Grave Digger

A song written and performed by Deva (David Goldberg) in 2020 (video)

In 1964, when I was 19, I hitchhiked to Mississippi and worked for SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a front-line civil rights organization run at that time by Julian Bond. I don’t think anyone can understand the horrors of slavery if they have not been a slave but I did surely grow up in some ways through that experience. This is my Gospel Freedom song.

We all, gotta die, one day
We all, gonna fly, away
Gonna spread, our wings, and the angels, will sing
We all, gonna die, one day

Every man, got something, to say
Every man, got to have, his day
Freedom, is the song, we sing
From every mountain, let freedom, ring

We all, can live, in peace
Everyone, can be, released
Find their way, back home, again
Come children, back to the family, of man

We choose, how we die, and how we live
We choose, if we take, or give

We all, gotta die, one day
We all, got to choose, our way
We all, gonna dig, our own grave
Leaving love, or just a trace of clay

We choose, how we die, and how we live
We choose, if we take, or give