Hey Nellie, Nellie, come to the window
Hey Nellie, Nellie, look at what I see
He's ridin' into town on a sway-back mule
He's got a tall black hat and he looks like a fool
But he sure is talkin' like he's been to school, and it's 1853

Hey Nellie, Nellie, hear what he's sayin'
Hey Nellie, Nellie, says it's gettin' late
Says all them black folks should be free
To walk around the same as you and me
He's talkin' about a thing they call democracy, and it's 1858

Hey Nellie, Nellie, come to the window
Hey Nellie, Nellie, hand me down my gun
For the men are cheerin' and the boys are too
They're all puttin' on their coats of blue
And I ain't got no time to sit and talk to you, and it's 1861

Hey Nellie, Nellie, come to the window
Hey Nellie, Nellie, I've come back alive
My coat of blue is stained with red
And the man in the tall black hat is dead
But we sure will remember all the things he said, and it's 1865

Hey Nellie, Nellie, come to the window
Hey Nellie, Nellie, look at what I see
There are white folks and colored walkin' side by side
A-marchin' in a column that's a century wide
It was a long and a hard and a bloody ride, and it's 1963