"The Death of Emmett Till", also known as "The Ballad of Emmett Till", is a song by American musician and Nobel Laureate

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

about the murder of

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African Americans, African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a whi ...

. Till, a 14-year-old

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, was killed on August 28, 1955, by two white men, after being accused of disrespecting a white woman. In the song's lyrics, Dylan recounts the murder and trial.

Background

While the song never appeared on any of Dylan's studio albums, it did appear on a number of bootlegs. One bootlegged performance, which was recorded from

Cynthia Gooding Cynthia Gooding (August 12, 1924 – February 10, 1988) was an American folk singer who recorded traditional songs from various countries for Elektra Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Judy Collins wrote that she had been "inspired" by her. Life ...

's radio show called ''Folksinger's Choice'' sometime in early 1962, starts with Dylan saying that the melody is based on chords he heard from folk musician

Len Chandler Len Hunt Chandler, Jr. (born May 27, 1935), better known as Len Chandler, is a folk musician from Akron, Ohio. Biography He showed an early interest in music and began playing piano at age 8. Studying classical music in his early teens, he lear ...

. The melody is quite similar to "

The House of the Rising Sun "The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk music, folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid th ...

" from the album ''

''. Dylan's performance of the song was released on the 1972 album ''Broadside Ballads, Vol. 6: Broadside Reunion'', under the artist name Blind Boy Grunt. Another recording, taped as a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

for music publisher M. Witmark & Sons and also bootlegged for many years, was released on '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 – The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964'' in October 2010.

Reception

Stephen J. Whitfield calls the lyrics "mawkish" but describes "the ballad" as "a precocious attempt to continue the tradition of the folk protest song."

References

External links

Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official website.
Audio
at Bob Dylan's official YouTube channel. {{DEFAULTSORT:Death of Emmett Till, The Teenage tragedy songs Bob Dylan songs Songs written by Bob Dylan 1962 songs Murder ballads Songs based on American history Emmett Till

Background

Reception

See also

References

External links