Joan Baez - Birmingham Sunday

[KennBurch]

This song should be recorded again by someone from a more recent generation-Tracy Chapman, perhaps, accompanied only by Wynton Marsalis on sax.

[akaimurasaki1]

i listened to this in my english class and fell in love with it instantly. it shows that someone cared about showing what was happening and that it was a tragic thing but made it so beautiful

[15runawaylove]

Its so tragic that four amazingg young girls had to pay the price for three mens hate

[15runawaylove]

Ive researched that its a true story. its close to my heart because it happened on my birthday. well a few years before my birthday but the same day. plus I have the same name as one of the girls who diede. Its a little scary but Its a part of our amazing history.

[TheDunhill2011]

I wrote a song called " For 400 Years ", you may wish to check it out.

Thank you.

[christina1276]

This song should be required for everybody to know,a tragic lesson in history about how HATE lead to the death of many innocent including these little girls on a church on sunday morning.Sung beautiful by Joan Baez!

[mello60ful]

Four beautiful little ladies that God called home

[KennBurch]

@mello60ful This was NOT God's doing. And getting blown to bits in a church at or before the age of 14 is NOT being "called home". Perhaps you intended to comfort the survivors of these children, but it serves no purpose to try to soften the truth of what was done here.

[mello60ful]

@KennBurch and your hatred solves what believe me many years I felt like you I know now we have to stop being angry

[KennBurch]

@mello60ful, I'm not expressing hatred-I'm just rejecting the completely unjustified and insensitive sugarcoating of this terrorist act in your other post. The only way we can prevent this kind of atrocity from recurring is to tell the plain truth and keep alive the full memory of these things. And I'm sorry, but it wasn't God's will that these children were murdered. It was the actions of men, freely fighting an ugly war they knew was already loss.

[KennBurch]

@mello60ful And, unless you are black(I, myself am white)you're not entitled to say that anyone should "stop being angry" about the violent, bitter-end tactics that white racists have used to hold onto power in this country-including the disgusting and totally unjustified questions about our current president's birth certificate.

The victims are the ones who get to decide when they need to "get over it"-not the race that benefited and still benefits from Jim Crow. OK?

[mello60ful]

@KennBurch I am Black and unless you walk in my shoes in the turbulent 50's 60's where I personally seen the white only counters where white police kicked us as kids walking down the street Do something if you must to help the fight against hate but just being angry only mess with your body But you being white can go anywhere in this world with no problem just be one day as a black see what can happen

[mello60ful]

@KennBurch White hatred started all this horrible problem so unless you are Viola Liuzzo descendents you have no right to judge but you are right about one thing the victims get to decide remember that "victims"

[desertflwrs]

such a beautiful song about such a depressing event. spike lee's 4 little girls features this song beautifully in the opening shot.

[love2surf505]

This was so tragic and Joan Baez's incredible voice, only enhances the tragedy of that day. Unfortunately, the comments of made here - shows we haven't come that far. I agree with bunbacheso, that evil comes in all colors, however to institutionalize that evil only compounded the horror.

[christyw24]

i look and pray to them everyday it hurts my heart when i first heard this song.....i wish i had known them. i really would liked to meet them.i did a project on them.my name is christy and i been searching for this song!!!!!!i'm 16 but this song made me turn my life around thanks

ladiichrisbrezzy1024@yahoo.com

[onitram1]

a minor correction. It's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, not Shuttersworth.

[equineview]

It's so sad that fou girls died and that others were severly injured. Why are people so cruel.

[bubblinbrownsugar616]

WHAT THE HELL?!?! Did I just read this right:

Only a week before the bombing, Governor George Wallace told the New York Times that to stop integration Alabama needed a "few first class funerals"

DID I JUST READ THAT?!? UNBE-FUCKIN-LIEVABLE!!!

It's wrong to celebrate death but this asshole is the exception.

I'm glad that fucker is

dead today,

dead tomorrow,

and dead for FUCKIN EVER!!!!!

Absolutely pathetic.

