James Brewer, Blues Estafette, Utrecht, the Netherlands,
19 February 1983. Photo: René van Rijn.
Although the fateful day started cold and cloudy with some rain, the
weather cleared up as the president flew from Fort Worth to Dallas. Blind
James Brewer (1921 1988), a guitarist who had traveled from Mississippi
to St. Louis in the 1940s and on to Chicago in the 1950s, took the weather
as an omen in  Why Did He Have to Go?
Well, oh well. Well, oh well, oh well,
Well, we lost a good president, why did he have to go?
President Kennedy, he was a mighty good man,
Well, going throughout the country, serving every woman and man.
It was one cold, cloudy day, when our president went away,
Well, he left us alone, doing the best we can.
Well, I wonder why, why did he have to go?
Well, he s gone, he s gone, but his work must go on.
The Day the Worl d Stood Stil l [ 117 ]