Shawn Phillips Hey Nelly Nelly
Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, lookee what I see
He's a ridin' into town on a swayback mule
Got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool
But he sure is a talkin' like he's been to school
And it's 1853
Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he's sayin'
Hey Nelly Nelly, says it's gettin' late
And he says them black folk should all be free
To walk around the same as you and me
And he's talkin' 'bout a thing called democracy
And it's 1858
Hey Nelly Nelly, hear the bands a playin'
Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun
For the men are cheerin' and the boys are too
And they're all puttin' on their coats of blue
And I can't sit around here and talk to you
'Cause it's 1861
Hey Nelly Nelly, now the fightin's over
Hey Nelly Nelly, I come home alive
But my coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
But we sure will remember all the things he said
In 1865
Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, people are alive
I see white folks and colored walkin' side by side
And they're walkin' in a column that's a century wide
And it still is a long hard bloody damn ride
And it's 1965
It's 1965