[MSYNGWIE12]

@bubblinbrownsugar616 HEY BBSUGAR- I WATCHED A DOC MADE BY SPIKE LEE TODAY ABOUT THE BOMBING AND THERE WAS THAT PIECE OF HUMAN EXCREMENT SITTING IN HIS WHEELCHAIR. A BLACK MAN AT HIS SIDE- 'WHY HE IS MY BEST FRIEND, HE HAS BEEN FOR YEARS. " YOU FIGURE OUT THE B.S. I AM GLAD HE IS DEAD TOO EVEN THOUGH I FEEL AS A BUDDHIST IT IS WRONG OF ME TO HARBOR SUCH THOUGHTS- I HOPE AFTER MANY INCARNATIONS AS S DUNG BEETLE ETC OR SOME ABUSED PERSON HIS KARMA IS A LITTLE BETTER-

ZOE

[hawaiiangurl2000]

:(((((

bless you!!!

may we all remember Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carol Robertson

:((((

[naturlelsol]

Fret not for the guilty for they have been judged and all of those that was complicit as well.

Peace. We do not like devils and they are the negative part of us and Nature.

[StayRespectedTV]

to kill little girls has no point at all i just cant belive it and teh movment still went on

sad:(

[equineview]

@StayRespectedTV not to be rude but realy that guy tried to kill everyone in the church.

[j1455p]

Sad song. But done beautifully.

[taddyd1]

Let's not generalize here, "kingy". Besides you must be busy contacting those Orignality Police that you know from overseas.

Moral of ths story:

Just because you heard a melody somewhere doesn't mean that was it's origin. Now get back to your finger pointing and authority contacting, Your HighHorseness.

God, Help this King, PLEASE.

[librarosegirl123]

I can't believe the KKK is still around even if they don't do crimes (not that I know of) those sick basterds think there better than everyone...

[librarosegirl123]

listened to this in class its so prettyyy but very sad

[tanya1243]

don't be ashamed of who you are. You had nothing to do with these criminal acts. It is very sad that so many people of color had to die for our freedom 2day. Freedom had a price tag on it for people of color and we had to pay for it through death. These people that had no humanity were ignorant for all man kind. Selfish deeds and acts were the cause of our ancestors struggle in life till death. May they all have peace in their final resting place.

[NejiTenten629]

I feel so horrible for these little girls. It's very sad to think that someone would hate another group of people so much to actually bomb a church, of all places, a church, and kill four innocent girls. It's awful.

[indistructible6]

white people shoul be a shamed of them seves

[suiru]

Thanks a lot for this important video

:)

[Kingscrib]

These lyrics are beautiful, but the melody is a traditional Scottish folk song. To hear it as originally written, look up the Tannahill Weavers version of 'I Once Loved a Lass'. Too bad such a disgraceful act, as the Sunday September 15th, 1963 bombing that killed those precious children, couldn't have inspired original music to accompany those poignant words. I have long admired Joan Baez. Though her voice delivers this so well, I wish she & Richard Farina had come up with an original melody.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

folk song melodies have been recycled for years including our national anthem, my country tis of thee and the battle hymn of the republic Who even knows if "once I was a lass " were the first lyrics attached to this song?

PS richard farina has sole writing credits, baez is merely the singer.

[Kingscrib]

@taddyd1 'I Once Loved A Lass' is the same melody. The Tannahill Weavers from Scotland only play their own original material OR traditional folk songs which have become public domain. It is listed as: Traditional, arranged by the Tannahill Weavers

If you're interested, look on YouTube 'Tannahill Weavers - I Once Loved A Lass' or The Corries earlier version of the same song.

George Harrison didn't realize he infringed He's So Fine by the Crystals when he penned My Sweet Lord, but he did!

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

I must not have made my point clear to you. I don't question that it is the exact melody of "I once loved a lass" . I do question if "I once loved a lass" was the first set of lyrics ever attached to the melody. Who knows? Folk song melodies have been recycled for centuries. A time honored tradidtion. It is also the melody of the ancient children's song "The Man in the Wilderness" (see natalie merchant's youtube ta

Richard would be the first to admit the melody was lifted.

