I was born a black boy
My name is Emmett Till
Walked this earth for 14 years

One night I was killed
For speaking to a man
Whose skin was white as dough

That's a sin in Mississippi
But how was I to know?


I come down from Chicago
To visit with my kin
There I was a cheeky kid

I guess I always been
But the harm they put upon me
Was too hard for what I done

For I was just a black boy
I never hurt no one


Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh


They took me from my uncle's house
Mose Wright was his name
He'd be later standing without hesitation

Point the blame
At the ones who beat and cut me
And shot me with the gun

And threw me in the river
Like I was trash when they were done


I was sent back to my mother
At least what was left of me
She kept my casket open

For the whole wide world to see
The awful desecration
And the evidence of hate

You could not recognize me
The mutilation was so great


Became a cry for justice then
To be finally fulfilled
All because of me, a black boy

My name was Emmett Till

Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Oh, I had rather lived

Till I was too old to die young
Not even a soul I left behind
All that might have come

Summer clouds above my head
The grass beneath my feet
The warmth of a good woman

Her kisses soft and sweet

Perhaps to be a father

Of a black boy of my own
Watch him grow into a kinder world
Than I had known

Where no child would be murdered
For the color of his skin
And love would be the only thing

Inside the hearts of men

They say the heart of the night

Is high in heavens too
Where I am one more black boy
My name is Emmett Till