Strange Messengers Lyrics - Singles - Patty Smith

I looked upon the book of lifeTracing the lines of face after faceLooking down at their naked feetBound in chains bound in chainsChains of leather chains of gold 

We knew it was wrong but we looked awayAnd paraded them down the colonial streetsAnd that's how they became enslaved 

They came across on the great ships 

Mothers separated from their babesHusbands stood on the auction blockBound in chains bound in chainsChains of leather chains of gold 

Men knew it was wrong but they looked away 

And led them to toil in fields of white 

As they turned their necks to a bitter landscape 

Oh the people I hear them calling 

Am I not a man and a brother 

Am I not a woman and a sister 

History sends us such strange messengers 

They come down through timeTo embrace to enrageAnd in their arms even stranger fruitAnd they swing from the trees 

With their vision in flames 

Ropes of leather ropes of goldMen knew it was wrong but they looked awayMessengers swinging from twisted ropeAs they turned their necks to a bitter landscape 

Oh the people I hear them calling 

Am I not a man and a brotherAm I not a woman and a sisterWe will be heard we will be heard