Promise and the Dream

(Tom T. Hall)



There's a sadness in your singing I have never heard before

There's a dying in your living that exists from shore to shore

There's a coward in your character that I have never seen

America what happened to the promise and the dream.



The promise was that men could live and worship as they please

The dream was for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free

We closed so many doors and banned the prayers on many scenes

America what happened to the promise and the dream.



There's a numbness in your feeling for the disadvantaged poor

There's a weakness in your strenght because your leaders are unsure

There are shadows in the light that once was freedom's brightest beam

America what happened to the promise and the dream.



The promise was that men could live and worship as they please

The dream was for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free

You closed so many doors and banned the prayer on many scenes

America what happened to the promise and the dream.



There's a hating in your loving for the permanence of vows

Tomorrow doesn't matter it's all for the here and now

Your most important word called love is now a dirty thing

America what happened to the promise and the dream.



The promise was that men could live and worship as they please

The dream was for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free

You closed so many doors and banned the prayer on many scenes

America what happened to the promise and the dream...