"Birmingham Sunday" is a song written by Richard Fariņa. The subject matter is the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 by members of the Ku Klux Klan. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was an act of white supremacist terrorism which occurred at the African-American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963, when four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted at least 15 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church. Described by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as "one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity", the explosion at the church killed four girls and injured 22 others. The bombing marked a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The melody of the song comes from a traditional English ballad named "The False Bride". It was recorded by both Fariņa and his sister-in-law Joan Baez. Baez's version was released on her 1964 album Joan Baez/5, and was used as the theme song of the 1997 Spike Lee documentary about the bombing, 4 Little Girls. The song was covered by Rhiannon Giddens on her 2017 album Freedom Highway.