[Kingscrib]

@taddyd1

Well, just to be sure, I emailed the question to the appropriate people overseas. After all, George Harrison didn't intentionally copy 'He's So Fine' by the Crystals, and we all know how that turned out.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

While your at it, why don't you report a couple Leprechauns I know for stealing lucky charms-"to the appropriate people overseas?" Maybe you can also sue the US gov't for stealing the melody for our national anthem from the British taverns. Maybe retroactively sue the Civil War writer who used of melody for Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye for when Johnny Comes marching home. Someone needs to sue the Christian who wrote "what child is this" for using the tune to Greensleves as well.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

While you're at it, why don't you report a couple Leprechauns I know for stealing lucky charms-"to the appropriate people overseas?" Maybe you can also sue the US gov't for stealing the melody for our national anthem from the British taverns. Maybe retroactively sue the Civil War writer who used of melody of Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye for when Johnny Comes marching home. Someone needs to sue the Christian who wrote "what child is this" for using the tune to Greensleves as well.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

Julia Ward Howe lifted the melody of John Brown's Body for the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the Star Spangled Banner is an old English Drinking Song and My Country Tis of Thee is lifted from God Save the Kingscrib.

Richard and Dylan did this often (The Swallows, Quiet Joys of Brotherhood, The Patriot's Game); there are no copyrights on traditional songs, so it's legal. John Lennon stole Stewball for "So this is Christmas" Check out Natalie Merchant's "A Man in the Wilderness"

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib Richard encouraged other songwriters who liked his original melodies to steal them if they could use them for their songs.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

Pete Seeger and others recorded the song long before the t weavers. Traditional means anybody can use it. NO copyright. Richard Farina did not copy it by accident he freely admitted where he found the melody. Get it. Just like John Lennon would freely admit he took the melody from Stewball for So this is Christmas. No misatake as in Harrison's case.

[Kingscrib]

@taddyd1 I read that Richard acknowledged his use of the melody for the background of his lyrics, but I hadn't when I commented about hearing it as another song - which I had! I'm old enough to remember the beginnings of integration and well before. My question wasn't about the integrity of either musician as I watched both from their earliest days. My quandry was about the origin of the melody. To bad the melody wasn't original. It's a beautiful lyric about a tragic and unforgetable day.

[taddyd1]

@Kingscrib

Personally I think the melody serves Farina's lyrics far more beautifully than the tired old "I loved a lass" theme.

Just like I think Muzio Clementi's Symphony# 3 is far more beautiful when attached to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" rather than "God Save the King" ; neither one of which were the original lyrics that went with the tune (yet both became national anthems!) Lyrically, "What Child Is This" is far more lovely than "Greensleves" to me as well.

[Kingscrib]

@taddyd1 Are you American by any chance? Americans tend to think their opinions are more valid and therefore more interesting to everyone else, than in fact they are. End post.

[jazzyfayy1983]

black ppl was doin they own thing and mining their own business the white ppl was jus fu***** with them giving them a hard time.

[Psikonort]

Love your Brethren, for the more love you give the more love you will receive!

[arctos7]

These words are such wonderful poetry that conveys tragedy and hope at the same time. Though there can never be real justice for crimes like this, Joan's voice, Richard Farina's song and this video are a fitting memorial to those beautiful children.

[216trixie]

According to Bible teaching, this bombing, like all good or evil acts, are foreknown, and ordained by Jehovah. Sorry, that's just what the Bibble teaches. Yeah, these kkk fucks threw a bomb, but the god these people worshipped had this act as His will.

[butfulmuzik]

@216trixie Do you think you would still believe what you wrote here if YOUR child had been blown to shit for simply going to church to pray? I would never want to answer to MY God for killing an innocent child, or anyone else, for that matter.

[216trixie]

@butfulmuzik  If my kid went to church to pray and was blown up i'd Surely know there is no god.

[IsaacBickerstaffEsq]

A credit to the song's author, Richard Farina (Joanie's brother in law), would have been a nice touch.

[butfulmuzik]

This video should be played in every classroom across America. It is an extraordinary history lesson of a time in America when the struggle for human rights and dignity were met with violence and hatred. We should never forget those times because if we do, it can and will happen again and again. No words and no voice ever told it better than Richard Farina and Joan Baez. I was 17 yrs old when this happened and those four precious angels are still in my heart after all these years.

