Only a Pawn in Their Game

"Only a Pawn in Their Game"
"Only a Pawn in Their Game"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album The Times They Are a-Changin'
Released	January 13, 1964
Recorded	August 7, 1963
Genre	Folk, blues
Length	3:33
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bob Dylan
Producer(s)	Tom Wilson

"Only a Pawn in Their Game" is a song written by Bob Dylan about the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 12, 1963. Showing support for African-Americans during the American Civil Rights Movement, the song was released on Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' album in 1964.

Lyrics[]

The lyrics attribute blame for the killing and other racial violence to the rich white politicians and authorities who manipulated poor whites into directing their anger and hatred at black people.^[1] The song suggests that Evers's killer does not deserve to be remembered by name in the annals of history, unlike the man he murdered ("They lowered him down as a king"), because he was "only a pawn in their game."

Recording and performances[]

Dylan first performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" at a voter registration rally in Greenwood, Mississippi on July 6, 1963 at the request of Pete Seeger. He sang it again at the Newport Folk Festival on 26 July.^[2] Two weeks later, on August 7, he recorded several takes of the song at Columbia's studios in New York City, selecting the initial attempt for release on The Times They Are a-Changin'.^[3]

Dylan performed the song at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.^[4] Dylan stated of the experience, in the documentary No Direction Home, "I looked up from the podium and I thought to myself, 'I've never seen such a large crowd.' I was up close when King was giving that speech. To this day, it still affects me in a profound way."^[5] Nevertheless he received only scattered applause for the song, reflecting that many marchers did not agree with the sentiments of the song which exonerate Evers's murderer as a poor white man manipulated by race-baiting politicians and the injustices of the social system.^[6]

The lyrics actually reiterate the claim that the murderer "can't be blamed. He's only a pawn in their game." In fact, the state twice prosecuted the murderer in 1964, but each time the all white jury failed to reach a verdict.^[7] Dylan no longer played the song after October 1964.^[8] In 1969 the murderer had the original indictment dismissed. However, when these first trials were shown to be held unfairly and with new evidence available the murderer was eventually found guilty on February 5, 1994.^[9]

In popular culture[]

Hip hop group Public Enemy reference it in their 2007 Dylan tribute song "Long and Whining Road": "Only a pawn in the game, chastised for naming names / What was said and who said it, anti-nothing so forget it".^[10]

References[]

^ NPR Staff (June 12, 2013). "Bob Dylan's Tribute To Medgar Evers Took On The Big Picture". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
^ "Bob Dylan Setlist at Newport Folk Festival 1963". setlist.fm. Setlist FM. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
^ Margotin, Phillipe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (October 27, 2015). Bob Dylan: All the Songs. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9781579129859.
^ Greenman, Ben (August 28, 2013). "Dream Songs: The Music of the March on Washington". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ Greene, Andy (2020-06-09). "Flashback: Bob Dylan Performs at the 1963 March on Washington". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
^ Jones, William P. (2013). The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-24058-0.
^ "White Supremacist Indicted for Third Time in Shooting Death of Medgar Evers". Jet. 79 (12). January 7, 1991.
^ Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2015). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track New York. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal.
^ Batten, Donna (2010). Gale Encyclopedia of American Law (3rd ed.). p. 266.
^ Public Enemy – The Long and Whining Road, retrieved 2021-04-12

External links[]

Lyrics at Bob Dylan's official website

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[1] NPR Staff (June 12, 2013). "Bob Dylan's Tribute To Medgar Evers Took On The Big Picture". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved October 8, 2019.

[setlist-2] "Bob Dylan Setlist at Newport Folk Festival 1963". setlist.fm. Setlist FM. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

[3] Margotin, Phillipe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (October 27, 2015). Bob Dylan: All the Songs. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9781579129859.

[4] Greenman, Ben (August 28, 2013). "Dream Songs: The Music of the March on Washington". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 28, 2013.

[5] Greene, Andy (2020-06-09). "Flashback: Bob Dylan Performs at the 1963 March on Washington". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-08-12.

[Jones-6] Jones, William P. (2013). The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-24058-0.

[Jet-7] "White Supremacist Indicted for Third Time in Shooting Death of Medgar Evers". Jet. 79 (12). January 7, 1991.

[M&G-8] Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2015). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track New York. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal.

[9] Batten, Donna (2010). Gale Encyclopedia of American Law (3rd ed.). p. 266.

