MANY THOUSAND GONE
Learned from the singing of Odetta, this traditional Negro spiritual's tune is familiar to many because Bob Dylan "borrowed" it for "Blowing in the Wind." This version was written in memory of Black lives lost at the hands of badge-wearers who made split-second, tragic, fatal mistakes. These cost our whole planet's people the lives of the individuals killed-- as well as the generations of people who would have flowed from them in the unfolding of time. As white people, it is most appropriate that we sing about losing not our lives-- because for the most part we're safe-- but the unearned Privilege that allows this.

Lyrics (c) 2015 Susan Oldberg Hinton for The Good News-Goodtime Band.


1. No more precious lives to mourn, no more, no more!
No more precious lives to mourn, many thousand... gone.

2. No more patient waiting, no more, no more!
No more patient waiting, many thousand... gone.

3. No more outraged silence, no more, no more!
No more outraged silence, many thousand... gone.

4. No more holding back for me, no more, no more!
No more holding back for me, many thousand... gone.

5. No more unearned privilege, no more, no more!
No more unearned privilege, many thousand... gone.

6. No more sorrow songs for me, no more, no more!
No more sorrow songs for me, many thousand... gone.

... sung unaccompanied, with each verse modulating up from deepest voice in V. 1, to a near-howl by the end.

~S~