Remarks:
This is Dylan’s song that “deals with the Meredith case, but then again it doesn’t,” as he put it. The general facts are there: racial discrimination, tear gas, two men killed in Oxford, Mississippi. But he kept it vague enough that it was about the racist violence of the 1960s in general. He wrote this in 1962 and there was plenty more of that soon to come.
The song itself never charted but the album it was on, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (1963), went to #22 in the US and #1 in Britain.
See also:
- songs, the 1960s
- Bob Dylan
- The Death of Emmett Till
- All Along the Watchtower (as covered by Jimi Hendrix)
- James Meredith
- Emmett Till
- Black History Month 2018
Lyrics:
Oxford Town, Oxford Town
Ev’rybody’s got their hats bowed down
The sun don’t shine above the ground
Ain’t a-goin’ down to Oxford Town.
He went down to Oxford Town
Guns and clubs followed him down
All because his face was brown
Better get away from Oxford Town.
Oxford Town around the bend
He comes to the door, he couln’t get in
All because of the color of his skin
What do you think about that, my frien’ ?
Me and my gal, my gal’s son
We got met with a tear gas bomb
I don’t even know why we come
Goin’ back where we come from.
Oxford Town in the afternoon
Ev’rybody singin’ a sorrowful tune
Two men died ‘neath the Mississippi moon
Somebody better investigate soon.
The video is blocked for me (at least the link provided).
Is it only outside the USA, or has it been removed from YouTube.
I was able to find the video by going back into the playlist and looking for it.
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@ jefe
The link still works fine for me in the US.
Unfortunately, videos that work fine in one country do not always work in others. It seems to be mainly a copyright thing.
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As I have gotten older I have come to appreciate Bob Dylan as a music artist. I see he was a troubadour speaking on the social ills of the times.
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