Story Behind The Song

family history of a friend

Song Description

Tale about a mulungeon man (hill people in North Carolina and Tenn in the 1800's ) and how racism existed even then, plus the question that is still viable today, "Why does freedom feel like an empty word, when it's always filled with blood?"

Lyrics

ZACHARIAH COLLINGSWORTH

My name is Zachariah Collingsworth
I?m 40 and 5 years old
just a poor mulungeon pilgrim
seeking shelter from the storm
I left my home in the Carolina?s
just the clothes on my back
brought no family with me
cause the Yankees burned my shack
Never wanted by the white man
not accepted by the black
and Johnny Reb couldn?t answer this question
when I went up to him and asked

Chorus:
Why does freedom feel like an empty word
when it?s always filled with blood
and if I could live in all three worlds
for me ther?d still be no love
SOLO- R.C.
I?ve never owned a mule and wagon
no shoes on my feet
I?d give up ten years of my life
just to learn to write and read
I heard tell of a new Jerusalem
where the streets are paved in gold
I couldn?t read it for myself
I just know what I?ve been told
I?m called a triune devil
part white and part black
and the blood of a red man
holds two parts of a half
Chorus
Chorus
Tag
my name is Zachariah Collingsworth
I?m 40 and 5 years old
just a poor mulungeon pilgrim
seeking shelter from the storm



Writers: David Robertson, Robert Couch, Elizabeth Kirchgatter
BMI-NASHVILLE; DSA; NSAI;
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT 2005
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISRC: 246-04-77792

Playlist Creator	Playlist Name	Date Added
Stacey Kirchgatter	My Top Songs	9/10/2007