Talking Birmingham Jam

(album: I Ain't Marching Anymore - 1965)

Walking down to Birmingham
Way down south in Dixieland
I thought that I would stop a while
Take a vacation Southern style
Got some Southern hospitality
Down there in a Southern hospital

Well, all the signs said Welcome in
Welcome if you're white my friend
Come along and watch the fights
While we feed our dogs on civil rights
We believe in segregation
Negroes in one mob
Policemen, politicians, dogs in the other

Well, I've seen travel in many ways
I've traveled in cars and old subways
But in Birmingham some people chose
To fly down the street from a fire hose
Doing some hard traveling
From hydrants of plenty

Well, a pack of dogs was standing by
I walked up to them and I said "Hi"
Well, I asked one dog what they all were doing
He walked up to me and started chewing
It was a black dog
Seems everybody down there is prejudiced

Well, I said there must be some men around
There can't be only you dogs in town
They said "Sure we have old Bull Conner
There he goes, walking yonder
Throwing some raw meat to the mayor
Feeding bones to the City Council"

Well, I said "There's still something missing here
You must have a governor somewhere"
Sure, he's doing his duty, he ain't no fool
He's blocking out kids from our schools
Standing in the doorway
Cracking jokes, getting re-elected

So, I asked em' how they spend their time
With segregation on their mind
They said if you don't like to live this way
Get outta here, go back to the U.S.A
Live with all them Russians
New York agitatiors, yeah

Some say they've passed their darkest hour
Those moderates are back in power
But listen close with open ears
They'll help us out in a couple a hundred years
But don't push 'em, whatever you do
Or else you get those extremists back in

You see Alabama is a soveriegn state
With soveriegn dogs and soveriegn hate
They stand for the Bible, for the Constitution
They stand against Communist revolution
They say: "It's pinkos like you that freed the slaves"