Were you there when the man from Atlanta was murdered in Memphis?
Did you see him lying at the Lorraine Motel?
Did you hear them say that the CIA is a witness
To the murder of a man at a motel in Memphis?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there's blood on the riverside
Oh, muddy water, rollin' to Memphis
If you were there, you'd swear it was more than a man who died
Did you see Coretta? She was sobbing on the corner in her black veil?
Did you see Mr. Crump in a white coat grin?
Did you walk downriver where the cottonwoods are swinging
With ghostly bodies of men?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there's blood on the riverside
Oh, muddy water rollin' to Memphis
If you were there, you'd swear it was more than a man who died
Were you there with Mahalia wailing at the funeral?
Did you watch them lower his casket in?
Did you tremble when you thought about the future
And cry out for a martyred man?
Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody there's blood on the riverside
Oh, muddy water rollin' to Memphis
If you were there, you'd swear it was more than a man who died
