G [Verse 1] G A bullet from the back of a bush G Took Medgar Evers' blood G D A finger fired the trigger to his name G C G A handle hid out in the dark G A hand set the spark G Two eyes took the aim G Behind a man's brain G But he can't be blamed G D G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 2] G Am C G A South politician preaches to the poor white man G D "You got more than the blacks, don't complain G You're better than them, you been born with white skin, " they explain G And the Negro's name G Is used, it is plain G For the politician's gain G As he rises to fame G And the poor white remains G On the caboose of the train G But it ain't him to blame D G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 3] Am C G The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid G D G And the marshals and cops get the same G But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool G He's taught in his school G From the start by the rule G That the laws are with him G To protect his white skin G To keep up his hate G So he never thinks straight G 'Bout the shape that he's in But it ain't him to blame D G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 4] A C G From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks G D And the hoofbeats pound in his brain G And he's taught how to walk in a pack G Shoot in the back G With his fist in a clinch G To hang and to lynch G To hide 'neath the hood G To kill with no pain G Like a dog on a chain G He ain't got no name G But it ain't him to blame D G He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 5] G Am C G Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught G D They lowered him down as a king G But when the shadowy sun sets on the one G That fired the gun G He'll see by his grave G On the stone that remains G Carved next to his name G His epitaph plain D G Only a pawn in their game