HOPE, STRUGGLE AND CHANGE
(from the album "This Machine: The Best of Roy Zimmerman")
HOPE, STRUGGLE AND CHANGE
(from the album "This Machine: The Best of Roy Zimmerman")
words and music
copyright © 2009 by
Roy Zimmerman and Melanie Harby
copyright © 2009 by
Roy Zimmerman and Melanie Harby
Was there ever a time more hopeful than
Back when we were saying “Yes We Can”
The days of Hope and Change when we were planning to move forward
Hoping that the nation would be freed
From the hands of ignorance and greed
But you know the slogan always needed just one more word
Hope, Struggle and Change
Hope, Struggle and Change
There’s trouble and danger on the road to Justice
Gonna keep on hopin’
Gonna keep my eyes open
And the change will come,
Change will come, but it won’t be easy
You know that civil rights didn’t fall to us
The moment Rosa Parks stepped on that bus
So many fought and died for racial justice before and after
And suddenly a ray of hope appears
But only after years and years and years
And only ‘cause of blood and sweat and tears and yes, even laughter
[Chorus]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton never saw
A woman’s right to vote become the law
But women everywhere now know the awesome load she carried
And Stonewall didn’t settle any fight
There’s been a lot of stonewalling since that night
But at last we recognize the right of people to be married
(chorus)
We gotta hope and cry, work until we die
We gotta plan and fail, spend the night in jail
We gotta raise a fist, continue to resist
Gotta educate and organize
We gotta bleed and need, suffer guaranteed
We gotta sweat no doubt, get the vote out
We gotta howl, yell, raise a lot of hell
We gotta take the street and mobilize
And keep our eyes on the prize
Well, Ignorance and fear and hate and greed
We’re up against some powerful foes indeed
And if we’re gonna win that fight, we need to wake up from our slumber
We know the moral arc of the universe
Is bending ever better, never worse
It’s almost like the human race rehearsing for its big number
(chorus)
Back when we were saying “Yes We Can”
The days of Hope and Change when we were planning to move forward
Hoping that the nation would be freed
From the hands of ignorance and greed
But you know the slogan always needed just one more word
Hope, Struggle and Change
Hope, Struggle and Change
There’s trouble and danger on the road to Justice
Gonna keep on hopin’
Gonna keep my eyes open
And the change will come,
Change will come, but it won’t be easy
You know that civil rights didn’t fall to us
The moment Rosa Parks stepped on that bus
So many fought and died for racial justice before and after
And suddenly a ray of hope appears
But only after years and years and years
And only ‘cause of blood and sweat and tears and yes, even laughter
[Chorus]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton never saw
A woman’s right to vote become the law
But women everywhere now know the awesome load she carried
And Stonewall didn’t settle any fight
There’s been a lot of stonewalling since that night
But at last we recognize the right of people to be married
(chorus)
We gotta hope and cry, work until we die
We gotta plan and fail, spend the night in jail
We gotta raise a fist, continue to resist
Gotta educate and organize
We gotta bleed and need, suffer guaranteed
We gotta sweat no doubt, get the vote out
We gotta howl, yell, raise a lot of hell
We gotta take the street and mobilize
And keep our eyes on the prize
Well, Ignorance and fear and hate and greed
We’re up against some powerful foes indeed
And if we’re gonna win that fight, we need to wake up from our slumber
We know the moral arc of the universe
Is bending ever better, never worse
It’s almost like the human race rehearsing for its big number
(chorus)
