'Till We Reach That Day

'Till We Reach That Day Lyrics

'Till We Reach That Day Song Lyrics

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COALHOUSE
Noooooo!!!

(People lift SARAH up. The dirge begins.)


MOURNERS
Oh...
Oh...
Oh...

(We are now at Sarah's funeral. To the slow rhythm of a drum, a processional enters bearing SARAH'S coffin.)

SARAH'S FRIEND
There's a day of hope
May I live to see,
When our hearts are happy
And our souls are free
Let the new day dawn
Oh, Lord, I pray
We'll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day

OTHER MOURNERS
It's a day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
When a man can live
And a child can play
We'll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day

SARAH'S FRIEND
A day of pride
It's been denied

COALHOUSE
What they did to her
What they took from her
She had life in her
Lord, she had my baby!
Look what they left of her
Left of her, left of my girl!

EMMA
She was nothing to them
She was a woman.

MOTHER & EMMA
Nothing and no one to them

COALHOUSE
My girl.

EMMA, MOTHER & COALHOUSE
So they beat her
And beat her and beat her and...

MOURNERS
A day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
Let the new day dawn
Oh Lord...

COALHOUSE
There was
blood on the ground

COALHOUSE, EMMA, MOTHER
She was only a girl

COALHOUSE, EMMA, YOUNGER BROTHER, MOTHER, FATHER
It will happen again

ABOVE, PLUS IMMIGRANTS, HARLEM

It will happen again
And again and again

TATEH
Why does nobody care?

YOUNGER BROTHER, EMMA
There is blood in the air!

WOMEN
We have voices and souls!

COALHOUSE, MOTHER, EMMA, YOUNGER BROTHER
What is wrong with this country?

IMMIGRANTS
She was somebody's child!

HARLEM MEN
There are Negroes out there!

IMMIGRANTS, BLACKS, WOMEN with EMMA (shouting over)
There are people out there!

ALL
Give the people
A day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
Let the new day dawn
Oh, Lord, I pray...
We'll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day