If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus

Words: a group of people including Charles Neblett; melody: traditional ("Oh, Mary Don't You Weep")
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.61
Chords: D A / A D / G D / DA D

If you miss me from the back of the bus
And you can't find me nowhere
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there
I'll be riding up there (Lord / friend / [nothing])
I'll be riding up there
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there

If you miss me from Jackson State* / And you can't...
Come on over to Ole Miss
I'll be studying over there / I'll be studying...

If you miss me from the cotton fields...
Come on down to the court house
I'll be voting right there...

If you miss me from Thrifty's drug store...
Come on over to Woolworth's
I'll be sitting in there...

If you miss me from the picket line...
Come on down to the jailhouse
I'll be rooming down there...

If you miss me from the Mississippi river...
Come on down to the municipal plunge
I'll be swimming in there...

If you miss me from the front of the bus...
Come on up to the driver's seat
I'll be driving up there...

*Jackson State University and Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) are both in Mississippi, and Jackson State is a historically black school. Ole Miss was the site of the anti-desegregation riots sparked by the enrollment of James Meredith, a black man and United States Air Force veteran.
See here for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Miss_riot_of_1962