Em              G           Am
In the state of Mississippi many years ago
  D                     Em
A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern law
Em                  G               Am
He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime
Am      D                            Em
And the blood upon his jacket left a brand upon his mind

        Am       D           G        Em
CHORUS: Too many martyrs and too many dead
Am       D             G                Em
Too many lies too many empty words were said
Am       D             G          Em
Too many times for too many angry men
Am        D        Em
Oh let it never be again

Em                  G            Am
His name was Medgar Evers and he walked his road alone
     D                                    Em
Like Emmett Till and thousands more whose names we'll never know
     Em                G             Am
They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground
Am  D                                  Em
But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down

[Chorus]

Em                G           Am
The killer waited by his home hidden by the night
   D                                Em
As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight
Em                     G            Am
he slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side
Am D                                  Em
It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell and died.


[Chorus]

Em                       G               Am
And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear
D                              Em
laid him in his grave when the victory was near
Em                      G          Am
While we waited for the future for freedom through the land (*)
Am  D                               Em
The country gained a killer and the country lost a man