[Verse 1]
I was born by the river, in a little tent
But, oh, just like the river's been a running
I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is goin' come
Oh yes it will
It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
Cause my mama never told me what goes on beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is goin' come, oh yes it will

[Chorus]
Say!
Like I said, I call to my brother
Say!
Brother, brother, would you help me, please
Oh they whine so, that crazy town
What goes on, was spendin' me
There was a time, thought I'd fall
I couldn't learn, alone
But I want to thank you Jesus, thank you for
For carrying me home

[Bridge]
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is goin' come, oh yes it will
[Chorus]
I want y'all to help me now
Hey!
Like I said, I call to my brother
Brother!
Brother, Brother, would you help me please!
Oh they whine so, that crazy town
What goes on, was spendin' me
There was a time, thought I'd fall
I couldn't learn, alone
But I know that you're out there baby, and one day I'll be back home

[Verse 2]
It's been a long, a long time coming
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 gon' come girl
But you know it seems like I tried so hard, to get back where I started from

[Speech]
I took about 20 years of very serious smoking
A few ups and downs
A few trips
Little space odyssey once in a while
To get back, to get back, to get back, to get back, to get back to bein' a kid all over again
Because you know when you see a little boy or little girl runnin' down the street
Runnin' to meet the popsicle truck and all the sudden and you get to turn around and say "Wow I'll be glad when this cat gets here, all these changes I'm going through"
Back home again baby
Then comes the ages when you start drinkin' wine
Takin' care of business at the drive-in-movies, and one day your partner gives you one of those funny lookin' cigarettes and says its time to for you, for you to get mellow one more time
And after that first hit, the whole world brightens up just a little bit
But you know I come from back, way back in Indiana where like we've 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, that's why I know a change has gotta come
I say there's white people, there's black people and then there's my people
[Outro]
Oh got to get on home now
Talkin' about a change
Has got to get underway, baby
I feel it comin', I feel it comin'
I feel that it's coming pretty soon
Say!