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Birmingham Sunday Lyrics

Artist: Joan Baez
Album: Joan Baez 5

Lyrics as reprinted in Guy and Candie Carawan, Sing for Freedom: The Story of
the Civil Rights Movement through its songs, Bethlehem, PA, 1990, pp. 122-123.

Come round by my side and I'll sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun,
And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.
At an old Baptist church there was no need to run.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The clouds they were grey and the autumn winds blew,
And Denise McNair brought the number to two.
The falcon of death was a creature they knew,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The church it was crowded, but no one could see
That Cynthia Wesley's dark number was three.
Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
Young Carol Robertson entered the door
And the number her killers had given was four.
She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
The men in the forest they once asked of me,
How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea.
And I asked them right with a tear in my eye.
How many dark ships in the forest?
The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone.
And I can't do much more than to sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
And the choirs keep singing of Freedom.

Comments/Interpretations

by virginia apsannah gurley on 7/5/2008 11:14pm
just finished watching 4 little girls. grew up listening to joan because of my mom. i am from birmingham and am 26 years old. cannot believe no comments posted about this song. one of the most beautiful and poetic songs ever written. most moving line is about the earth turning around and no one recalled a more cowardly sound. so true. rest in peace little girls.

by (Pastor) Roger Newton on 10/30/2008 5:02am
I just saw Virginia's comment and I share her feelings about this song. I am 67 years old and a semi retired pastor and I cried over the song when I first heard it on "Joan Baez 5" years ago. I hope Virginia also enjoys Joan's new album "Day After Tomorrow"

by Katherine Lilley on 9/28/2010 5:29pm
I heard this song years ago and it has stayed in my head ever since, it still makes me cry to this day.

by Elizbabeth on 1/10/2011 9:46pm
I keep a sticky note on my computer with there names on it and i can't find any where to download this song

by Elizabeth on 1/15/2011 6:23am
I found a website to download it free!! Here it is:
www.imusicz.net

by Robert on 12/29/2011 4:41am
I grew up in Apartheid South Africa and this song was alwas an inspiration. I first heard it as a boy and held on to the choirs singing of freedom regardless.

by KaySP Sept. 11, 2012 on 9/11/2012 4:46pm
Next year will be 50 years. The tragedy truly changed my life; I wish I had the voice to give it the pathos that Joan does. But why doesn't this site say that Richard Farina, married to Joan's sister Mimi, was the author of the lyrics?

by Monica McGregor on 3/11/2013 1:10am
So sad and so beautiful. This came up in my iPod mix, followed by Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." What else is there to say?

by devan Murphy on 9/14/2014 9:08am
Became aware of joan baez after watching four little girls

by Toya Robertson on 11/26/2014 12:01am
Just watched 4 Little Girls on Amazon Prime, and I had to look up the lyrics to this song. Wow! Joan Baez captured the mood of September, 15 1963 in Birmingham, AL perfectly.

by HECTOR ARIAS on 4/16/2015 9:36am
I AM LISTENING TO THIS SONG FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR A HISTORY PROJECT..
A MIX FEELINGS OF SADNESS AND ANGER
WHAT IS WORST IS THAT RACISM STILL
VERY STRONG IN THE SOUTH, AND IS SOMETHING PEOPLE LEARN FROM PARENTS OR OTHERS AROUND... IS SO
PATHETIC, WHERE IS NEEDED FOR TRUE VALUES WHAT KIDS ARE LEARNING INSTEAD.

by CAROL WADE on 6/18/2015 4:15am
Today is June 18, 2015, and we all know that this church was invaded last evening during a Bible study. All these years later, and still all this hate.

I am 72, and only have dialup, but I found the lyrics to "Birminham Sunday," which was sung by Joan Baez, and I could not even speak them, as I cried each time I cried. I don't understand such hatred, and I never want to understand it, because I never want to be able to think that way.

I still remember the first names of the girls that died fifty-three years ago. It was horrifying just to hear about it. God have mercy on the families and the friends of those who died in that Bible study and on the United States, which is no longer a mainly authentic Christian country.

If you haven't read a Bible from begining to end, you're not fully educated. If you have no hunger & thirst for the Word of God, you're part of the problem.

by Joan boyce on 8/28/2017 9:58pm
I am from a very small place when compared to Birmingham,in beautiful Nova Scotia,Canada.After watching the movie 4 lil girls & listening to Joan Baez singing that haunting song I feel like I grew up in a totally different world than these 4 lil angels.As a white woman who would have been only 3 yrs old at the time of their murders,I would just like to say how proud I am of each & every one of you brave souls for not standing down to those racist bastards & although it was another time & another place,these lil girls will be forever remembered through history as the faces of change in the hearts of so many,rip Addie,Cynthia,Carol & Denise.😢

by Joan boyce on 8/28/2017 10:01pm
I am from a very small place when compared to Birmingham,in beautiful Nova Scotia,Canada.After watching the movie 4 lil girls & listening to Joan Baez singing that haunting song I feel like I grew up in a totally different world than these 4 lil angels.As a white woman who would have been only 3 yrs old at the time of their murders,I would just like to say how proud I am of each & every one of you brave souls for not standing down to those racist bastards & although it was another time & another place,these lil girls will be forever remembered through history as the faces of change in the hearts of so many,rip Addie,Cynthia,Carol & Denise.8/27/2017😢

by ella paterson on 8/7/2021 5:42pm
i love the song where can i buy it