Driving past the Lorraine in Memphis My mind flashed back to the screen A dark form crashing to the ground And the people around him screaming My grandmother was standing behind me I heard her say "well, it's about time" Now my grandma was a real good woman How could she want that man to die Tanks in Natchez Governor's called out the National Guard Good people Black and white How could you make your hearts so hard In the suburbs near Detroit city They're talking riots in the street So you hide your kids behind the sofa Eat your dinner with a shotgun across your knees
Tanks in Natchez Governor's called out the National Guard Good people Black and white How could you make your hearts so hard People say he was a loudmouth troublemaker But Reverend King was a family man You never heard him threaten anybody You never saw a gun in his hand I can't find no real deliverance In hate preachers like the Ku Klux Klan They never helped raise up the spirits They never loved their fellow man Tanks in Natchez Governor's called out the National Guard Good people Black and white How could you make your hearts so hard