Only A Pawn In Their Game (1963)

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Only a Pawn in Their Game is a song written by Bob Dylan about the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 12, 1963. Showing support for African-Americans during the American Civil Rights Movement, the song was released on Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' album in 1964.[1]

Key Lyrics

A South politician preaches to the poor white man

"You got more than the blacks, don't complain

You're better than them, you been born with white skin, " they explain

And the Negro's name

Is used, it is plain

For the politician's gain

As he rises to fame

And the poor white remains

On the caboose of the train

But it ain't him to blame

He's only a pawn in their game

Performances

Dylan first performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" at a voter registration rally in Greenwood, Mississippi on July 6, 1963 at the request of Pete Seeger. He sang it again at the Newport Folk Festival on 26 July.[2]

Dylan performed the song at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.[3] Dylan stated of the experience, in the documentary No Direction Home, "I looked up from the podium and I thought to myself, 'I've never seen such a large crowd'. I was up close when King was giving that speech. To this day, it still affects me in a profound way."[4]

Reference

  1. Only a Pawn in Their Game. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  2. "Bob Dylan Setlist at Newport Folk Festival 1963". Setlist FM. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  3. Ben Greenman. "Dream Songs: The Music of the March on Washington". 28 August 2013. The New Yorker. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  4. Andy Greene. "Flashback: Bob Dylan Performs at the 1963 March on Washington". 9 June 2020. Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 4, 2021.