We Used To Be Much Better Than This
A protest song across generations — memory as resistance, voice as legacy.
I have noticed that a lot of the protesters are elderly, so I created this to give them something to connect with the young people in their lives, explaining why they are raising their voice and encouraging those young people to join them.
Lyrics
I was just a boy when the sirens screamed,
Blackout curtains and rationed dreams,
My brother marched off in his soldier blues,
Came home with a limp and a haunted truth.
We beat back the shadow once before,
But now I see it knocking on our door—
So I lace up my shoes, though my steps are slow,
'Cause freedom dies when good folks let it go.
My days are done but yours have just begun
That's why I'm on the line holding my protest sign
You don't deserve the dark days ahead
So I raise my voice to let the word be said
We used to be much better than this
I drank from the fountains marked “colored” and “white,”
Marched in my Sunday shoes through tear gas nights.
Saw dreams shot down on a balcony rail,
But we sang through the bars of a southern jail.
Thought we'd turned the tide, thought the arc had bent,
But now I see where that mercy went.
So I stand again, though the years were long—
Please join me in singing this protest song.
My days are done but yours have just begun
That's why I'm on the line holding my protest sign
You don't deserve the dark days ahead
So I raise my voice to let the word be said
We used to be much better than this
I watched the world shift in a single vote,
Truth got drowned while the strongmen spoke.
Kids in cages, books torn from shelves,
We started to doubt our better selves.
I’ve seen this playbook, I know the cues—
It starts with a lie and ends with no news.
So I grab my cane and my sense of wrong—
Please join me in singing this protest song.
We marched through war, through smoke, through shame,
Every step we took, we called your name.
Now it’s your turn to carry the flame—
Don't let it die. Don't play their game.
My days are done but yours have just begun
That's why I'm on the line holding my protest sign
You don't deserve the dark days ahead
So I raise my voice to let the word be said
We used to be much better than this
We used to be much better than this