HOPE, STRUGGLE AND CHANGE
HOPE, STRUGGLE AND CHANGE
words and music
copyright © 2009 by
Roy Zimmerman and Melanie Harby
copyright © 2009 by
Roy Zimmerman and Melanie Harby
Hope and Change is what you voted for
But looking at you now, I know that you’re
Wishing that your vote did something more to move it 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,
The 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 the Supreme Court just recognized 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 really get pissed, resist and raise a fist
Gotta try to revolutionize
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
Gotta educate and organize
And keep our eyes on the prize
So asking any president to make
Fundamental change, that’s our mistake
We gotta be a giant just awakening from its 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)
But looking at you now, I know that you’re
Wishing that your vote did something more to move it 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,
The 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 the Supreme Court just recognized 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 really get pissed, resist and raise a fist
Gotta try to revolutionize
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
Gotta educate and organize
And keep our eyes on the prize
So asking any president to make
Fundamental change, that’s our mistake
We gotta be a giant just awakening from its 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)
