The Purchaser’s Option

A chilling song about slavery by Rhiannon Giddens:

I’ve got a baby. Shall I keep him?
Twill (ph) come the day when I’ll be weeping.
But how can I love him any less,
this little babe upon my breast?

You can take my body.
You can dig my bones.
You can take my blood
but not my soul.

I’ve got a body dark and strong.
I was young but not for long.
You took me to bed a little girl,
left me in a woman’s world.

Listen to Giddens’s remarkable performance and interview with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air.”