The Day I Was Born
whenever i say i’m from alabama
people seem to want to ask
what it was like to hold that fire hose
if i ever had to answer i’d tell them
i was born the day that happened
they seem to want to ask
what it was like to bomb that church
and kill those little girls
i was born that day as well
i was born the day they marched across
the edmund pettus bridge
the day wallace made his stand
the day martin had his dream
the day he saw the mountaintop
and the day after that
i was born innocent
free of all the blood
shed that day
but i was born into blood
i still am washing from my hands