Hey, Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, look at what I see
He's ridin' into town on a sway-back mule
Got a tall, black hat and he looks like a fool
He sure is talkin' like he's been to school
And it's 1853
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, listen what he's sayin'
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, says it's gettin' late
And he says them black folk should all be free
To walk around the same as you and me
He's talkin' about a thing he calls democracy
And it's 1858
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, hear the band a-playin'
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, hand me down my gun
'Cause the men are cheerin' and the boys are too
They're all puttin' on their coats of blue
I can't sit around here and talk to you
'Cause it's 1861
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, I've come home alive
My coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall, black hat is dead
We sure will remember all the things he said
In 1865
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey, Nelly, Nelly, look at what I see
I see white folks and colored walkin' side by side
They're walkin' in a column that's a century wide
It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride
In 1963