I was born by the river In a little tent Oh, just like the river's been a-runnin' I've been runnin' ever since it's been a long A long time comin' But I know a change is gonna come Oh, yes it will It's been too hard livin' But I'm afraid to die My mama never told me What goes on beyond the sky It's been a long A long time comin' But I know a change is gonna come Oh, yes it will Sonny! Like I said I've come to my brother Sonny! Brother, brother Will you help me please? What if my love Now can't meet ya? Right down on My bended knee There was a time That I thought I couldn't live Alone But I wanna thank you, Jesus Thank you, Lord For carryin' me home It's been a long A long time comin' But I know a change is gonna come Oh, yes it will I want y'all to help me now Hey! Like I said I've come to my brother Brother! Brother, brother Brother, would you help me please? What if my love Now can't meet ya? Right down on My bended knee There was a time That I thought I couldn't live Alone But I know that you're out there, baby And one day I'll be back home It's been a long A long time comin' But I know some kind of change I said a change I said a change A change has got to get underway Pretty soon, girl A long, long time ago I wondered if that change Was gonna come, girl Don't come, girl But you know, it seems like I tried so hard To get back where I started from It took about It took about 20 years of Very serious smokin' A few ups and downs A few trips A little space odyssey once in a while To get back To get back To get back To get back To get back to bein' To bein' a kid all over But you know when you see a little boy or a little girl Runnin' down the street Runnin' to meet the popsicle truck And all of a sudden you got to turn around and say Wow, I'll be glad when this cat gets here All these changes I'm goin' through Back home again, baby Then comes the age where You start drinkin' wine Takin' care of business at the drive-in movies And then one day a partner of yours Gives you one of them funny-lookin' cigarettes And says it's time For you For you To get mellow one more time And after that first hit The whole world sort of brightens up just a little bit But you know I come from back Way back in Indiana Where like we still got outhouses And brothers wearin' pointed-toe shoes And carryin' .45s But you know there's There's three kind of people in this world And that's why I know a change has got to come And that's why I know a change has got to come That's why I know a change has got to come I said there's There's white people There's black people And then there's my people Oh, I got to get on home now Talkin' about a change It's got to get underway, baby I feel it comin' I feel it comin' I feel that it's comin' pretty soon Soon! Soon!