[bucksfarmboy]

47 years ago today

and we still hear veiled threats just like George Wallace's from back then

[SouthernBelleSmiles]

God Bless our four angels. May we never forget their sacrifices and their families pain.

[boshfan25]

this song describes the hate ,that people scared of changed, acted upon. Deliberately knowing that children would be present that Sunday, they wanted to show these kids why they should stop taking parts in the marching led by Dr. King. Black people need to get more in touch with these historical acts and im sure they would be more inclined to become something in life, in a way these four girls were sacrificed to give black people the rights Black's now have.

[NANNYBELL100]

in skool i had to do a essay on this story..at first i was mad cause i didnt want to do it but as i studied more about it i was sad and it made me want to learn more about it...

[geofflovett]

And they bitch about 9/11'

Home grown terrorism.

We are all the same colour underneath.

[llieber100]

As usual, Joan Baez songs bring me to tears: this one, more than most. I was 4 years old when this incident happened. I lived in MA but my parents loved and played lots of the current folk music. This song burned in my mind because of the story it tells. Right up there with the song about Medgar Evers son (by Judy Collins) Wow.

[MYheroMJrip]

This Song Really Makes You Feel The Effect These Little Girls On African Americans By Having An Unfair Death .

[a41271]

People put htis on your favorites, because when you are sad about something little this song will make you stop being mad , because these 4 little girls died when they were just going to Sunday school, and the kkk hid a bomb inside the church!!!!!!!!!!!!

[highwayman012]

I'd love to kick the head off those kkk members. Sick racist bastards.

[MrDLOC11]

Joan's vocal, as usual, perfect.

[metivo]

Fantastic performance. Her voice is so clear and powerful.

[Aimerzz22]

I saw the documentary, and read "The Ballad of Birmingham" and when they passed this song I just couldn't help crying...

[kaylarheath]

SO SADD

[William1880]

While Joan Baez sings this beautifully, remember that Richard Farina (and also performed) wrote this song.

[SaskiaCornell]

This was a very sad day indeed....

Sas

[KiDmEeZy420]

lolMJ2 they did arrest the man responsible 14 years later in 1977, Robert Chambliss, and in May of 2000 they arrested the other two accomplises Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry.

[xkiller53]

i just read the 2nd to last chapter in class today !

[lolMJ2]

whats so ironic is that America is supposed to be a land of freedom and there's white ppl blowing up black ppl,it just ain't right!i mean,even the FBI hid the true fact who blew these four girls,and even the court dismissed the person who killed them not guilty!Even though it was real obvious!

[lizarazu89]

Colonel Sanders... NOW!!

[danhueg]

the one who did the boomin thing is a PUSSY!

[SaskiaCornell]

What an absolutely dumb statement and totally unintelligent

[PuffinStuff43]

ALL you people making irreverant comments should be ashamed!!!........EVERY time I hear this song,I'm ASHAMED to be "white/caucasion" and I was born TWO-FRIGGIN'-YEARS after it happened !!!

They are 4 precious angels to ME anyway !!!

-Stephen J.

[me34h]

you should never be ashamed.you didn't do it.the people who did this were monsters.and there's bad people on both sides black and white.

[Sshelly34213]

@PuffinStuff43 Don't be ashamed to white, just don't be proud.

Having a skin color is not an accomplishment or failure.

[52Ty52]

@PuffinStuff43 Thank you! :)

[216trixie]

@PuffinStuff43 No one should be ashamed, or proud or their race or color. Pride or shame is earned. By an individual. You cannot be proud or ashamed or your race. You have no choice. Also it makes no sense to feel shame for anothers actions. You can despise them as wicked, but you earned no shame or guilt, or pride for that matter.

[leoladyforever26]

@PuffinStuff43 u shouldnt be ashamed of what u r!

[schizoidchimp]

@PuffinStuff43 yeah that's stupid. No one should be ashamed over their SKIN COLOR. Get a fucking grip.

