Ballad of Birmingham

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come to her face.

On September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb planted by the KKK exploded outside the basement of a church, killing 4 black children and injuring 22 people. Many artists have responded to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing with powerful songs. John Coltrane’s “Alabama,” Joan Baez’s recording of Richard Farina’s “Birmingham Sunday” (both used by Spike Lee in his excellent documentary 4 Little Girls), Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” and The Drive-by Truckers’ “Ronnie & Neil.” In 1967 Jerry Moore recorded for ESP an exceptional version of Dudley Randall’s poem “Ballad of Birmingham.” The poem is structured around the (innocent and ironic) contrast between the supposedly safe space of a church and the taken for granted dangers of the freedom marches in Birmingham. But irony and innocence are swallowed whole by the bombing, and we are left with the omnipresence of brutality and death during the Civil Rights Movement.

Jerry Moore - Ballad of Birmingham [buy]
John Coltrane - Alabama [buy]