Phil Ochs - Talking Birmingham Jam Lyrics
Walkin down to birmingham,Way down south in dixieland.I thought that I would stop a whileTake a vacation southern styleGot some southern hospitality...down there in a southern hospital.Well, all the signs said welcome in,Welcome if youre white my friend.Come along and watch the fightsWhile we feed our dogs on civil rights.We believe in segregation...negroes in one mob...Policemen, politicians, dogs in the otherWell Ive seen travel in many waysIve traveled in cars and old subwaysBut in birmingham some people choseTo fly down the street from a fire hose.Doin some hard travelin...from hydrants of plenty.Well a pack of dogs was standin byI walked up to them and I said hiWell I asked one dog what they all were doinHe walked up to me and started chewinIt was a black dog...seems everybody down there is prejudiced.Well I said there must be some men aroundThere cant be only you dogs in townThey said sure we have old bull connerThere he goes, walkin yonderThrowin some raw meat to the mayor...feedin bones to the city councilWell I said theres still something missing here,You must have a governor somewhere.Sure, hes doin his duty, he aint no foolHes blocking out kids from our schoolsStandin in the doorway...crackin jokes...gettin re-elected.So, I asked em how they spend their timeWith segregation on their mind.They said if you dont like to live this wayGet outta here, go back to the u.s.a.Live with all them russians...new york agitatiors...yeah.Some say theyve passed their darkest hourThose moderates are back in power.But listen close with open earsTheyll help us out in a couple a hundred years.But dont push em...whatever you do...Or else you get those extremists back in.You see alabama is a soveriegn stateWith soveriegn dogs and soveriegn hateThey stand for the bible, for the constitutionThey stand against communist revolution.They say: its pinkos like you that freed the slaves.
