Prossers Gabriel by Tim Barry Lyrics
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
If you listen closely you'll hear the words perfect
The Caribbean uprising caught fire in this land
Up and down the James River, Pamunky and Appomattox
Tobacco soil gone bad deferred a movement for the blacks
Nine years before, down in Santo Domingo
Slaves refused to submit and took the right of all men
Virginia whites got nervous and hired more militias
As blacks inspired, plotted and passed on their plans
Mister Prosser's Gabriel was smart as he was strong
A head of keloid scars and a mind of knowing right and wrong
Voted general at twenty-four in the year of eighteen-hundred
Haunted by the hymns and wailing of his fellow slaves
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
It was on an August night just North of Richmond, Virginia
Gabriel's men gathered as their owners they slept
Some would burn the Capital to distract residents and masters
While others took the city and freed the convicts
Well the whites they knew nothing, never seen what could hit 'em
Nothing like this could happen to their carefree black men
But think about freedom, now think about slavery
Blacks armed themselves with muskets and homemade bayonets
With a white flag on the Capital, all blacks they would rise
All whites spared, would lose but an arm
You're a coward if you own men for profit and greed
You're the coward of all and for all you must bleed
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
Pharaoh and Tom ratted out Gabriel Prosser
Their owner was Mosby, and neighbor of him
They say the sky seemed seized with rain and lightning
On the night of August thirtieth one could see nor stand
The militias' let loose to hunt Gabriel Prosser
Who took to the swamps as they imprisoned his men
Flagged a boat whose captain was a Methodist preacher
But a traitor slave turned him in in the end
They hung Gabriel down at Broad and 15th Street
Lord he would not give a word up on his men
But he took that noose and he took it with honor
He's buried beneath a lot of parked cars, now, and pavement
There's no monument, there's no stone here to see him
Just black asphalt planked by high-rise hospital chains
If I had it my way we'd see memorials climbin'
To a true and honest hero, Prosser's Gabriel
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
If you listen closely you'll hear the words perfect
The Caribbean uprising caught fire in this land
Up and down the James River, Pamunky and Appomattox
Tobacco soil gone bad deferred a movement for the blacks
Nine years before, down in Santo Domingo
Slaves refused to submit and took the right of all men
Virginia whites got nervous and hired more militias
As blacks inspired, plotted and passed on their plans
Mister Prosser's Gabriel was smart as he was strong
A head of keloid scars and a mind of knowing right and wrong
Voted general at twenty-four in the year of eighteen-hundred
Haunted by the hymns and wailing of his fellow slaves
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
It was on an August night just North of Richmond, Virginia
Gabriel's men gathered as their owners they slept
Some would burn the Capital to distract residents and masters
While others took the city and freed the convicts
Well the whites they knew nothing, never seen what could hit 'em
Nothing like this could happen to their carefree black men
But think about freedom, now think about slavery
Blacks armed themselves with muskets and homemade bayonets
With a white flag on the Capital, all blacks they would rise
All whites spared, would lose but an arm
You're a coward if you own men for profit and greed
You're the coward of all and for all you must bleed
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas
Pharaoh and Tom ratted out Gabriel Prosser
Their owner was Mosby, and neighbor of him
They say the sky seemed seized with rain and lightning
On the night of August thirtieth one could see nor stand
The militias' let loose to hunt Gabriel Prosser
Who took to the swamps as they imprisoned his men
Flagged a boat whose captain was a Methodist preacher
But a traitor slave turned him in in the end
They hung Gabriel down at Broad and 15th Street
Lord he would not give a word up on his men
But he took that noose and he took it with honor
He's buried beneath a lot of parked cars, now, and pavement
There's no monument, there's no stone here to see him
Just black asphalt planked by high-rise hospital chains
If I had it my way we'd see memorials climbin'
To a true and honest hero, Prosser's Gabriel
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
My conscience says he's the one that history missed
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas