them lynchers are gonna be damned
When outta that hole walks a brand new man
- :
- One Lost Day
- Beauty Queen Sister
- Holly Happy Days
- Poseidon And The Bitter Bug
- Despite Our Differences
- All That We Let In
- Become You
- Come On Now Social
- Shaming Of The Sun
- 1200 Curfews
- Swamp Ophelia
- Rites Of Passage
- Nomads Indians Saints
- 12000 Curfews Part 2
- Miscellaneous
- Lilith Fair - A Celebration of Women in Music, Vol. 1 (Live)
- Rites Of Passage (Expanded Edition)
- Rarities
- Fishtails
- Happy In The Sorrow Key