[Spoken] 

What I've realized since is that it's a very painful process but it is not destructive. It's

the world deliberation. And what really happened in the sixties was that this country took just

the first step toward admitting that it had been wrong on race, and creativity burst out in all

directions. 



From the color of the faces in Sunday songs 

To the hatred they raised all the youngsters on 

Once upon a time in this country, long ago 

She knew there was something wrong 

Because the song said "yellow, red, black, and white 

Every one precious in the path of Christ" 

But what about the daughter 

Of the woman cleaning their house? 

Wasn't she a child they were singin' about? 

And if Jesus loves us, black and white skin 

Why didn't her white mother invite them in? 

When did it become a room for no blacks to step in? 

How did she already know not to ask the question? 

Left lasting impressions 

At a lesson, comfort's gone (?) 

She never thought things would ever change, 

But she always knew there was something wrong. 



Always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

Years later, she found herself 

Mississippi bound to help 

Stop the legalized lynching of Mr. Willy McGee. 

But they couldn't stop it, 

So they thought that they'd talk to the governor about what'd happened 

And say, "We're tired of being used as an excuse to kill black men." 

But the cops wouldn't let 'em past 

And these women, they struck 'em as uppity 

So they hauled 'em all off to jail 

And they called in protective custody. 

Then from her cell 

She heard her jailers 

Grumblin' about "outsiders". 

When she called 'em out 

And said she was from the south, they shouted, 

"Why is a nice, Southern lady makin' trouble 

For the governor?" 

She said, "I guess I'm not your type of lady, 

And I guess I'm not your type of Southerner, 

But before you call me traitor, 

Well it's plain as just to say (?) 

I was a child in Mississippi 

but I'm ashamed of it today." 



She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

[Spoken] And, all of a sudden, I realized I was on the other side



Imagine the world that you're standing within 

All of your neighbors, they're family-friends. 

How would you cope facing the fact 

The flesh on their hands was tainted with sin? 

She faced this every day. 

People she saw on a regular basis; 

People she loved, in several cases; 

People she knew were incredibly racist. 

It was painful, but she never stopped loving them, 

Never stopped callin' their names 

And she never stopped being a Southern woman 

And she never stopped fighting for change. 

And she saw that her struggle was 

in the tradition of ancestors never aware of her (?) 

It continues today: 

The soul of a Southerner 

born of the other America. 



She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 

She always knew there was somethin' wrong. 



[Spoken] 

What you win in the immediate battles is little compared to the effort you put into it but if

you see that as a part of this total movement to build a new world, you know what could be

(?? "oooh, ooooh"). You do have a choice. You don't have to be a part of the world of the

lynchers. You can join the other America. There is another America!