"Twas down in Mississippi no so long ago,

When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door.

This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well,

The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till.

Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up.

They said they had a reason, but I can't remember what.

They tortured him and did some evil things too evil to repeat.

There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street.

Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain

And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.

The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie,

Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die.

And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,

Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.

But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime,

And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.

I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see

The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.

For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,

While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.

If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,

Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust.

Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow,

For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!

This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man

That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan.

But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give,

We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.

Recently, down in Mississippi

A young boy from Chicago came to the South

I can still remember his tragedy

His name was Emmett Till and he was black

He was dragged to a barn where he was beaten up

They said they had a reason but I did not remember their reason

They tortured him and did things to him that I do not wish to say

He was screaming inside the barn while people were laughing in the streets

Then they rolled his bloody body

And threw him into the water to stop him from screaming

I am sure the they killed him

Was for fun and to watch him die

And to stop the country from asking for a trial

Two brothers confessed to the murder of Emmett Till

But the jury was filled with all white men

So this trial wasn’t taken serious and nobody cared

I saw the newspaper this morning but I could not see it longer

The brothers were smiling and walking down the stairs of the courthouse

The jury found them innocent and the brothers were set free

While Emmett’s body was floating on a lake of the South

If you can’t speak out against this crime

You should be just as guilty as the two brothers

Because you didn’t speak out against this awful crime

This song is for you to remind other people

Hate crimes still happen in today’s world

But if all of us come together

We can make this place a better place to live

Theme:This song, many say, inspired the start of the Civil Rights Movement.