Ballad Of Old Monroe chords by Pete Seeger
Verse 1
D
Gather round me, you Americans,
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A
if you believe in right and wrong.
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G
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The newspapers have ignored this,
I'll tell it in a song.
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The papers and the TV
G
never told a story straight.
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G
A
So listen now, I will to you,
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the honest facts relate.
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Let me take you to a corner
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of this world
that we call free.
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It's Monroe, North Carolina,
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A
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where the Klan rules by decree.
Now, maybe you thought
the Klan was dead
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and buried long ago.
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Well, in August 1961
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you should have been in old Monroe.
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It's a town of about ten thousand,
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it could be a pretty place.
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But there's uncertainty and fear
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to be seen on many a face.
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A railroad slices through Monroe,
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it's not one town, but two towns.
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On the right, Monroe is white,
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and on the left is Newtown.
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Eighteen Freedom Riders
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came in Au gust 61,
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at the call of young Rob Williams,
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to see what could be done.
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Robert Williams was a leader,
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a gi ant of a man.
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He said, let's protect our families
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from the violence of the Klan.
Well, the Klansmen, they got busy,
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they came from everywhere,
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All armed with guns and pistols,
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and Chief Mooney didn't care.
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They staged a bloody riot,
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and the deck was surely stacked,
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Cause the only ones arrested
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were the ones who were
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attacked.
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Now listen for the frame -up
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Did the Klan lay a plan
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To trap Williams and his friends
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And make him flee the land
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A couple by name of Stiegel
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Were driving in a car
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They drove right into Newtown
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That was a bit too far
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For Negroes live in Newtown
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And on that fatal day
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They'd set their lines of self -defense
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against the KKK.
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The Stigols,
they were frightened.
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They're stopped at Williams'
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door.
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And Robert Williams told the crowd
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to let the Stigols go.
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He said, come on inside my house,
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you'll get hurt if you stay here.
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And Williams led the Stigols
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A
inside his own house there.
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And though this man had saved them,
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police got on his trail.
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Nothing less than a kid
A
napped charge,
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twenty years to life in jail.
And then the mighty FBI
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joined in
to help the Klan,
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With vicious posters tacked up
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in post offices through the land,
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Saying Rob was armed and dangerous,
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and schizophrenic too,
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As though to shoot him down
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on sight
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would be the safest thing to do.
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But Rob escaped to Canada,
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and then to Mexico,
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and now he stays in Cuba
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where the FBI can't go.
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And now a make -believe trial
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comes in 1962
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and we are wondering
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if in Monroe
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that justice can come through.
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Perhaps when it gets
to the Supreme Court
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they'll get a better shake,
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But it's in the hearts of you an d me,
the decision must be made.
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For we are all as guilty,
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till we make that day to come,
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When Robert Williams can re turn
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to his Union County home.
So listen, Mr. President,
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and listen, Brother Bob,
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If you de fend the free world,
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here is a little job.
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If you don't believe the words I say,
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go see it for yourself.
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Go down and visit old Monroe,
but be careful of your health.
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There's lots of good people in Monroe,
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but they are scared to say,
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Go down to old Monroe, Bob,
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tell them this is the USA.
They say the German people
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the crimes of Hitler never knew,
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Well, let American people see
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what fascists here can do,
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For we've had enough of murder,
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we've had enough of lies,
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And the Ku Klux Klan
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and ol' Monroe
is due to be surprised.
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For in Washington and round
the world
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we're being asked today
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Is Monroe, North Carolina
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in the good ol' USA?
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Monroe, Monroe,
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I hear those voices say
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Is Monroe, North Carolina
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D
in the good ol' USA?
Bye
Ballad Of Old Monroe
Pete Seeger
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