Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly look at what I see
He's riding into town on a sway backed mule
Got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool
Sure is talking like he's been to school
And it's 1853

Hey Nelly Nelly, listen what he's saying
Hey Nelly Nelly, he says it's getting late
And he says them black folks should all be free
To walk around the same as you and me
And he's talking about a thing he calls democracy
And it's 1858

Hey Nelly Nelly, hear the band a-playing
Hey Nelly Nelly, hand me down my gun
'Cause the men are cheering and the boys are too
They're putting on their coats of blue
And I can't sit around here and talk to you
'Cause it's 1861

Hey Nelly Nelly, now the fighting's over
Hey Nelly Nelly, I've come back alive
My coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
But we sure will remember all the things he said
In 1865
Hey Nelly Nelly, come to the window
Hey Nelly Nelly, look at what I see
I see white folks and colored walking side by side
Walking in a column that's a century wide
It's still a long and a hard and a bloody ride
In 1963