Phil Ochs - Ballad Of Oxford (jimmy Meredith) lyrics

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 its 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!"