Transcribed from the live recording made two days after Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
INTRO: a quick strike of B7b5, and then a long flutter of Bb13sus4 and B7
What's gonna happen now? In all of our cities?
My people are rising; they're living in lies.
Even if they have to die
Even if they have to die at the moment they know what life is
Even at that one moment that ya know what life is
If you have to die, it's all right
Cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life
Bb
But he had seen the mountaintop
Eb Fm7 Eb
And he knew he could not stop
Ab F7 Bb7
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Eb G7
Folks you'd better stop and think
Ab F7 Fm7
Everybody knows we're on the brink
Eb Cm7 Fm7 Bb7 Eb Fm7 Eb
What will happen, now that the King is dead?
Eb Cm7 F7 Bb7
We can all shed tears; it won't change a thing
Eb G7
Teach your people: Will they ever learn?
Ab F7 Fm7
Must you always kill with burn and burn with guns
Eb Cm7 F7sus4 Bb7 Eb
And kill with guns and burn - don't you know how we gotta react?
Bb
But he had seen the mountaintop
Eb Fm7 Eb
And he knew he could not stop
Ab F7 Bb7
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Eb G7
Folks you'd better stop and think
Ab F7 Fm7
Everybody knows we're on the brink
Eb F7sus4 Em Fm7 Em
What will happen, now that the King is dead?
