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Randy Newman – William Brown Lyrics 1 year ago
Apologies, but despite the similarity in name and location, it's an unconvincing stretch to claim it's the same William Brown. The real-life William Brown who was a victim of lynching was working as a coal hustler and possibly employed at a packinghouse or lumberyard. The William Brown in Newman's song was a wealthy family man given his "multiple cars," land ownership in North Carolina, ownership of what was presumably a tobacco farm (or business) and the ability to outright buy a successful business that can run itself - none of these things remotely apply to the real-life William Brown.

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