Too Many Martyrs Lyrics - Phil Ochs

In the state of Mississippi many years ago 

A boy of 14 years got a taste of southern law 

He saw his friend a hanging and his color was his crime 

And the blood upon his jacket, left a brand upon his mind 

Too many martyrs and too many dead 

Too many lies, too many empty words were said 

Too many times for too many angry men 

Oh, let it never be again 

His name was Medgar Evers and he walked his road alone 

Like Emmett Till and thousands more whose names we'll never know 

They tried to burn his home and they beat him to the ground 

But deep inside they both knew what it took to bring him down 

Too many martyrs and too many dead 

Too many lies, too many empty words were said 

Too many times for too many angry men 

Oh, let it never be again 

The killer waited by his home, hidden by the night 

As Evers stepped out from his car into the rifle sight 

He slowly squeezed the trigger, the bullet left his side 

It struck the heart of every man when Evers fell and died 

Too many martyrs and too many dead 

Too many lies, too many empty words were said 

Too many times for too many angry men 

Oh, let it never be again 

And they laid him in his grave while the bugle sounded clear 

Laid him in his grave when the victory was near 

While we waited for the future for freedom through the land 

The country gained a killer and the country lost a man 

Too many martyrs and too many dead 

Too many lies, too many empty words were said 

Too many times for too many angry men 

Oh, let it never be again 

Oh, let it never be again