These verses recently appeared in Sing Out!


WASN'T THAT A TIME?

Original song by Walter Lowenfels and Lee Hays © 1948
New verses by Stephen L. Suffet © 2000
Use them ad lib with the old verses. Note the gender neutral refrain, lines 1, 2, and 4 of which are taken from the original version.


The slave fought back... with spade and hoe,
And sometimes with bare hands,
Swift feet ran down... the darkened road,
To escape... from slavery's land.

Wasn't that a time...
A time to try...
The human soul?
Wasn't that a terrible time?

Brave people walked... the picket lines,
And faced the bosses' rage,
They held aloft... their picket signs,
To demand... a living wage.

Wasn't that a time, etc.

The bombs fell down... on Vietnam,
They brought a napalm rain.
Young men refused... to go to war,
And they saved... the faith again.

Wasn't that a time, etc.

The racists come... in camouflage,
To tear our nation down.
But we shall stand... hand in hand,
Upon our faith... and hold our ground.

Isn't this a time...
A time to try...
The human soul?
Isn't this a terrible time?

Isn't this a time...
A time to free...
The human soul?
Isn't this a wonderful time?


--- Steve