Only A Pawn In Their Game

Bob Dylan

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Key:
G C G C G A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Ever's blood
G C D A finger fired the trigger to his name
G C G A handle hid out in the dark
C G A hand set the spark
C G Two eyes took the aim
C G Behind a man's brain
C G But he can't be blamed
G D C G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 2]
G Bm Am C G A South politician preaches to the poor white man
G C D You got more than the blacks, don't complain
G C G C G You're better than them, you been born with white skin, they explain
C G And the Negro's name
C G Is used it is plain
C G For the politician's gain
C G As he rises to fame
C G And the poor white remains
C G On the caboose of the train
C G But it ain't him to blame
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G D C G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 3]
G Bm Am C G The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
G C D And the marshals and cops get the same
G C G C G But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
C G He's taught in his school
C G From the start by the rules
C G That the laws are with him
C G To protect his white skin
C G To keep up his hate
C G So he never thinks straight
C G 'Bout the shape that he's in
C G But it ain't him to blame
G D C G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 4]
G Bm Am C G From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
G C D And the hoof beats pound in his brain
G C G And he's taught how to walk in a pack
C G C G Shoot in the back, with his fist in a clinch
C G To hang and to lynch
C G To hide 'neath the hood
C G To kill with no pain
C G Like a dog on a chain
C G He ain't a-got no name
C G But it ain't him to blame
G D C G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 5]
G Bm Am C G Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
G C D They lowered him down as a king
G C But when the shadowy sun
G C Sets on the one
C G That fired the gun
C G He'll see by his grave
C G On the stone that remains
C G Carved next to his name
C G His epitaph plain
G D C G Only a pawn in their game
Song details

Composition: Bob Dylan

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