Ballad of Oxford - Phil Ochs

I’ll sing you a song about a southern town where the devil had his rule

When marshalls faced an angry mob to send one man to school

His name was jimmy meredith

The tide he helped to turn

For he chose to stay on that terrible day

The land was soon to learn

There was blood, red blood, on their hands

Yellow dirt on their clothes

What they thought they were doing

Only God and the devil knows

There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts

Shot from their souls like a gun

And as they threw their stones and bricks

They screamed, «see what you have done!»

The governor made a promise he would keep the trouble down

But when the mob got ugly no troopers could be found

And men were filled with hate and fear

They screamed into the night

The rebel flag waved in the air

The symbol of state’s rights

There was blood, red blood, on their hands

Yellow dirt on their clothes

What they thought they were doing

Only God and the devil knows

There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts

Shot from their souls like a gun

And as they threw their stones and bricks

They screamed, «see what you have done!»

Gas was fired into the mob after each attack

And though the gas was running low, they never fired back

And when the smoke had cleared and the fury felt it’s pain

Two men were dead and a hundred bled

The south had risen again

So listen mr barnet, and mr walker, too

The times are changing mighty fast, they’ll roll right over you

But someday you’ll head for the south, to the southern tip of hell

And it’s hot down there, white-hot down there

Let’s hear your rebel yell!

There was blood, red blood, on their hands

Yellow dirt on their clothes

What they thought they were doing

Only God and the devil knows

There was hate, cold hate, in their hearts

Shot from their souls like a gun

And as they threw their stones and bricks

They screamed, «see what you have done!»

«see what you have done!»