Barbara Dane and the Chambers Brothers
It Isn't Nice
Barbara Dane and the Chambers Brothers released this song with Folkways Records on their eponymous 1966 album.
Malvina Reynolds wrote this song after participating in the Palace Hotel sit-ins in San Francisco. Barbara Dane decided to record it after singing at Freedom Schools in the South, in 1964. She recorded it with the Chambers Brothers (George Jr., Willie, Joe, and Lester), whose father, George Sr., was a tenant farmer in Mississippi. The song offers a program of action and a patient, rational rebuttal to one of the most common criticisms of resistance. —The Editors
It isn't nice to block the doorway, It isn't nice to go to jail, There are nicer ways to do it, But the nice ways always fail. It isn't nice, it isn't nice, You told us once, you told us twice, But if that is freedom's price, We don't mind. It isn't nice to dump the groceries Or to sit in on the floor, Or to shout our cry of freedom At the hotel and the store. It isn't nice, it isn't nice, You told us once, you told us twice, But if that is freedom's price, We don't mind. We have tried negotiations And the token picket line, Mr. Charlie didn't see us And he might as well be blind. When we deal with men of ice, You can't deal in ways so nice, But if that is freedom's price, We don't mind. They murdered folks in Alabama And the shot in Evers' back Did you say it wasn't proper, Did you stand upon the track? You were quiet just like mice, Now you say we aren't nice, But if that is freedom's price, We don't mind. It isn't nice to block the doorway, It isn't nice to go to jail, There are nicer ways to do it But the nice ways always fail. It isn't nice, it isn't nice, You told us once you told us twice But thank you buddy for your advice, But if that is freedom's price, We don't mind. Original words and music by Malvina Reynolds