Phil Ochs – Too Many Martyrs (Guitar)

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In the state of Mississippi many years ago

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A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern law

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He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime

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And the blood upon his jacket left a brand upon his mind

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CHORUS: Too many martyrs and too many dead

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Too many lies too many empty words were said

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Too many times for too many angry men

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Oh let it never be again

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His name was Medgar Evers and he walked his road alone

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Like Emmett Till and thousands more whose names we'll never know

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They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground

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But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down

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The killer waited by his home hidden by the night

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As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight

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he slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side

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It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell and died.

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And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear

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laid him in his grave when the victory was near

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While we waited for the future for freedom through the land (*)

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The country gained a killer and the country lost a man