Once upon a time And not so long ago When things were much more simple And time would travel slow There came a righteous stranger With a bible in his hand To educate the sinners And liberate their land CHORUS The sins of the fathers Are visited from old In a never ending circle Of people bought & sold So the wretched of the earth Will huddle from the cold As the ship of fools goes sailing On an ocean black as gold So come & sit beside me And let my tale unfold Of a land of milk & honey Where the truth must not be told As men of rhyme & reason Let the devil take their soul For greed & fame & fortune And a river black as gold CHORUS And all the non-believers Were hiding from the light As a thousand burning crosses Were scattered in the night The thieves & the vagabonds Were sinking in the sand As the righteous lord & master Stretches out a helping hand CHORUS And those who had to suffer The sick, the young, the old Were sacrificed to fortune And left out in the cold So in this new arrangement The leaders sold their soul For bangles, beads & baubles And a river black as gold CHORUS