LYRICS

A Change is Gonna Come

I was born by the river in a little tent.
Just like the river, I’ve been runnin’ ever since.
It’s been a long time coming, but I know
a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die,
cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky.
It’s been a long time coming, but I know
a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

Well, I go to the movies, I go downtown,
but somebody’s always telling me, don’t hang around.
It’s been a long time coming, but I know
a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to see my brother, I say, brother help me please,
but he winds up knocking me back down on my knees

There are times that I thought that I just couldn’t go on,
now I think I’m able to carry on.
It’s been a long time coming, but I know
a change is gonna come, oh yes it will.

Sam Cooke ©1963 , Abkco Music Inc.

Been Down Into The South

I’ve never been to heaven but I think I’m right,
(been down into the South)
folks up there both Black and White.
(been down into the South)
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

I’ve been walkin’ around to spread the news,
now I’ve got holes in all my shoes.
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

If you don’t think I’ve been through Hell,
then follow me down to Parchman Jail.
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

Now, the only thing that we did wrong,
was stay in the wilderness a day too long.
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

But, the only the thing that we did right,
was on the day we took up the fight.
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

I’ve never been to heaven but I think I’m right,
don’t want to go without my voting rights… and we sing
Hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom, hallelujah freedom.
Been down into the South.

Traditional

What Must Be Done

I learned as a child there are two ways to see,
the world as it is and the way it could be.
Some people say, that’s just not my problem.
Some people do what must be done.

They see the hole in the fabric that must be sewn,
they see the way blockaded and they roll back the stone,
they see the day beyond the horizon
and they do what must be done

Chorus
Some people do, do, do, what must be done, they do what must be done
they see the day beyond the horizon
and they do what must be done.

I’ve seen the toll taken, the tears that were shed,
I’ve seen the journey started and the ripples spread,
Some people say that’s just not my problem,
Some people do what must be done.

They see the hole in the fabric that must be sewn,
they see the way blockaded and they roll back the stone,
they see the day beyond the horizon
and they do what must be done

Some people do, do, do, what must be done, they do what must be done.
ey see the day beyond the horizon
and they do what must be done.

Greg Greenway ©2006 Sheen of Heat Music

Never Say Never

It was the 7th day of March in 1965,
a little big man with his arms at his side,
crossed the Alabama River with the people behind,
saying never say never say never.

For those come and gone, allowed only to dream,
for those living in that moment, for those yet to be,
they would give up their bodies for the world to see.
Never say never say never.

Everybody’s on the edge,
cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
beaten for the privilege.
Say it now, say it again, it’s so much deeper than the skin.
Say it now, say it again, it’s so much deeper than the skin.
Hate is a chain with a prisoner at both ends.
Hate is a chain with a prisoner at both ends.

It’s an American heartbreak in the bright light of day,
it’s not business as usual on an Alabama highway,
no headlights in the mirror, no hooded face.
Never say never say never.

Everybody’s on the edge,
cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge,
beaten for the privilege.
Say it now, say it again, it’s so much deeper than the skin.
Say it now, say it again, it’s so much deeper than the skin.
Hate is a chain with a prisoner at both ends.
Hate is a chain with a prisoner at both ends.

No more.

Greg Greenway ©2016 Sheen of Heat Music

The Skin I’m In

I don’t know you, but for these handed down bones,
names on moss covered stones, I don’t know you.
But you arrived, and what you did to survive,
left a wake so wide, you handed this to me.

I washed my hands down by the river
I washed my hands of you
but you keep staring back from the mirror
to remind me again of the skin I’m in

You couldn’t know me, the possiblity
that I might live and breathe to carry on your name.
My ungrateful crime is pointing fingers through time.
Did you just toe the line, or build a world of chains?

Chorus

What the matter don’t you like it,
don’t you like being heard,
don’t you like the first choice,
don’t you like the last word,
don’t you like that you don’t have to know what this is about,
be deaf, dumb, and blind and get the benefit of the doubt,
to walk through this world in a velvet coccoon,
that everybody else can see except of course you,
but you are everybody, your true is true,
that’s what I handed to you.

Chorus

So here we are by the grace of some god,
knowing the mirror is awed, what do we do now.

Greg Greenway ©2016 Sheen of Heat Music

Hickory Hill

Barren fields to the horizon
Ghosts of autumn catch the wind
Memories of those saints and sinners
Gather round to haunt us once again.
Now we are finally here together
Standing silent, face to face
Secret family undercover
Born of shame, saved by hope and grace.

Chorus
Hickory Hill, we’re on hallowed ground
Walkin’ side by side, wondering what we’ve found
Hearts break open wide across the great divide
I can see the questions in your eyes
Now that we are home again.

They celebrate the grand illusion
And they write it up for all to see
But in that mystery of confusion
There lies a truth that might one day set us free.
So now our stories come together
Across these fields of broken dreams
And the blood that binds us all together
Is indeed much thicker than it seems.

Chorus

Hickory Hill, we’re on solid ground
Standin’ side by side, wondering what we’ve found
Hearts break open wide across the great divide
Can you hear the demons as they die
Now that we are home again?

Reggie Harris ©2012

Welcome Table

I’m gonna sit at the welcome table
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days, hallelujah
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table
I’m gonna sit at the welcome table one of these days

There will be food for all at the welcome table
food for all at the welcome table one of these days, hallelujah
food for all at the welcome table
food for all at the welcome table one of these days.

We’re gonna sit and eat together
We’re gonna sit and eat together one of these days, hallelujah
We’re gonna sit and eat together
We’re gonna sit and eat together one of these days.

Traditional

We Need More Light

We need more light ’round here.
We need more light ’round here.
In the depth of the darkness,
I see the face of my fear.
We need more light,
we need more light ’round here.

Greg Greenway ©2019 Sheen of Heat Music

Windows of the Heart

We sit alone… together / each from our different world
Suspicious of each other / position flags unfurled.

So much lies broken between us Lines of connection down
Standing in ruins of pain and mistrust Searching for common ground.

So we stumble through our points of view
Logic falls apart.
In that moment of confusion we see a place to start Through the windows of the heart.

We sit in silence and wonder,
“Where do we go from here?”
Frustration draggin’ us under / No resolution clear.

We feel the anger / this desperation to turn this world around Each of our faces a mirror
Searchin’ for common ground.

So we lower our defenses / watch ‘em fall apart
In that moment of confusion (3rd time –Communion) we see a place to start
Through the windows of the heart!

Mighty Long Way

Chorus
It’s a mighty long way from over yonder
It’s a mighty long way from there to here.
We’re going to take it one step at a time
so that we can make that walk from there to here.

Every child born is a revolution,
a revolution with a song inside.
Some won’t hear it, some hear nothing else,
they’ll sing night and day just to keep that song alive.

chorus

Now, when you’ve got a dream,
you’ve got to stand up, stand up and shout it,
shout it loud and clear.
What’s that I’m hearing, it’s the voice of the people singing
that we will make that walk from there to here..