Forced to ride in the back o' the bus
Calmly under our breath we'd cuss
One nation, under God, in-visible
The good ol' days, the best of us
And time passed by and we kept on ridin'
Obedient and by the law abidin'
'Til the wave no more could be held back
'Til finally, we came out o' hidin'
Now we gonna stop the struggle
Now we gonna end the war
'Til they slip us a taste of their spoils
And we drop what we fightin' for
Come back home alive young brother
To put your arms around your mother
In this land o' the free and this home o' the brave
Where good boys learn just how to behave
And for the prettiest girls their smiles they save
Where whose tireless fathers their lives they gave
So parents need not dig one child's grave
Yeah, yeah... "greater love hath no man"
and - Look what they done to my song... BOY
See! No more legal segregation
Everybody votes in this great nation
Were Medgar and Chaney and Malcolm and King
A field of dreamers on an old plantation?
Now all of a sudden we're upwardly mobile
We're all independent, untethered and in style
We're mayors, in congress, we're senators - more
Even the White House is Black for awhile
Soon we gonna stop the struggle
Soon we gonna end the war
But they slip us a taste of their spoils
And we quit what we fightin' for
Come back home alive young brother
To put your arms around your mother
In this land o' the free and this home o' the brave
Where good boys learn just how to behave
And for the prettiest girls their smiles they save
Where whose tireless fathers their lives they gave
So parents need not dig one child's grave
Blah, blah... "ask not what your country can do for you"
and - Play it again... SAM
Since Crispus Attucks' blood was spilled into this very ground
Here is where our fathers' sons have always been laid down
Longing, even begging for the terrible front lines
While at every crossroad mocked and scorned without renown
And when the monolith shall finally stand erect, unyielding
When there shall be no more weapons that we be wielding
When one nation, under God no longer is a lie
'Til finally we're remembered with a shining, regal shielding
Still we gonna stop the struggle
Still we gonna end the war
When they slip us a taste of their spoils
We forget what we fightin' for
Come back home alive young brother
And put your arms around your mother
R.A. Cummings (2007)
Copyright © IMARA Music
(revised 03-11-2012)