Black American Symphony

It started in the Crescent

Close to where the Blues was born

A call to liberation

Fabled from Buddy Bolden’s horn

They gathered every Sunday

In a place called Congo Square

The drumming told their stories

And a brand new sound appeared

A people who were stripped of knowledge of their yesterdays

Were reconnected to their souls through tribal DNA

The chants renewed old memories of how they came to be

They created a melody for all the world to see

In a Black A-Merican Symphony

A Black A-Merican Symphony

It’s a joyous story

How the enslaved reconciled their past

Propers should be given

To the ancestors at last

It’s not the least divisive

To say who gave us this fine art

For it’s the lack of knowledge

That serves to drive most folks apart

A popular expression was unearthed from underground

New Orleans born and raised way down where Dippermouth was crowned

That syncopated style that changed the way we feel that beat

It makes you move and groove and feel like dancing in the street

To a Black A-Merican Symphony

A Black A-Merican Symphony

(SOLO)

So many on the scene Overlook soul for razzmatazz

The audience is dwindling

‘Cause folks don’t wanna hear that Jazz

It’s time for revolution

‘Cause mediocrity’s got to go

We’ve got to change the system

‘Fore the necrophiles steal the show

We have an opportunity to set the record straight

The movement has begun c’mon y’all let’s confabulate

The door is down and all you have to do is just walk through

Yellow and Brown and Red and White can all join in this blues

It’s a Black A-Merican Symphony

A Black A-Merican Symphony

It’s a Black A-Merican Symphony

A Black A-Merican Symphony

Symphony, symphony, symphony for you and me – Nicholas Payton aka The Creator of #BAM