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phil ochs - talking birmingham jam (live) lyrics

[intro]
well, i think whenever there’s a deep tragedy, there’s also present something of the ridiculous. so i’d like to do you a song now called “talking birmingham jam.”

verse 1]
walkin’ down to birmingham
way down south in dixieland
i thought that i would stop a while
take a vacation southern style
got some southern hospitality
down there in a southern hospital

[verse 2]
well, all the signs said “welcome in”
welcome if you’re white, my friend
come along and watch the fights
while we feed our dogs on civil rights
we beliеve in segregation
nеgroes in one mob
policemen, politicians, dogs in the other

[verse 3]
well, i’ve seen travel in many ways
i’ve traveled in cars and old subways
but in birmingham some people chose
to fly down the street from a fire hose
doin’ some hard travelin’
from hydrants of plenty
[verse 4]
well, a pack of dogs was standin’ by
i walked up to them and i said “hi”
well i asked one dog what they all were doin’
he walked up to me and started chewin’
it was a black dog
seems everybody down there is prejudiced

[verse 5]
well i said, “there must be some men around
there can’t be only you dogs in town”
they said “sure we have old bull conner
there he goes, walkin’ yonder
throwin’ some raw meat to the mayor
feedin’ bones to the city council”

[verse 6]
well i said, “there’s still something missing here
you must have a governor somewhere”
“sure he’s doing his duty, he ain’t no fool
he’s blocking out kids from our schools
standin’ in the doorway
crackin’ jokes
gettin’ re+elected.”

[verse 7]
so, i asked ’em why they spent their time
with segregation on their mind
they said “if you don’t like to live this way
get outta here, go back to the u.s.a
live with all them russians
new york agitators” (yeah)
[verse 8]
some say they’ve passed their darkest hour
those moderates are back in power
they’ll listen close with open ears
they’ll help us out in a couple of hundred years
but don’t push ’em, whatever you do
or else you’ll get those extremists back in

[verse 9]
you see alabama is a sovereign state
with sovereign dogs and sovereign hate
they stand for the bible, for the constitution
they stand against communist revolution
they say “it’s pinkos like you that freed the slaves”

- phil ochs lyrics

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