Featuring Lisa Edmondson with Jessie Lee Houllier and solos by Gilles Erhart and Romain Bly.
I wrote this song specifically for my former ZONGO AMBASSADORS colleague, the dramatic Jamaican performer Lisa Edmondson with her Talking Drum. The idea behind the song is that the shooter James Earl Ray has a dark angel sitting on his shoulder as he prepares his rifle for what will be the shot that brings down Martin Luther King. This dramatic situation allows the audience to be in the mind of the assassin himself as he gears up to set in motion his deadly intentions. Musically, the pulsing riff in the Bass guitar pushes the song forward while the jazzy chords of the piano put us into a Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" groove. The piano and trumpet solos are beautiful, and Lisa's interpretation of the coda starting with "I hear the chapel bell ring" is world class.
NARRATION : On the evening of April 3rd, 1968, Dr. King gave what was to be his last sermon at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot in the head while standing on the balcony of the Loraine Hotel on April 4th, 1968.
Lyrics
Jezebel and the Infidel T’is Jezebel and the Infidel We’re sitting and we’re watching and waiting for the Fare Thee Well (sardonic laugh) With a devil spell the future we foretell Tomorrow’s papers will show the photos of the Lorraine Motel A little lullaby before you hear a cry People gonna know what we did until the day they die So I stand and I watch as Mr. Jimmy Ray pulls out his rifle on the Judgement Day And he gets on his knees but it sure ain’t to pray He just hides in the weeds... And he begins to wait, Yes we begin to wait. Piano and Trumpet solos T’is Jezebel and the Infidel Sitting, watching, waiting and stalking at the Lorraine Motel So I stand and I watch as Mr. Jimmy Ray pulls out his rifle on the Judgement Day And he gets on his knees but it sure ain’t to pray He just hides in the weeds... Yes we begin to wait. We’re gonna shoot him down, we’re gonna make him pay Shut his mouth stop the things that he say We’re gonna watch him die, spit on his grave He’s gotta know it now ...that there’s a price to pay We gonna make him pay. Hush now don’tcha make a sound Hush now... Hush.... Hush... We hear the chapel bell ring It don’t mean a thing Just wait a minute longer.... Soon you’ll squeeze the trigger... Gonna kill that...King NOW! (Silence, then a blood curdling scream, followed by a percussion solo and the song “Long Live The King”).