The Mississippi River, he's a friend of mine
And the people livin' in this town, they can be so fine
But there's a big line runnin' straight down old Union Avenue
And it breaks that southern lady's heart in two
Now there's an old black man sittin' out front of a shotgun house
And on the other side of town there's a rich man sittin' on a velvet couch
Well nobody forgets what happened thirty years ago
But we gotta forgive the past and that's for sure
Well it should be so plain to see
That it comes down to you and me
And if we all just come together
If we all just take a stand
We could heal the hurtin' and the broken-hearted people
Everybody understand
We gotta all just come together
Ridini down Beale Street, pop tunes on my radio
Well I love this Delta mama, it's all I know
Well you know I have a dream about black and white and a land of grace
But it's gonna take more than a dream to fix this place
You know it's hard as it can be
To turn the tide of history
We all went to Sunday school
And everybody learned the Golden Rule
Read about the writing on the wall
Learned how Joseph had a nice coat
Noah had a big boat
But then they said sweet Jesus loves us all