This lyric is: #475

ON THE DEATH OF LANGSTON HUGHES


Have you heard the news,
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is dead.
Have you heard the news
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is gone.

I went down to the graveyard
many folks were buried there
people from all walks of life
people dark and fair
I wondered who had held the whip
I wondered who had died
raging at injustice
while their children cried

I looked upon the gravestones
and gazed at every name
thinking that their mortal flesh
all ends up the same
and now reduced to ashes
their vanity denied
the oppressed and the oppressor
are lying side by side

Have you heard the news
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is dead.
Have you heard the news
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is gone.

The lowly worm will till the earth
it seems a lonely plight
perhaps it is a blessing
to be without sight
I close my eyes and wonder
if he's better off than we
who think we are on higher ground
but look and do not see

I walked out of that graveyard
and felt so all alone
I felt the sins of centuries
as if they were my own
I felt like I had held the whip
and felt like I had died
raging at injustice -
and it was me who cried

Have you heard the news
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is dead.
Have you heard the news
have you heard the news?
Langston Hughes is gone.


words and music
© 2001 Peter Croton/BlackRose Productions


[This message has been edited by pc (edited 08-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by blakeh (edited 09-03-2002).]