Birmingham Town

Lyrics: John Dawson
Music: John Dawson

A very early John Dawson song recorded on a very rare 1964 solo LP. Played by David Gans on the 2017 KPFA Grateful Dead Marathon.

I read in my newspaper late last week
There's trouble down in Birmingham Town
Trouble down in Birmingham
So I remember seeing

As I walked down into Birmingham Town
To see what I could see
I saw police dogs
And they were a-coming after me

And as I walked on down into Birmingham Town
To feel what I might feel
I felt cold fire hose
And they were cutting into me

And as I walked down into Birmingham Town
To hear what I might hear
I heard Bull Connor
And he was a-shouting things at me

As I walked down into Birmingham Town
To do what I could do
I got arrested
And they laid me down in jail

So I'm sitting down here in this cold dark jail
Thinking on what comes to me
And I'm wondering
Why I've got to go to jail to be free