The Death of Emmett Till
Bob Dylan
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"Twas down in Mississippi no so long ago, When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door. This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well, The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till. Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up. They said they had a reason, but I can't remember what. They tortured him and did some evil things too evil to repeat. There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street. Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain. The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie, Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die. And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial, Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till. But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime, And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind. I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs. For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free, While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea. If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust, Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust. Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow, For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low! This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan. But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give, We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.
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12 facts about this song
Creation"The Death of Emmett Till" was written and performed by acclaimed American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in 1962.
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Lyrics ContentThe song was penned as a response to the brutal murder of a 14-year-old African-American boy, Emmett Till, by two white men in Mississippi in 1955.
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Sociopolitical InfluenceDylan's song helped to raise awareness of Till's murder and the ongoing racial segregation issue. It also played a role in the early Civil Rights Movement.
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Recording HistoryThis song doesn’t belong to any of Dylan’s official albums and was only released in bootleg recordings.
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Musical StyleThe song follows a classic folk and blues style, in keeping with the acoustic protest songs Dylan was known for in his early career.
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Inspirational SourceBob Dylan was inspired to write "The Death of Emmett Till" by a period piece in the Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper.
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Cultural InfluenceThe song has been referenced in plays and books that discuss the Emmett Till case, displaying its influence on other forms of media and culture.
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ControversySome controversy arose from the factual accuracy of the song. Dylan incorrectly refers to the trial jury as "12 honest men," while in reality, the jury consisted entirely of white men.
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LegacyThe song is considered one of the first significant pieces of music of the Civil Rights Movement, setting the trend for many protest songs in American music history.
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Artistic Evolution"The Death of Emmett Till" marks an important phase in Bob Dylan's career, showcasing his transition into more politically and socially aware songwriting.
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MusicianshipIn a 1962 live recording, Dylan stated that the song was his first that he wrote which was not derived from an existing melody.
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RelevanceDespite being written decades ago, the song remains relevant today due to ongoing discussions about racial inequality and social injustice.
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Citation
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"The Death of Emmett Till Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/30011722/Bob+Dylan/The+Death+of+Emmett+Till>.
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