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
He's got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool
But 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, he says it's gettin' late
Says all them black folks should be free
To walk around the same as you and me
He's talkin' about a thing they call democracy, and it's 1858
Hey Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly, Nelly, hand me down my gun
For the men are cheerin' and the boys are too
They're all puttin' on their coats of blue
And I ain't got no time to sit and talk to you, and it's 1861
Hey Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly, Nelly, I've come back alive
My coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
But we sure will remember all the things he said, and it's 1865
Hey Nelly, Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly, Nelly, look at what I see
There are white folks and colored walkin' side by side
A marchin' in a column that's a century wide
It was a long and a hard and a bloody ride, and it's 1963