Were you there when the man from Atlanta was murdered in Memphis?
Did you see him laying at the Lorraine Motel?
Did you hear them say that the CIA is witness
To the murder of a man at a motel in Memphis

Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody
There’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water
Rollin’ to Memphis
If you were there you’d swear
It was more than a man who died

Did you see Coretta she sobbing on the corner in her black viel?
Did you see Mr. Crump in a white coat grin?
Did you walk downriver where the cottonwoods are swinging with ghostly bodies of men?

Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody
There’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water
Rollin’ to Memphis
If you were there you’d swear
It was more than a man who died

Were you there with Mahalia wailing at the funeral?
Did you watch them lower his casket in?
Did you tremble when you thought about the future and cry out for a martyred man?

Motel in Memphis
Motel in Memphis
Run and tell somebody
There’s blood on the riverside
Oh muddy water
Rollin’ to Memphis
If you were there you’d swear
It was more than a man who died