Judy Collins - Hey Nelly Nelly lyrics

Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window. Hey Nelly Nelly look at what I see. He's riding into town on a sway backed mule, Got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool, Sure is talking like he's been to school, And it's 1853. Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he's saying. Hey Nelly Nelly, he says it's getting late. And he says them black folks should all be free To walk around the same as you and me, And he's talking about a thing he calls democracy, And it's 1858. Hey Nelly Nelly, hear the band a-playing. Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun. 'Cause the men are cheering and the boys are too, They're putting 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 fighting's over. Hey Nelly Nelly, I've come back alive. 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, look at what I see. I see white folks and colored walking side by side, Walking in a column that's a century wide, It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride In 1963.