Page type: lyric reference
Artist: Gabriel Kahane
Canonical path: /gabriel-kahane/what-if-i-told-you
Related lyric paths: 6
Video embedded: yes
Lyric guide
What If I Told You
Read What If I Told You lyrics by Gabriel Kahane on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
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Curated by Ethan Walker
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Lyrics
What If I Told You
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“What if I told you
That I'm on this train
Because my two grown sons were frightened
Me driving through the night
On a stretch of farm-stand highway
In Mississippi
‘Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree
What if I told you
That I'm headed to a funeral in Tupelo
On the hundred acre farm
Purchased by my great-grandfather
Who learned to read
‘Cause his master’s daughter
Taught him secretly
And not knowing
What kind of schooling
His own children would receive
He taught them never to sign
Their names on anything—
‘Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree
And would he have believed
That his great-granddaughter
All the way to the Ivy League?
And would he have believed
The millions of dollars
And yet still unsafe
On that stretch of farm-stand highway?
What if I told you
That my eldest son
Loves a white girl
Whom I adore
But who lives in a part of town where
A black man might be mistaken for
‘Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree
No they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree
And if I told you all of that
Maybe you would understand
Why I have limited sympathy
For your desire to know the suffering
Of the working white man”
Monica explained
In the dining car
As we hurtled South
In the growing dark
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Who performs "What If I Told You"?
Gabriel Kahane performs "What If I Told You", and this lyric page sits inside the Gabriel Kahane catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "What If I Told You"?
Yes. The related section below points to Slumlord Crocodile (115 E. 3rd St.) and To Be American with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by Gabriel Kahane?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Gabriel Kahane's lyric pages.
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