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by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864)

Better times are coming
Language: English 
There are voices of hope that are borne on the air,
And our land will be freed from its clouds of despair,
For brave men and true men to battle have gone,
And good times, good times are now coming on.
CHORUS:
 Hurrah!  Hurrah!  Hurrah!
 Sound the news from the din of battle booming,
 Tell the people far and wide
 That better times are coming.

Abra'm Lincoln has the army and the navy in his hands,
While Seward keeps our honor bright abroad in foreign lands;
And Stanton is a man, who is sturdy as a rock,
With brave men to back him up and stand the battle's shock.
(CHORUS)

Now McClellan is a leader and we'll let him take the sway,
For a man in his position, he should surely have his way.
Our nation's honor'd Scott, he has trusted to his might,
Your faith in McClellan put for we are sure he's right.
(CHORUS)

Generals Lyon and Baker and Ellsworth now are gone,
But still we have some brave men to lead the soldiers on;
The noise of the battle will soon have died away,
And the darkness now upon us will be turn'd to happy day.
(CHORUS)

Generals Sigel and Halleck they have conquered in the West,
And Burnside, victorious, he rides the ocean's breast,
The traitors and the rebels will soon meet their doom;
Then peace and prosperity will dwell in every home.
(CHORUS)

Captain Foote is commander of the Mississippi fleet,
For his flag he strikes and makes the traitors beat a quick retreat;
With iron-clad gun-boats he makes the rebels run,
While Grant makes our colors wave and glitter in the sun.
(CHORUS)

General Fremont the path-finder never lags behind,
He is gone to the mountains, new pathways to find.
His voice is for freedom, and his sword is for the right,
Then hail! noble Fremont the nation's delight.
(CHORUS)

From the land of the Shamrock there's stuff that never yields,
For we've brave Colonel Corcoran, and gallant General Shields;
From Meagher soon we'll hear, for we know that he is true,
And stands for the honor of the Red, White and Blue.
(CHORUS)

Here's health to Captain Ericsson, the Monitor and crew,
Who showed the southern chivalry a thing they never knew;
The Merrimac had slayed as St. Patrick did the toads,
Till Worden with the Monitor came into Hampton Roads.
(CHORUS)

Text Authorship:

  • by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864) [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 Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864), "Better times are coming", 1862. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: T. P. (Peter) Perrin

This text was added to the website: 2011-11-10
Line count: 49
Word count: 415

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