Atlanta Race Riot (1906): Smoke on Peachtree

Lyrics

[Intro]
September twenty-second.
Nineteen-oh-six.
The air was thick as a threat before the rain.
A Saturday night, waiting for a spark.

[Verse 1]
The newsboys screamed it on the corners.
Extra edition.
Ink still wet on the lie.
The Atlanta News, a paper full of poison.
Whispers turning to shouts on Peachtree Street.
A rumor with legs of iron, running wild.
They read the headlines under gaslights,
their faces lit with a strange new faith.
Just looking for a reason.

[Chorus]
And the air tasted of smoke on Peachtree.
Just smoke and shattering glass.
The humid Georgia night tasted of fear.
The New South mask is cracking, falling fast.
And the city is just a mouth full of ash.

[Verse 2]
They pulled them from the streetcars.
Dragged them out into the open.
A Saturday night turned into a hunt.
The violence spread out from the center,
into the alleys, onto the porches.
September twenty-third.
We boarded the windows, we held our breath.
We gathered what we had to fight back.
A city at war with itself, street by street.

[Chorus]
And the air tasted of smoke on Peachtree.
Just smoke and shattering glass.
The humid Georgia night tasted of fear.
The New South mask is cracking, falling fast.
And the city is just a mouth full of ash.

[Bridge]
And on the third day, a quiet.
September twenty-fourth.
A quiet full of ghosts.
Martial law on the avenues.
They said the city was too busy to hate.
Atlanta, did you count them?
Did you write down the names?
Or did you just sweep the glass into the gutter
and lay down new tracks over the blood?

[Outro]
Smoke on Peachtree.
The smell…
it never really leaves the bricks.
Not really.
Just waits for the rain.