He Was My Brother

On June 21, 1964, in Neshoba County, Mississippi, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner were assassinated as they worked for civil rights.

Neshoba County sheriff’s deputy Cecil Price assisted in their murders.

During the search, throughout July, investigators discovered the remains of eight African American men. Two were identified as Henry Dee and Charles Moore, college students who had been kidnapped, beaten, and murdered in May 1964.

They died so others could be free.

Paul Simon wrote “He Was my Brother” the year before, but it was eerily prescient. He has dedicated the song to his college classmate Andrew Goodman.

He Was my Brother

© 1963 Words and Music by Paul Simon

He was my brother
Five years older than I
He was my brother
Twenty-three years-old the day he died
Freedom rider
They cursed my brother to his face
“Go home, outsider,
This town is gonna be your buryin’ place
He was singin’ on his knees
An angry mob trailed along
They shot my brother dead
Because he hated what was wrong
He was my brother
Tears can’t bring him back to me
He was my brother
And he died so his brothers could be free
He died so his brothers could be free