It is about the violence that met James Meredith when he enrolled at the University of Mississippi in 1962.
The words
A brisk, ironic look at a Southern town erupting in violence over one Black student's right to attend college.
The song tells of a Southern college town turning to violence because one Black man has come to enroll. In short verses the singer describes the guns, the clubs, the tear gas and the deaths, and asks how anyone could accept it. A breezy, almost jaunty guitar tune runs underneath, so the cheerful sound sharpens the irony of the grim events. It is brief and pointed, a news story set to song.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
A brisk, ironic look at a Southern town erupting in violence over one Black student's right to attend college.
The song tells of a Southern college town turning to violence because one Black man has come to enroll. In short verses the singer describes the guns, the clubs, the tear gas and the deaths, and asks how anyone could accept it. A breezy, almost jaunty guitar tune runs underneath, so the cheerful sound sharpens the irony of the grim events. It is brief and pointed, a news story set to song.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Connections
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