Democracy 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 freedom Just as you.
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Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Democracy", appears in One-Way Ticket, first published 1949 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Arshak Andriasov , "Democracy", op. 10 (Six Romances for Tenor and Piano) no. 2 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irwin Heilner (b. 1908), "Democracy", 1966 [ medium voice and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-27
Line count: 21
Word count: 85