Song – Too Many Martyrs

In the state of Mississippi many years ago
A boy of fourteen years got a taste of Southern law
He saw his friend a-hangin’, his color was his crime
The blood upon his jacket put a brand upon his mind

Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies, too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh, let it never be again

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

Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies, too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh, let it never be again

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

Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies, too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh, let it never be again

They laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear,
They laid him in his grave when victory was near.
While we waited for the future with the wisdom of our plans,
The country gained a killer, and the country lost a man.

Too many martyrs and too many dead
Too many lies, too many empty words were said
Too many times for too many angry men
Oh, let it never be again

Words & music by Bob Gibson and Phil Ochs
© Robert Josiah Music & Almo Music