Lyr/Tune Req: Medgar Evers Lullaby

Subject: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Animaterra
Date: 10 Jun 98 - 07:49 PM

OK, Mudcateers, now can you help me find lyrics and music to a "Medgar Evers Lullabye' I heard about in passing. He was a civil rights leader who was killed. I know nothing about the source or who recorded it. Do you?

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Will
Date: 10 Jun 98 - 08:12 PM

Hi, Animaterra. This probably is not what you want, but the DT has a Phil Ochs song called "TOO MANY MARTYRS", which is about Medgar Evers. You can find it by searching on "Medgar" in the DT search field.

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Allan C.
Date: 11 Jun 98 - 10:52 AM

I suspect you may be thinking of a song which Judy Collins did on one of her albums. I can't remember if that was the actual name of the song but it sounds right. I believe the album was titled, "In My Life". I no longer have it but perhaps someone else out there does.

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Animaterra
Date: 11 Jun 98 - 08:55 PM

Hmmm, I don't think it's the Ochs song. Supposedly it's from the point of view of his wife, singing to their children. I had the Judy Collins lp eons ago; don't remember that song. I'll try to find it again. Thanks!

Subject: Lyr Add: MEDGAR EVERS LULLABY
From: Little Robyn
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 05:02 AM

The history class at our local high school is studying the history of the 1960s (history? I call it current affairs from a year or two back!) and their text book has photos of Martin Luther King etc., and mentions Birmingham Sunday and Medgar Evers and other things I used to sing about. So I searched the DT to find the words so I could print out a tidy copy but Medgar Evers Lullaby is missing!
I hope Animaterra is still around. The song is on a Judy Collins record called 'The Judy Collins Concert' and was recorded at New York Town Hall on March 21 1964. It was written by Richard Weissman, according to the record cover.
I've found my old song book from about 1965 and here are the words:

MEDGAR EVERS LULLABY

Bye bye my baby, I'll rock you to sleep,
Sing you a sad song, it might make you weep.
Your Daddy is dead and he'll never come back
And the reason they killed him, because he was black.

I'll tell you a story that you ought to know;
It happened in our town a short while ago.
Your Daddy was walking alone for some air
And a man in the bushes was waiting right there.

That man killed your Daddy and laughed while he died.
Your Daddy lay dying with tears in his eyes.
He cried for the things that a man leaves undone
And he cried for the dreams that he had for his son.

What will you do, son, when you are a man?
Will you learn to live lonely and hate all you can?
Will you try to be happy and try not to see
That all men are slaves 'til their brothers are free.


Does anyone know what happened to his son?
Robyn

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 05:58 AM

Wow- thanks!

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 06:48 AM

I always used to sing this and Too Many Martyrs as a pair, frelt they belonged together. I have that Judy Collins album, and a great one it is too.
Giok......Sounding like Yoda

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Tinker
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 08:08 AM

Heard this for the first time in the wee hours at Getaway this year and it's haunted me since. I'm glad to have the story behind it, but I'm not sure I could ever sing it. It resonates a little too close to home.

Tinker

Subject: RE: REQ: Medgar Evers (sp?) lullabye
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 12:15 PM

I sang this at my high school talent show in 1979. My first solo performance. (I'm not sure they knew what to think.) The recent trial for this murder was an amazing thing that brought it back to mind.

~ Becky in Tucson