Ooh, when will it ever change?
Ooh, people, tell me when will it ever change
I can see bells of freedom
I can't hear them ring

I see this premonition nearly happens every night
I see this premonition, it happens every day
I can see it when they work
I can tell by the things they say

My sisters and my brothers
On the streets all over town
I can see people dyin'
There's hatreds all around

Ooh, people, will it ever change?
Sometimes I hear the bells of freedom
But I never hear them ring, oh

Once I knew a man
He'd fought for equality, yes, he did y'all
He'd seen the promised land
He freed now for my needs, oh yes he did

I can see the bells of freedom
Tell me why can't I hear them ring?
Hear them ring, baby

Let me tell y'all, this is what I read
Come on in here freedoms comin' in
Liberty, equality, humanity
Little love, never hurt nobody

But we need liberty
There's no doubt about it
People, when will it change?
People, when will it change?

We need love, I know we need love
We don't need no more hatred
Tell me when will it change?
When will it change?

People, could ya tell me when will it change?
Somebody tell me now, I want freedom
I wanna hear those freedom bells ringin', yeah-oh

Oh whoa, I wanna know
Think you wanna know, too, take my hand
Let me lead you to the Promised Land
I think I can lead you to the Promised Land

I know I can
But I wanna know one thing, people
I wanna know, when will it change?
When will it change? Yeah