Tom Paxton - Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney lyrics
[Tom Paxton - Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney lyrics]
The night air is heavy, no cool breezes blow
The sounds of the voices are worried and low
Desperately wondering and desperate to know
About Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
Calm desperation and flickering hope
Reality grapples like a hand on the throat
For you live in the shadow
Of ten feet of rope
If you're Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
The Pearl River was dragged and
Two bodies were found
But it was a blind alley
For both men were brown
So they all shrugged their shoulders and
The search it went on
For Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
Pull out the dead bodies from
The ooze of the dam
Take the bodies to Jackson
All accordin' to plan
With the one broken body do
The best that you can
It's the body of young James Chaney
The nation was outraged and
Shocked through and through
Call J edgar Hoover he'll know what to do
For they've murdered two white men
And a coloured boy too
Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
James Chaney your body exploded in pain
And the beating they gave you
Is pounding my brain
And they murdered much more with
Their dark bloody chains
And the body of pity lies bleeding
The pot-bellied copper shook hands all around
And joked with the rednecks
Who came into town
And they swore that the murderer
Soon would be found
And they laughed as they spat their tobacco
The sounds of the voices are worried and low
Desperately wondering and desperate to know
About Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
Calm desperation and flickering hope
Reality grapples like a hand on the throat
For you live in the shadow
Of ten feet of rope
If you're Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
The Pearl River was dragged and
Two bodies were found
But it was a blind alley
For both men were brown
So they all shrugged their shoulders and
The search it went on
For Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
Pull out the dead bodies from
The ooze of the dam
Take the bodies to Jackson
All accordin' to plan
With the one broken body do
The best that you can
It's the body of young James Chaney
The nation was outraged and
Shocked through and through
Call J edgar Hoover he'll know what to do
For they've murdered two white men
And a coloured boy too
Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney
James Chaney your body exploded in pain
And the beating they gave you
Is pounding my brain
And they murdered much more with
Their dark bloody chains
And the body of pity lies bleeding
The pot-bellied copper shook hands all around
And joked with the rednecks
Who came into town
And they swore that the murderer
Soon would be found
And they laughed as they spat their tobacco