Land of the Shadows (For Emmett Till)

Emmett flashed her a smile from across the room
Like a sulphur match in the glowing gloom
against his smooth brown skin they were shining white
in the land of the shadows dark and light

He winked and he whistled and he stepped into
the glaring glint of the afternoon
his 1 years of wrong and right
in the land of the shadows dark and light

Just a northern boy didn't mean a thing
only seen Mississippi in magazines
gonna tear his mama's heart apart
in the land of the shadows light and dark

With his cousins down that dusty road
he didn't think on it how could he know?
They was just teenage boys seeking girls and fights
in the land of the shadows dark and light

His granddad stood in his white night gown
in the rough hewn door without a sound
They was two white boys he wouldn't give no fight
in the land of the shadows dark and light

chorus

Across the threshold their plan in gear
they smelled like cigarettes, dry leaves and fear
with a 45 Colt and the right of might
in the land of the shadows dark and light

Pulled by four strong arms from sleep
where he prayed to the Lord his soul to keep
to that half Chevy neath a starry sky
in the land of the shadows dark and light

chorus

The river runs muddy in the summer time
they dredged a rusty well from an old turbine
it didn't look like nobody in the morning bright
in the land of the shadows dark and light

repeat first verse