It started in the Crescent
Close to where the Blues was born
A call to liberation
Fabled from Buddy Bolden’s horn
They gathered every Sunday
In a place called Congo Square
The drumming told their stories
And a brand new sound appeared
A people who were stripped of knowledge of their yesterdays
Were reconnected to their souls through tribal DNA
The chants renewed old memories of how they came to be
They created a melody for all the world to see
In a Black A-Merican Symphony
A Black A-Merican Symphony
It’s a joyous story
How the enslaved reconciled their past
Propers should be given
To the ancestors at last
It’s not the least divisive
To say who gave us this fine art
For it’s the lack of knowledge
That serves to drive most folks apart
A popular expression was unearthed from underground
New Orleans born and raised way down where Dippermouth was crowned
That syncopated style that changed the way we feel that beat
It makes you move and groove and feel like dancing in the street
To a Black A-Merican Symphony
A Black A-Merican Symphony
(SOLO)
So many on the scene Overlook soul for razzmatazz
The audience is dwindling
‘Cause folks don’t wanna hear that Jazz
It’s time for revolution
‘Cause mediocrity’s got to go
We’ve got to change the system
‘Fore the necrophiles steal the show
We have an opportunity to set the record straight
The movement has begun c’mon y’all let’s confabulate
The door is down and all you have to do is just walk through
Yellow and Brown and Red and White can all join in this blues
It’s a Black A-Merican Symphony
A Black A-Merican Symphony
It’s a Black A-Merican Symphony
A Black A-Merican Symphony
Symphony, symphony, symphony for you and me 
– Nicholas Payton aka The Creator of #BAM
Nicholas Payton 