[mattvlad3]

@PuffinStuff43 yeah i know, you've been brainwashed to be so. wake up dude

[bubblinbrownsugar616]

@PuffinStuff43 As an African-American, I say don't be ashamed to be white. Remember, there were white people with common sense like the Freedom Riders or Joan Baez right here with her beautiful song.

Every race has its embarrassments and if there's anyone that should feel ashamed it should be those pathetic pieces of shit. Of course we know they gloated about their devilish deed and were proud to, in the house of God, kill 4 innocent girls.

You on the other hand should NOT be ashamed. :)

[MIKECNW]

@PuffinStuff43 To be ashamed of being white because of this makes you just as nuts as those who support of actions.

[love2surf505]

@PuffinStuff43 - Don't be ashamed of who you are - ever! I feel the same way when an African American starts acting like a fool; and when that happens, I just remember, he only represents himself, not all of us! You do the same. There are fools and evil that comes in every race.

[xoxocelestexoxo]

aww yes i thought joey died

[xoxocelestexoxo]

i read the book of the watsons i nearly cried to find out that!

[stinkypup101]

I did too. Kenny had thought he saw the Wool Pooh. I thought Joey died too. This is really sad and I nearly cried when I heard this.

[xoxocelestexoxo]

yeah the wool pooh was funny when my friend said it but it was sad because the wool pooh represented death

[gymlovr828]

This is so sad... I watched the documentary in my classroom. One man lost his 2 daughters from the blast. He imediatley looked for them. He lifted up a stone and his daughters head was right there... It made me so sad to hear him say that. :( Well, Anyway if I was a teenager in that time I so would have marched with them. They seemed so inocent. I just hope the people realized what they put those adults and children through. I mean, think about it was that really necessary?

[mykelya]

yea i saw it in class too i was crying so much

[xoxocelestexoxo]

i thought joey died

[HptProductions]

it isnt a movie....

[kkvwboy]

@HptProductions: This is the theme song to Spike Lee's 1997 documentary '4 Little Girls'

[MegaBrownshuga]

I didn't know that Denise McNair was a classmate of Condalizza Rice.

[mykelya]

this is so sad those poor girl i cried in class when we saw the parent talking about them and one of the mothers keep a piece of rock that was stuck in her daughters head

[gymlovr828]

I think it was Denis with the roock in her head...

[LUVSAILOROMANCE]

first time i heard this song, i really like it such a sad melody.

I am going to be honest I didn't see much of the video but what I did see I thought it was nice I really, really like the song... I wouldn't mind buying it

[ThePuppylover18]

its such a beautiful and sad song. u can hear all the people who died for civil rights cry thru this song

[LloydBFine]

Great video! Even with the incidents like this that happened to black people we are still great people and we have a wonderful history." RIP You Beautiful Sweet Ladies"

[PympHarD]

I didnt know white people could be so evil i had tears in my eyes watching it, the songs they played made it even worse

[bunbacheso]

It's not just about white people being evil. The sad part is that people can be evil to people, no matter what color they are.

[MUZIKLUVA420]

right on, people is the key word,and will this ever end, the answer is no ,,,,,peace

[teeizhot]

You're right. It's sad that we (humans) even have the capacity to hate so much...smh.

[MBOYA22]

You didnt know white people could be so evil??????????? Where have you been.

[LUVSAILOROMANCE]

Listen to Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday

[shoecollecteraf1]

i watched a story about this and i was so sad and the song is nice but it makes me sad. white people where so harsh and some still are but you have to forgive or you will never forget the pain it has caused you.

[uclrichard]

obama supporters are just as bad as the white racists...they support the murder of gay americans...

[aniahaythe123]

omg! dis song is sooo sad,it makes me wanna cry....wait a minute,im already crying

[mykelya]

this is so sad i saw the documenery of the four girls and cried in the back of the class room

[littlemissshecky]

my schools singing this for open houses

[rfoxrider]

omg me to the last seen really got to me!!!

[heyitscarsie]

siningsilent- i read that book in literature. it's so sad. Nice video and touching song!

[peacexoluvxo]

this song is so sad! but its a nice dedication to the event.

