Tim Barry - Prosser's Gabriel lyrics
[Tim Barry - Prosser's Gabriel lyrics]
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
If you listen closely you'll
Hear the words perfect
The Caribbean uprising caught fire
In this land up and down the James River
Pamunky and Appomattox
Tobacco soil gone bad deferred a
Movement for the blacks
Nine years before, down in Santo Domingo
Slaves refused to submit and took
The right of all men
Virginia whites got nervous and
Hired more militias as blacks inspired
Plotted and passed on their plans
Mister Prosser's Gabriel was smart
As he was strong
A head of keloid scars and a
Mind of knowing right and wrong
Voted general at twenty-four in the
Year of eighteen hundred
Haunted by the hymns and wailing
Of his fellow slaves
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
It was on an August night
Just North of Richmond, virginia
Gabriel's men gathered as their
Owners they slept
Some would burn the Capital to
Distract residents and masters
While others took the city
And freed the convicts
Well the whites they knew nothing
Never seen what could hit 'em
Nothing like this could happen to
Their carefree black men
But think about freedom
Now think about slavery
Blacks armed themselves with muskets
And homemade bayonets
With a white flag on the Capital
All blacks they would rise
All whites spared, would lose but an arm
You're a coward if you own
Men for profit and greed
You're the coward of all and
For all you must bleed
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
Pharaoh and Tom ratted out Gabriel Prosser
Their owner was Mosby, and neighbor of him
They say the sky seemed seized
With rain and lightning
On the night of August thirtieth
One could see nor stand
The militias' let loose to
Hunt Gabriel Prosser
Who took to the swamps as
They imprisoned his men
Flagged a boat whose captain
Was a Methodist preacher
But a traitor slave turned him in in the end
They hung Gabriel down at
Broad and 15th Street
Lord he would not give a word up on his men
But he took that noose and
He took it with honor
He's buried beneath a lot
Of parked cars, now, and pavement
There's no monument
There's no stone here to see him
Just black asphalt planked by
High-rise hospital chains if I had it my way
We'd see memorials climbin'
To a true and honest hero, Prosser's Gabriel
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
If you listen closely you'll
Hear the words perfect
The Caribbean uprising caught fire
In this land up and down the James River
Pamunky and Appomattox
Tobacco soil gone bad deferred a
Movement for the blacks
Nine years before, down in Santo Domingo
Slaves refused to submit and took
The right of all men
Virginia whites got nervous and
Hired more militias as blacks inspired
Plotted and passed on their plans
Mister Prosser's Gabriel was smart
As he was strong
A head of keloid scars and a
Mind of knowing right and wrong
Voted general at twenty-four in the
Year of eighteen hundred
Haunted by the hymns and wailing
Of his fellow slaves
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
It was on an August night
Just North of Richmond, virginia
Gabriel's men gathered as their
Owners they slept
Some would burn the Capital to
Distract residents and masters
While others took the city
And freed the convicts
Well the whites they knew nothing
Never seen what could hit 'em
Nothing like this could happen to
Their carefree black men
But think about freedom
Now think about slavery
Blacks armed themselves with muskets
And homemade bayonets
With a white flag on the Capital
All blacks they would rise
All whites spared, would lose but an arm
You're a coward if you own
Men for profit and greed
You're the coward of all and
For all you must bleed
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
Pharaoh and Tom ratted out Gabriel Prosser
Their owner was Mosby, and neighbor of him
They say the sky seemed seized
With rain and lightning
On the night of August thirtieth
One could see nor stand
The militias' let loose to
Hunt Gabriel Prosser
Who took to the swamps as
They imprisoned his men
Flagged a boat whose captain
Was a Methodist preacher
But a traitor slave turned him in in the end
They hung Gabriel down at
Broad and 15th Street
Lord he would not give a word up on his men
But he took that noose and
He took it with honor
He's buried beneath a lot
Of parked cars, now, and pavement
There's no monument
There's no stone here to see him
Just black asphalt planked by
High-rise hospital chains if I had it my way
We'd see memorials climbin'
To a true and honest hero, Prosser's Gabriel
Now does anyone know the
Name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the
One that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up
At Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas