I was standing underneath the Apollo marquis
At the heart of this country of mine
Hope in every face as far as we could see
The wishes were flowing like wine
That this would be a night unlike any other
I watched where the big trains rolled
From river to river it was brother to brother
I finally got of the glimpse of the meaning of soul
CHORUS
When the bells rang all over Harlem
They rang at 11:01
The bells rang in a joyful bedlam
They rang for the rising sun
Our destiny took hold of a troubled land
The strange fruit rotted on the ground
A fist finally opened to an outstretched hand
Joshua’s trumpet did sound
Now Martin Luther King and Sojourner Truth
They must have looked down and smiled
The people joined hands and they started to sing
“There ain’t no stopping us now”
Chorus - Then instrumental
For the ones who came ashore bound in chains
And the ones who bore the lash with a smile
For the babies born to a world of pain
The chimes peeled all along the miracle Mile
Chorus
Lyrics Submitted by Loren Gerlach