Billy Kemp - Benjamin Banneker (3:51)

BILLY KEMP - BENJAMIN BANNEKER (3:51)

Contact: Billy Kemp
(615) 947-7183
[email]BillyKempMusic@gmail.com[/email]

Songwriter: Billy Kemp, Jeni Hankins, Alfred Hickling
Publishing & PRO: Willbilly Music / Lulu Wall Music, BMI 2017

VS 1
Benjamin Banneker laid the lines for the city
Where the Capitol would soon come to be.
He knew the sky, he knew the math, but always questioned
Why on earth cannot my people be set free?

VS 2
Benjamin Banneker loved the stars and the bible
He grew tobacco and he kept honey bees.
He lived in a hollow in a place called Oella
At fifty eight he taught himself astronomy.

Chorus 1: Up early in the morning, fields to tend,
Sweet music in the evening, under twinkling skies, Amen

VS3
Benjamin Banneker was the grandson of a slave man
Who sailed from Senegal, the son of a chief.
His grandmother Molly was a self made woman
Who saved her life in Londontown cause she could read.

VS4
Benjamin Banneker never married but he had Friends
Who lent him books he’d read at his desk by his bed.
He taught himself all of his letters and his numbers
He made a clock that kept good time the people said.

Chorus 2: Tic Toc, went his clock, tobacco went rolling
Down to the docks, while the church bells were tolling

VS 5
Benjamin Banneker loved to sit for many hours
In the afternoons and watch his bees.
Then after supper he would play on his fiddle
And every night he’d give his thanks down on his knees.

Chorus 3: Lay down in the evening, let his soul ascend
Deny his achievements, over burning skies, Amen

VS 6
Benjamin Banneker laid the lines for the city
Where the Capitol has come to be
He knew the stars, he knew the math but always questioned
Why on earth cannot my people be set free?