Elijah

Dedicated to Elijah McClain.

(This song is usually sung a cappella. Chords are shown to help learn the tune.)

Elijah
Oh Elijah
A child of God
What have we done to you?
What have we done?

G D - Am / G D - - / C - - D / C D - - / C - - -

Elijah
Oh Elijah
I say your name
So many others too
They all have names

Elijah
They say in other times
People could fly away
People could fly

C G - D / G C - D /  / C - - - 

Elijah
Spread wide your gentle arms
Rise o'er this troubled world
And fly away
And fly away

C G - D / G C - D /  / C - - D / G D - - 

Elijah
Oh Elijah
A child of God
What have we done to you?
What will we do? What will we do?

G D - Am / G - - D / C - - D / C D - - / C - - -  

Lyrics & music by Bill Harley
(c) 2020 Round River Music/Bill Harley (BMI)  www.billharley.com  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Choral arrangement in the posted video is by Peter Amidon. 
Singers in this recording include: Louisa Sullivan Hungate, Lauren Breunig, Lynn Mahoney Rowan, Emma Schneider, Amelia Fontein, Suzannah Park, Emily Miller, Will Rohan, Rhys Glennon, Arthur Davis, Sam Amidon, Jeff Fellinger, Nathan Morrison, Gideon Crevoshay, Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin, Avery Book, and Stefan Amidon.
The moving 1st video above was created by Bill Harley and utilizes the Amidons' choral arrangement of Harley's song.

The 2nd video above was recorded by the First Unitarian Choir of Brooklyn with The Westerlies.

About Elijah McClain:

On August 24, 2019, police officers in Aurora, Colorado, approached a quiet 23-year-old massage therapist, Elijah McClain, as he walked home from a convenience store. The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he “resisted arrest.” In the 15 minutes that followed, the officers tackled McClain to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital, and died days later, after he was declared brain dead.

The police officers were initially cleared of wrongdoing but later were let go when body camera film was released. Investigations were begun in the summer of 2020 as a result of increased national attention to "Black Lives Matter". 

https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/the-killing-of-elijah-mcclain-everything-we-know.html

There have been many vigils and rallies for Elijah including violin vigils, one of which was assaulted by riot police. Aurora CO  Washington Square in NYC   ABC news piece