I LOVE that music can be used to tell stories! 💜

On the radio the other day, I heard “Black and White” by Three Dog Night.

I remember hearing it on the “Saturday at the 70s” station my mom listened to when I was growing up. I liked the song when I was kid. It’s got a fun beat and a beautiful message! 💚

Lyrics:

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is Black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is Black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

And now, at last
We plainly see
We’ll have a dance of liberty
Liberty

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is Black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is Black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is Black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is Black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

Come on
Get it
Get it
Oh yeah
Yeah
Keep it up now, around the world
Little boys and little girls
Yeah, yeah, oh

What I didn’t know until this week was that the song is much older than the 70s! 😮

The radio DJ talked about how the song was actually originally by Sammy Davis Jr. and about Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The song has different lyrics. Check it out:

Lyrics:

Everybody gather around
I’d like to tell you a story

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
To read and write

And now a child can understand
This is the law of all the land
All the land

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
To read and write

Their robes were black, the heads were white
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight
Were closed up tight

Nine judges all set down their names
To end the years and years of shame
Years of shame

The robes were black, the heads were white

The slate is black, the chalk is white
The words stand out so clear and bright
So clear and bright

And now at last, we plainly see
The alphabet of liberty
Liberty

The slate is black, the chalk is white

A child is Black, a child is white
The whole word looks upon this sight
A beautiful sight

For very well the whole world knows
This is the way that freedom grows
Freedom grows

A child is Black, a child is white
Together we learn to read and write
To read and write

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and it turns by night
It turns by night

It turns so each and everyone
Can take his station in the sun
In the sun

The world is black, the world is white

Get the picture?

This song is so moving! 💚

Which version of the song do you like better and why?

Wishing you well! 🩷