Our Dream of Freedom

Song Cycle by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947)

Publisher: ECS Publishing (external link)

1. Freedom Will Not Come Today  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Freedom will not come
Today, this year
            Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
 
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
            To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
 
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
            Freedom
            Is a strong seed
            Planted
            In a great need.
            I live here, too.
            I want my freedom
            Just as you.

Text Authorship:

Go to the general single-text view

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

2. Hold Fast to Dreams  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. The Dream Keeper  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamer,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. Dream of Freedom  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There is a dream in the land
With its back against the wall
By muddled names and strange
Sometimes the dream is called.

There are those who claim
This dream for theirs alone-—
A sin for which we know
They must atone.

Unless shared in common
Like sunlight and like air,
The dream will die for lack
Of substance anywhere.

The dream knows no frontier or tongue,
The dream, no class or race.
The dream cannot be kept secure
In any one locked place.

This dream today embattled, 
With its back against the wall —
To save the dream for one
It must be saved for ALL —
Our dream of freedom!

Text Authorship:

Go to the general single-text view

Confirmed with Langston Hughes, The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, Volume 3, University of Missouri Press, 2001, p.250


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Total word count: 260