[10] Public Enemy – The Long and Whining Road, retrieved 2021-04-12

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show v t Bob Dylan
Discography Awards Bibliography Songs written by Dylan
Studio albums	Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan The Times They Are a-Changin' Another Side of Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home Highway 61 Revisited Blonde on Blonde John Wesley Harding Nashville Skyline Self Portrait New Morning Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid Dylan Planet Waves Blood on the Tracks The Basement Tapes Desire Street-Legal Slow Train Coming Saved Shot of Love Infidels Empire Burlesque Knocked Out Loaded Down in the Groove Oh Mercy Under the Red Sky Good as I Been to You World Gone Wrong Time Out of Mind Love and Theft Modern Times Together Through Life Christmas in the Heart Tempest Shadows in the Night Fallen Angels Triplicate Rough and Rowdy Ways
Live albums	Before the Flood Hard Rain Bob Dylan at Budokan Real Live Dylan & the Dead The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration MTV Unplugged Live 1961–2000: Thirty-Nine Years of Great Concert Performances Live at The Gaslight 1962 Live at Carnegie Hall 1963 In Concert – Brandeis University 1963 The 1966 Live Recordings Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
Compilations	Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II Dylan The Basement Tapes Masterpieces Biograph Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 The Best of Bob Dylan (1997) The Best of Bob Dylan, Vol. 2 The Essential Bob Dylan Bob Dylan: The Collection The Best of Bob Dylan (2005) Blues Dylan The Original Mono Recordings The 50th Anniversary Collection Bob Dylan: The Complete Album Collection Vol. One The 50th Anniversary Collection 1963 The 50th Anniversary Collection 1964
The Bootleg Series	Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 Vol. 4: The Royal Albert Hall concert Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006 Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964 Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981 Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969
Bootlegs	From Newport to the Ancient Empty Street in L.A. Great White Wonder List of Basement Tapes songs (1967,1975)
Concert tours	England Tour (1965) World Tour (1966) Tour with The Band (1974) Rolling Thunder Revue (1975–1976) World Tour (1978) Gospel Tour (1979–1980) World Tour (1981) European Tour (1984) True Confessions Tour (1986) Tour with the Grateful Dead (1987) Temples in Flames Tour (1987)
Never Ending Tour	1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Films	Dont Look Back Eat the Document Renaldo and Clara Hard to Handle The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration MTV Unplugged Masked and Anonymous No Direction Home I'm Not There Soundtrack 65 Revisited The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963–1965 Trouble No More - A Musical Film Rolling Thunder Revue
Writings	Tarantula Writings and Drawings Chronicles: Volume One
Books about Dylan	The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia Bob Dylan, Performing Artist Invisible Republic The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan
Related	Recording Sessions The Band Traveling Wilburys Electric Dylan controversy Artists who have covered Dylan songs Joan Baez Suze Rotolo The Telegraph magazine Festival The Concert for Bangladesh Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Hearts of Fire Highway 61 Interactive Theme Time Radio Hour Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan Chimes of Freedom (album) The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes
Family	Sara Dylan (first wife) Carolyn Dennis (second wife) Jesse Dylan (son) Jakob Dylan (son)
Category

show v t Bob Dylan songs by album (1960s)
Bob Dylan	"Talkin' New York" "In My Time of Dyin'" "Man of Constant Sorrow" "Fixin' to Die" "Pretty Peggy-O" "Gospel Plow" "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" "House of the Risin' Sun" "Song to Woody" "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan	"Blowin' in the Wind" "Girl from the North Country" "Masters of War" "Down the Highway" "Bob Dylan's Blues" "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" "Bob Dylan's Dream" "Oxford Town" "Corrina, Corrina" "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" "I Shall Be Free"
The Times They Are a-Changin'	"The Times They Are a-Changin'" "Ballad of Hollis Brown" "With God on Our Side" "One Too Many Mornings" "North Country Blues" "Only a Pawn in Their Game" "Boots of Spanish Leather" "When the Ship Comes In" "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" "Restless Farewell"
Another Side of Bob Dylan	"All I Really Want to Do" "Black Crow Blues" "Spanish Harlem Incident" "Chimes of Freedom" "To Ramona" "Motorpsycho Nitemare" "My Back Pages" "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" "Ballad in Plain D" "It Ain't Me Babe"
Bringing It All Back Home	"Subterranean Homesick Blues" "She Belongs to Me" "Maggie's Farm" "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" "Outlaw Blues" "On the Road Again" "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" "Mr. Tambourine Man" "Gates of Eden" "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
Highway 61 Revisited	"Like a Rolling Stone" "Tombstone Blues" "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" "From a Buick 6" "Ballad of a Thin Man" "Queen Jane Approximately" "Highway 61 Revisited" "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" "Desolation Row"
Blonde on Blonde	"Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35" "Pledging My Time" "Visions of Johanna" "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" "I Want You" "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" "Just Like a Woman" "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" "Absolutely Sweet Marie" "4th Time Around" "Obviously 5 Believers" "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"
John Wesley Harding	"John Wesley Harding" "As I Went Out One Morning" "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" "All Along the Watchtower" "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" "Drifter's Escape" "I Am a Lonesome Hobo" "The Wicked Messenger" "Down Along the Cove" "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
Nashville Skyline	"Girl from the North Country" "To Be Alone with You" "I Threw It All Away" "Lay Lady Lay" "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You"
Other	"Mixed-Up Confusion" "Positively 4th Street" "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"
Lists	Songs written by Dylan