Take It From Dr. King - Pete Seeger, Friends

Down in Alabama, 1955

Not many of us here tonight were then alive;

A young Baptist preacher led a bus boycott

He led the way for a brand new day without firing a shot

Don’t say it can’t be done

The battle’s just begun

Take it from Dr. King

You too can learn to sing

So drop the gun

Oh those must have been an exciting 13 years

Young heroes, young heroines

There was laughter, there were tears

Students at lunch counters

Even dancing in the streets

To think it all started with sister Rosa

Refusing to give up her seat

Song, songs, kept them going and going;

They didn’t realize the millions of seeds they were sowing

They were singing in marches, even singing in jail

Songs gave them the courage to believe they would not fail

We sang about Alabama 1955

But since 9−11 we wonder will this world survive

The world learned a lesson from Dr. King:

We can survive, we can, we will

And so we sing —

Don’t say it can’t be done

The battle’s just begun

Take it from Dr. King

You too can learn to sing

So drop the gun