Dylan first performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game" at a voter registration rally in
Greenwood, Mississippi on July 6, 1963, at the request of
Pete Seeger. He sang it again at the
Newport Folk Festival on 26 July. Two weeks later, on August 7, he recorded several takes of the song at
Columbia's studios in
New York City, selecting the initial attempt for release on
The Times They Are a-Changin'. Dylan performed the song at the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, where
Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "
I Have a Dream" speech. Dylan stated of the experience, in the documentary
No Direction Home, "I looked up from the podium and I thought to myself, 'I've never seen such a large crowd.' I was up close when King was giving that speech. To this day, it still affects me in a profound way." Nevertheless, he received only scattered applause for the song, reflecting that many marchers did not agree with the sentiments of the song which exonerate Evers's murderer as a poor white man manipulated by race-baiting politicians and the injustices of the social system. The lyrics actually reiterate the claim that the murderer "can't be blamed. He's only a pawn in their game." In fact, the state twice prosecuted the murderer in 1964, but each time the
all white jury failed to reach a verdict. Dylan no longer played the song after October 1964. In 1969 the murderer had the original indictment dismissed. However, when these first trials were shown to be held unfairly and with new evidence available the murderer was eventually found guilty on February 5, 1994. ==In popular culture==