Tom: Am
Am C G F
They called you the rise of the black messiah like so many boys before you
Am C G F
And they’ll be more, more to follow threatening and hard to swallow
Am C G F
I’m sitting underneath that hanging tree, just me and the ghost of the KKK
Am C G F
Poor man’s gallows in the middle of the woods - the saddest tree that ever stood
[Chorus]
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
[Verse 2]
Am C G F
My friend I heard you tell of slavery’s end but have you heard of mass incarceration
Am C G F
That ol’ Jim Crow he just keeps getting born with a new hanging rope for the black man’s scourge
Am C G F
Hey ol’ man river, what do you know of that plantation they all Angola?
Am C G F
The devil spawned a prison there - the saddest farm that ever lived
G G F
Your great grand-daddy, he worked that land with shackles on his feet and on his hands
G G F
He built them levees he chopped that cane he died in the mud in his chains
C F
Now you stand where he once stood shackles on you all the same
[Chorus]
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
[Bridge]
C G Am F
But he’s gonna rise, he’s gonna rise and all them lynches are gonna be damned
Am
When outta that mud walks a brand new man
[Chorus]
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
[Verse 3]
Am C G F
They called you the rise of the black messiah and said they’d do any damn thing the could to keep ya -
Am C G F
You and your brothers from spreading the word, the gospel of freedom and the black man’s worth
Am C G F
40 years in solitary, consider the man they just can’t bury
Am C G F
I got this letter in my hand, saying tell this story when you can
[Bridge]
C G Am F
But he’s gonna rise, he’s gonna rise and all them lynches are gonna be damned
Am
When outta that mud walks a brand new man
[Outro]
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
Am C G F
Oooh oooh oooh
