Page type: lyric reference
Artist: Patti Smith
Canonical path: /patti-smith/strange-messengers
Related lyric paths: 6
Video embedded: yes
Lyric guide
Strange Messengers
Read Strange Messengers lyrics by Patti Smith on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
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Curated by Ethan Walker
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Lyrics
Strange Messengers
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I looked upon the book of life
Tracing the lines of face after face
Looking down at their naked feet
Bound in chains bound in chains
Chains of leather chains of gold
We knew it was wrong but we looked away
And paraded them down the colonial streets
And that's how they became enslaved
They came across on the great ships
Mothers separated from their babes
Husbands stood on the auction block
Bound in chains bound in chains
Chains of leather chains of gold
Men knew it was wrong but they looked away
And led them to toil in fields of white
As they turned their necks to a bitter landscape
Oh the people I hear them calling
Am I not a man and a brother
Am I not a woman and a sister
History sends us such strange messengers
They come down through time
To embrace to enrage
And in their arms even stranger fruit
And they swing from the trees
With their vision in flames
Ropes of leather ropes of gold
Men knew it was wrong but they looked away
Messengers swinging from twisted rope
As they turned their necks to a bitter landscape
Oh the people I hear them calling
Am I not a man and a brother
Am I not a woman and a siste
r We will be heard we will be heard
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Who performs "Strange Messengers"?
Patti Smith performs "Strange Messengers", and this lyric page sits inside the Patti Smith catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "Strange Messengers"?
Yes. The related section below points to Looking For You (I Was) and After The Gold Rush with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by Patti Smith?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Patti Smith's lyric pages.
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