44 years ago today, 6:01 pm CST
Nina Simone – Why? (The King of Love is Dead)
Lyrics:
Once upon this planet earth,
Lived a man of humble birth,
Preaching love and freedom for his fellow man,
He was dreaming of a day,
Peace would come to earth to stay,
And he spread this message all across the land.
Turn the other cheek he’d plead
Love thy neighbor was his creed,
Pain, humiliation, death, he did not dread
With his Bible at his side,
From his foes he did not hide,
It’s hard to think, this great man is dead. (oh yea)
Will the murders never cease,
Are thy men or are they beasts?
What do they ever hope, ever hope to gain?
Will my country fall, stand or fall?
Is it too late for us all?
And did Martin Luther King just die in vain?
Cos he’d seen the mountain top
And he knew he could not stop,
Always living with the threat of death ahead.
Folks you’d better stop and think
Cos we’re headed for the brink
What will happen now that he is dead?
He was for equality,
For all people you and me,
Full of love and good will, hate was not his way.
He was not a violent man.
Bigotry had sealed his fate.
We can all shed tears, but it won’t change a thing
Teach your people, will they ever learn?
Must you always kill with burn and burn with guns and kill with guns and burn,
don’t you know how we gotta react? Don’t you know what it will bring?
But he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop,
Always living with the threat of death ahead.
Folks you’d better stop and think
Everybody knows we’re on the brink
What will happen now that the king is dead?
We’ll see, he’d seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop,
Always living with the threat of death ahead.
Folks you’d better stop and think and feel again
for we’re headed for the brink
What’s gonna happen now, in all of our cities?
Our people are rising, they’re living in last
Even if they have to die, even if they have to die
At the moment they know what life is
Even at that one moment that ya know what life is
If you have to die, it’s alright ‘cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life
What’s going to happen now that the king of love is dead?
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