{"id":405489,"date":"2024-02-20T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=405489"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Song-Lyrics-Assassination-and-Murder-Part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Song-Lyrics-Assassination-and-Murder-Part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Song Lyrics: Assassination and Murder Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black History is documented in many ways and many forms of music and literature: opera, movies, film documentaries, word of mouth, TV, books, poetry, etc. Several genres and styles of music portray Black History: work songs, field hollers, delta blues, jazz, R&B, pop, soul, reggae, calypso, gospel, rap, and hip hop.<\/p>\n

After the assassination of MLK in 1968, poignant tributes in music and song poured out about our nation\u2019s tragic loss. Nina Simone wrote and sang Why (The King of Love Is Dead). She also had a powerful emotional hit titled Mississippi Goddam. Marvin Gaye had a huge hit with Abraham, Martin, and John, written about assassinated U.S. Presidents\u2019 Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Many musicians did covers of the song and sang it all over the world.<\/p>\n

The previous poems in this month\u2019s series were about murders of Black Americans by white racists. A popular folk rock musician back then, Bob Dylan wrote songs about racial murders. Here is one:<\/p>\n

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

By BOB DYLAN<\/p>\n

(on Dylan\u2019s 1964 album<\/em> The Time\u2019s They Are A Changing)<\/em><\/p>\n

William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll<\/em><\/p>\n

With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger<\/em><\/p>\n

At a Baltimore hotel society gatherin\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him<\/em><\/p>\n

As they rode him in custody down to the station<\/em><\/p>\n

And booked William Zanzinger for first degree murder.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(Chorus)<\/em><\/p>\n

But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears<\/em><\/p>\n

Take the rag away from your face, Now ain\u2019t the time for your tears<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years<\/em><\/p>\n

Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres<\/em><\/p>\n

With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him<\/em><\/p>\n

And high office relations in the politics of Maryland<\/em><\/p>\n

Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders<\/em><\/p>\n

And swear words and sneering and his tongue it was snarling<\/em><\/p>\n

In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking<\/em><\/p>\n

Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen<\/em><\/p>\n

She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children<\/em><\/p>\n

Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage<\/em><\/p>\n

And never sat once at the head of the table<\/em><\/p>\n

And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level<\/em><\/p>\n

Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane<\/em><\/p>\n

That sailed through the air and came down through the room<\/em><\/p>\n

Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle<\/em><\/p>\n

And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger<\/em><\/p>\n

In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel<\/em><\/p>\n

To show that all\u2019s equal and that the laws on the level<\/em><\/p>\n

And that the strings in the books ain\u2019t pulled and persuaded<\/em><\/p>\n

And that even the nobles get properly handled<\/em><\/p>\n

Once that the cops have chased after and caught \u2018em<\/em><\/p>\n

And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom<\/em><\/p>\n

Stared at the person who killed for no reason<\/em><\/p>\n

Who just happened to be feelin\u2019 that way without warnin\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished<\/em><\/p>\n

And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance<\/em><\/p>\n

William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence<\/em><\/p>\n

(Chorus)<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears<\/em><\/p>\n

Bury the rag deep in your face – For now\u2019s the time for your tears.<\/em><\/p>\n

Part Two is a song about the assassination of Medgar Evers, who was a pioneering civil rights leader and the NAACP\u2019s first field secretary in the state of Mississippi.<\/p>\n


Black History Month<\/p>\n

Joey aka “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black History is documented in many ways and many forms of music and literature: opera,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}