To Bobby

(Words and Music by Joan Baez) I'll put flowers at your feet and I will sing to you so sweet And hope my words will carry home to your heart You left us marching on the road and said how heavy was the load The years were young, the struggle barely had its start Do you hear the voices in the night, Bobby? They're crying for you See the children in the morning light, Bobby They're dying No one could say it like you said it, we'd only try and just forget it You stood alone upon the mountain till it was sinking And in a frenzy we tried to reach you With looks and letters we would beseech you Never knowing what, where or how you were thinking Do you hear the voices in the night, Bobby? They're crying for you See the children in the morning light, Bobby They're dying Perhaps the pictures in the Times could no longer be put in rhymes When all the eyes of starving children are wide open You cast aside the cursed crown and put your magic into a sound That made me think your heart was aching or even broken But if God hears my complaint He will forgive you And so will I, with all respect, I'll just relive you And likewise, you must understand these things we give you Like these flowers at your door and scribbled notes about the war We're only saying the time is short and there is work to do And we're still marching in the streets with little victories and big defeats But there is joy and there is hope and there's a place for you And you have heard the voices in the night, Bobby They're crying for you See the children in the morning light, Bobby They're dying © 1972 Chandos Music (ASCAP)