Birmingham Sunday, Joan Baez (1964)

On 15th of September 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed a church killing four girls aged 11 to 14 (Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole obertson, Cynthia Wesley) and injuring many more. 

::: Birmingham Sunday: LISTEN/WATCH

Come round by my side and I'll sing you a song 

I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong 

On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom

That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun 

And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one 

At an old Baptist church there was no need to run 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom  

The clouds they were grey and the autumn wind blew 

And Denise McNair brought the number to two 

The falcon of death was a creature they knew 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom 

The church it was crowded, but no one could see 

That Cynthia Wesley's dark number was three 

Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom  

Young Carol Robertson entered the door 

And the number her killers had given was four 

She asked for a blessing but asked for no more 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom 

On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground 

And people all over the earth turned around 

For no one recalled a more cowardly sound 

And the choirs kept singing of freedom 

The men in the forest they once asked of me 

How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea 

I asked them right back with a tear in my eye 

How many dark ships in the forest? 

The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone 

And I can't do much more than to sing you a song 

I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong 

And the choirs keep singing of freedom

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- lyrics via, photograph by Yousuf Karsh via