Additional Notes:

No Notes Available

Backstory:

This song was inspired by Anthony "Ray" Hinton's experience. He is an author and activist who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. He spent nearly 30 years in jail before being exonerated and released from prison. I wrote "Show Me a Sign" after reading his book "The Sun Does Shine."

Lyrics:

                                                  
Show Me a Sign (The Sun Does Shine)

[Verse 1]
Brought up on false charges
Murder in the first degree
The cops and the prosecutor 
Played a part in that old routine
They knew a black man in Alabama
Had a snowball’s chance in hell
Of proving his innocence and
Avoiding a prison cell 
 
[Chorus] 
He said show me, show me a sign 
Innocent folks  
Cannot be confined
Show me, show me a sign 
That reminds me
The Sun does shine
Before the end of the line
Show Me a Sign

[Verse 2]
At work across town in a locked warehouse
He had a perfect alibi
But it was overlooked when he was booked
The judge sentenced him to die
And the polygraph that he had passed 
Was not allowed as evidence
And his court-appointed attorney
Offered up a poor defense
Because a black man in Alabama
Had a snowball’s chance in hell
Of proving his innocence and
Avoiding a prison cell 

[Chorus]
He said show me, show me a sign 
Innocent folks  
Cannot be confined
Show me, show me a sign 
That reminds me
The Sun does shine
Before the end of the line
Show Me a Sign
 
[Bridge]
Now his cell was not too far
From that final chair
And from behind the bars
He could smell the burning flesh
Fill the air

[Verse 3]
A ballistics report from his mother’s gun 
Is what finally cleared his name
But it was three decades of heartache late 
The day it finally came
Because a black man in Alabama
Had a snowball’s chance in hell
Of proving his innocence and
Avoiding a prison cell

[Chorus]
He said show me, show me a sign 
Innocent folks  
Cannot be confined
Show me, show me a sign 
That reminds me
The Sun does shine
Before the end of the line
Show Me a Sign
Show Me a Sign
Show Me a Sign
Show Me a Sign