[synapsecracklepop]

I can't thank you enough for this thoughtful composition.

[kingwill86]

Good job on the video and the song is touching!

BESS!

[dickwolff]

I love this above all others. Thanks to YouTube, editors and musical gadflies who continue to keep this and similar messages before new generations of citizens.

[pompompurin123]

i luv this song like singingsilent said i hope God made a special place for those girls.they were innocent and did nothing wrong. but they were killed by the kkk. just because their skin was black. i'm glad segregation is over.

[singingsilent]

There is a book called The Watson's Go to Birmmingham--1963 and it deals with this, there is also a documentary called 4 Little Girls. I read the book, and im watching the documentary in school. Its very sad. I hope God made a special place for this 4 girls, they were innocent and I hope those kkk men went to hell. (T-T)

[bunnyyummy123]

I read the book and watched the movie just the other day in school too! This is a very touching song, I almost cry when I think about what happend, it is really terrible.

[bloodyprancingponies]

this video really reached me. what the kkk did was disgusting, horrible and totally wrong. its a good thingg segregation is over.

[el3m3ntsk8s]

is segregation really over?

[bloodyprancingponies]

i dont know. even if it isnt, its a whole lot more suddle than birmingham sunday.=)

[MiLeYoNeTrEeHiLlLvEr]

segregation is nvr over. jst like then, some r racist. some aren't.

[Corridoamor]

This song has touched my heart. May God bless the four beautiful girls and may He condemn the cowardly men who threw the bomb. The bombers do not belong in Heaven unless they confessed to the cowardly and savage act.

[puppydawgluv]

it's really a shame on America how long it took them to put the kkk men in jail.

[puppydawgluv]

:'(((((((((((((((

[beatlefan75]

Beautiful Indeed..

[unoalice1]

beautiful

[onitram1]

Thanks for posting. Great song, but Richard Farina's original is much more powerful.

[playful1ns]

It doesnt matter who was herre first we all are here now so live with it. And just to think some demon is proud of what his kind has done and smiles when he sees this video in pride and selfishness its just ashame they help destroy what WAS the greatest country in the world.

[playful1ns]

This is proof that the KKK acts like a group of wild beasts over nothing killing for reason not even backed up by the lord all mighty ,some say "the land of the free" yet we have terrorists from this country too not terrorizing any other country but this one they have many different names like skin heads and klansmen but we refer to them all as

racists. America's and all of the worlds enemy.

[gesswhoto]

With tears streaming down my face, will God ever be able to forgive us? I'm almost 60, and this is one of the wounds too deep for time to heal. Four of God's angels watch over us.

Roxy

Salem, Oregon

[KennBurch]

The only thing to do is to keep working for a world where things like the murder of those little girls never happen again.

In that, in carrying on, there is redemption.

As the Jewish scriptures put it "the task is not yours to finish, yet you may not give it up".

[lefrazier]

Excellent video. Thanks for keeping us reminded.

[dudicalmuffins]

this song is so touching, thanks so much.

the whole situation around the bombing and the trials and the K.K.K. is really screwy. i wish it was resolved more throughly. but i suppose that with all the progress we've made lately with the election, there's not much to complain about.

sigh. in response to lloydhofer: i agree, it was most definately a tragedy, and i think the best word is "Massacre"

so thanks again for posting this!

[Andrea2354]

I needed to hear this song today. As the votes are counted, I'm thinking of Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers and those four little girls in Birmingham. Thank you for posting this. It's perfect.

[larean57]

What has just happened is beyond words. Thank you all who made this miracle happen.

[doodles2141]

Amen

[shas1814]

Thank you.

That's all, for now.

Thank you.

[denlibdut]

A brilliant merging of sound and image. The two together cannot fail but to move. Thank you, Spadecaller!

[willyr9]

Wonderful video! Thanks, I'd never heard that song before.

[mian2008ami]

Thanks You.

[lloydhofer]

I don't care how some people may ascribe the death of these girls to a "higher good", I think the murder/death (call it what you will) of innocents is the greatest evil that people can perpatrate against each other. Thank you for reminding us of this terrible sacrifice.

[taddyd1]

thanks