I was talking to this guy
about the places we had been
he said he had been to Scotland
with his dad and some other men
My father was a writer
and we went to sign some books
I asked him what he wrote about
and therein lies the hook
He asked if I ever heard that speech
by Martin Luther King
The one he gave in Washington
where he said “I have a dream”
I raised my eyebrows pretty high
and said I know the one
he said my dad wrote most of that
I was a little stunned
(Chorus)
let freedom ring
Martin Luther King
mine eyes have seen the glory
of your powerful story
free at last
free at last
your legend lasts
you are unsurpassed
what’s your father’s name?
his name is Clarence Jones
I looked him up and sure enough
there were written tomes
he marched with Martin Luther King
and he wrote that fateful speech
MLK went improv
The man he sure could preach
Mahalia Jackson yelled at him
tell them about the dream
Martin put down Clarence’s speech
and caught the spirit stream
The rest it is all history
he went to the mountaintop
he saw accross to the promised land
and then he was shot
(Chorus)
let freedom ring
Martin Luther King
mine eyes have seen the glory
of your powerful story
free at last
free at last
your legend lasts
you are unsurpassed
I actually picked up Clarence Jones son, Dana in the cab of course. For a detailed description of how he came to write the “I have a dream” speach, check out this video of Clarence telling the story.