In Alabama 1958
The price of human life is very low
A man that's black is trampled down
Just like men were so many years ago
[Chorus]
But these are more enlightened days
Cruel men and wicked ways we
Left long ago
Now every man may walk his way in peace for all
Are free
5000 years ago a million men
Were gathered in to royal Egypt's hand
Were bound together, forced to build
Pyramids of stone and desert sand
[Chorus]
Then came one who walked this world of war
Dreaming of the world as it should be
The good and lawful men of Rome
They nailed him like a rubber to a tree
[Chorus]
Last year a Negro stole a dollar bill
The judge, he said we must not be severe
Instead of death we'll give him life imprisonment
To show there's justice here
[Chorus]
And so throughout the ages we have seen
How progress marches ever on its way
No rack, no wheel, no Spanish boot
For Alabama's prisoners of today
[Chorus]
The Plague still runs throughout the world today
Johannesburg to Little Rock and back
A plague of ignorance and hate
Men walk in fear because their skin is black
In these more enlightened days
No room for savage ways
Leave and let them go
Now every man should walk his way in peace
Let men be free