Terri Roben: Music

In 1896 my gramps said to his pa
"Oh Daddy how could it have been that slavery was law?
I can't believe that human beings
Were bought and sold like steer!"
My grandpa's father looked at him
And said,
"I greatly fear -

Chorus:
"Humanity still has a great capacity for hate
Forgetting past sins far too soon
Remembering too late
I hope and pray that when you're grown you'll have no wars to wage
But if you do I hope you'll stand for
Justice and not rage."
In 1946 my pa said to my gramps
"How could it be the world allowed
Those concentration camps?
So many Jews and others killed
So many children slain!"
My father's father looked at him
And said,
"Let me explain,"

Chorus

In 1970 I pleaded with my mom
"Why are so many dying
In a place called Vietnam?
Why are we bombing villages and people we don't know?"
My mother looked at me and said,
"I guess it's time you know,"

Chorus

In 1991 my child came home from school
He said, "Hey Dad, let's watch
The Persian Gulf war, it's so cool!"
We watched the replays of the bombs that looked like fireworks
And when they showed the peace marchers, my son said,
"Oh those jerks!"
I took my son's face in my hands and
Looked him in the eyes.
"It's time you learned the difference
Between the truth and lies,
The people who are standing up
Against this TV war
Know what they do because they've
Not forgot what came before;
We killed off most the natives of
America the great
We tortured blacks with slavery
Their civil rights came late
We let a madman slaughter Jews
Til we were forced to act
We sent more off to Vietnam than
Ever did come back...
So turn the TV off and let me help
You understand
That violence is the lowest act
A human being can plan
We've got to end the greed and mend the error of our ways
So one day all can live in peace and
Stop these killing days.
And now since 9/11 when Americans
were killed by terrorists who thought they did what their great
Allah willed
The answer from our president sounds very much the same
Kill thousands more while waging holy war in Jesus' name

New Chorus:

Humanity still has a great capacity for hate,
Forgetting past sins far too soon,
Remembering too late
We've got to blaze a trail for peace,
The future is at stake
The children of the world will follow in the path we make...
(slower)
Humanity still has a great capacity for love;
Forgiving, but remembering to learn and rise above
Mistakes and lies can make us wise, we'll keep on keepin on,
Until one day our dream of peace is
more than just a song -
Until one day our dream of peace is
here, and war is gone.