Ochs, Phil - William Moore Lyrics
Walkin' down an Alabama road
Rememberin' what the Bible told
Walkin' with a letter in his hand
Dreaming of another southern land
Walkin' down an Alabama road
And he went by the name of William Moore
Now what are you doing William Moore
Why the letter in your hand?
There's only one southern land
And he went by the name of William Moore
What price the glory of one man?
What price the glory of one man?
What price the hopes
What price the dreams
Remembering what his grandfather done
Fought for the south in '61
A hundred years have passed by since then
Now Moore is fighting for the south again
Remembering what his grandfather done
Remembering the time in World War Two
And the South Pacific Island that he knew
Remembering the young men that he killed
And the praying that the guns of hate be stilled
Remembering the time in World War Two
What price the glory of one man?
What price the glory of one man?
What price the hopes
What price the dreams
And what price the glory of one man?
And they shot him on the Alabama road
Forgot about what the Bible told
They shot him with that letter in his hand
As though he were a dog and not a man
And they shot him on the Alabama road
Did you say it was a shame when he died?
Did you say he was fool because he tried?
Did you wonder who had fired the gun?
Did you know that it was you who fired the gun?
Did you say it was a shame when he died?
What price the glory of one man?
What price the glory of one man?
What price the hopes
What price the dreams
And what price the glory of one man?
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Rand Lyrics
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Ochs, Phil William Moore Comments
Now _THAT'S_ a voice!
te amo travis
A group of black students stood in line at a whites-only movie theater in Baltimore in 1963, waiting to buy tickets but expecting to go to jail. Sure enough, the police arrived and began arresting the students for trespassing.
In the midst of the black students, the police were astonished to see a white man, William Lewis Moore. A puzzled officer asked Moore if he understood that he was in line to be arrested. Moore explained that if the others couldn’t see the movie because of the color of their skin, then he didn’t want to see it either. He spent that night in jail.
No one in Moore’s hometown of Binghamton, N.Y., was surprised at his willingness to go to jail. He was known for standing up for his beliefs, even when he stood alone, as he usually did.
In Baltimore, he worked as a substitute mail carrier and devoted his free time to writing and demonstrating. Moore felt individuals could be agents of social change simply by acting on their beliefs. To make his point, he used a tactic that seemed natural for a postman: He walked to protest segregation.
Moore planned to walk from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss. , to deliver a letter in which he urged Gov. Ross Barnett to accept integration. Just south of Collbran, Ala., a white storeowner named Floyd Simpson questioned him. Moore was happy to explain his views.
As Moore was resting by the road in Keener that evening, he was killed by bullets fired at close range from a .22-caliber rifle. Ballistics tests later proved the rifle belonged to Simpson, but no one was ever indicted for the April 23, 1963 murder.
One line of this song is used as the title of a documentary film released in 2017: "Did you wonder who fired the gun?" Written and directed by Travis Wilkerson.
Phil Ochs 1940-1976. His song about William Lewis Moore was written in 1963, the year in which Moore was killed. Moore was a postal worker and a human rights activist (born 1927).
What a song.
Great tribute!
ive written a tribute song to phil on here but its only half recorded on here and the full version is on myspace
The letter Ochs refers to was one Moore (a while) wrote to Gov. of Mississippi Ross Barnet in 1963 asking for integration which he walked to Mississippi to hand-deliver. He was shot on his walk. In 2008, others tried to deliver the original letter to the current governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, but the Governor would not meet with them to accept the letter. Nothing much has changed, has it? They just call it the Tea Party now.
phil ochs was a passionate singer, songwriter and musician, and his recordings should be heard more. listen to "i ain't marching anymore". he died too young.