Too Many Martyrs

Too Many Martyrs （版）-Phil Ochs
In the state of Mississippi
Many years ago
A boy of fourteen years got a taste of
Southern law
He saw his friend a hanging
And his color was his crime
And the blood upon his jacket
Left a brand upon his mind
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies
Too many empty words were said
Too many times for
Too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
His name was Medgar Evers
And he walked his road alone
Like Emmett Till and thousands more
Whose names we'll never know
They tried to burn his home
And they beat him to the ground
But deep inside they both knew
What it took to bring him down
Too many martyrs
And too many dead
Too many lies
Too many empty words were said
Too many times for
Too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
The killer waited by his home
Hidden by the night
As Evers stepped out from his car
Into the rifle sight
He slowly squeezed the trigger
The bullet left his side
It struck the heart of every man
When Evers fell and died
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies
Too many empty words were said
Too many times for
Too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
And they laid him in his grave
While the bugle sounded clear
Laid him in his grave
When the victory was near
While we waited for the future
For freedom through the land
The country gained a killer
And the country lost a man
Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies
Too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh let it never be again
Oh let it never be again