this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
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Malvina Reynolds - It Isn't nice (www.youtube.com)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Lyrics

It isn't nice to block the doorway,

It isn't nice to go to jail,

There are nicer ways to do it,

But the nice ways always fail.

It isn't nice, it isn't nice,

You told us once, you told us twice,

But if that is Freedom's price,

We don't mind.

It isn't nice to carry banners

Or to sit in on the floor,

Or to shout our cry of Freedom

At the hotel and the store.

It isn't nice, it isn't nice,

You told us once, you told us twice,

But if that is Freedom's price,

We don't mind.

We have tried negotiations

And the three-man picket line,

Mr. Charlie didn't see us

And he might as well be blind.

Now our new ways aren't nice

When we deal with men of ice,

But if that is Freedom's price,

We don't mind.

How about those years of lynchings

And the shot in Evers' back?

Did you say it wasn't proper,

Did you stand out on the track?

You were quiet just like mice,

Now you say we aren't nice,

So if that is Freedom's price,

We don't mind.

It isn't nice to block the doorway,

It isn't nice to go to jail,

There are nicer ways to do it

But the nice ways always fail.

It isn't nice, it isn't nice,

Well thanks for your advice,

But if that is Freedom's price,

We don't mind, we don't mind!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Thank you for sharing. Do you happen to know what particular events lyrics refer to? Something around 1964? Edit: found after cursory search https://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/MALVINA/mr073.htm

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes, that link you posted says some of the info. Additionally, the "shot in Evers' back" refers to the killing of civil rights activist Medgar Evers by a Klansman in 1963. The Klansman went to trial twice but was not convicted, and walked free. (Though was finally convicted in a 1994 retrial.)

And as your link says, "Mr. Charlie" is an old term for referring to condescending/abusive/exploitative white people.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Thank you, once again.