To preach of peace and brotherhood
Oh, what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross
Long ago, far away
These things don’t happen
No more, nowadays

The chains of slaves
They dragged the ground
With heads and hearts hung low
But it was during Lincoln’s time
And it was long ago
Long ago, far away
Things like that don’t happen
No more, nowadays

The war guns they went off wild
The whole world bled its blood
Men’s bodies floated on the edge
Of oceans made of mud
Long ago, far away
Those kind of things don’t happen
No more, nowadays

One man had much money
One man had not enough to eat
One man he lived just like a king
The other man begged on the street
Long ago, far away
Things like that don’t happen
No more, nowadays
One man died of a knife so sharp
One man died from the bullet of a gun
One man died of a broken heart
To see the lynchin’ of his son
Long ago, far away
Things like that don’t happen
No more, nowadays

Gladiators killed themselves
It was during the Roman times
People cheered with bloodshot grins
As eyes and minds went blind
Long ago, far away
Things like that don’t happen
No more, nowadays

And to talk of peace and brotherhood
Oh, what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross
Long ago, far away
Things like that don’t happen
No more, nowadays, do they?