We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

When

from Visitors by Shaina Taub

/

lyrics

Another child
Another bullet
Another unfathomable day
Another trigger
Another reason to pull it
Another unthinkable cliche

Another tragic image of violence
Another moment of silence
Another TV news routine
A solemn leader on a screen

Another family in mourning
Another pundit scorning 
Another finger pointing
Another fighting over why it cannot wait
Then another dead-end debate
Til it happens again
Again
And every time, I sit and wonder when

Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?

I heard this school kid talking bout the shooting
And he said:
“People getting shot, like, every day. That ain’t never gonna change, man, you know?”
He was only twelve or so

What shall I say to a child of my own?
What shall I say when they ask why?
What shall I say when she asks when?

Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?
Oh when, oh when will it ever end?

I saw an old woman down by City Hall
She must’ve been seventy or more
She held a sign in one hand
A cane in the other
And she heard us singing:
“When? Oh when?”

Then she took the mic and said:
“Oh when, oh when?
If not now, then when?
Oh when, oh when?
If not now, then when?
I’ve been marching a long time, and I will march again
For when, oh when?
If not now, then when?”

What shall I sing?
Another lamentation?
What shall I sing?
Another blues inside my room?
Or shall I sing
An anthem in the street
On repeat
Til my voice runs out
Shall I stare or shall I shout?

Oh when, oh when?
If not now, then when?
Oh when, oh when?
If not now, then when?
Oh we, oh you
If not us, then who?
We’ll try again
If not now, then when?

Oh when, oh when?
If not now then when?
Oh when, oh when?
If not not now then when?

Now!
Now!
Now!

credits

from Visitors, released December 16, 2015

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Shaina Taub Brooklyn, New York

contact / help

Contact Shaina Taub

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Shaina Taub, you may also like: