"How Long" lyrics - IRIS DEMENT

Someone asked a question once
Of Martin Luther King
How long do you stay the course
And dream the dream?
But it seems evil's won
And greed is on the throne
And you feel like the silenced voice
In a wilderness all alone
How long? How long?

[Chorus:]
He said, till justice rolls down like water
Till justice rolls down like water
Justice rolls down like water
And righteousness flows
Like a mighty stream

A little boy about ten years old
Sits watching his TV
He's alone most every night
Till two or three
Though his mama works two jobs
She still can't make ends meet
He sees the fat cats lie and steal
But they always go scot-free
He says, how long? How long?

[Chorus:]
Till that justice rolls down like water
Till justice rolls down like water
Till justice rolls down like water
And righteousness starts flowing
Like a mighty stream

Power, greed, and profit
They will never feed the soul
These three shovels have dug us
A deep, dark hole
Compassion, understanding
And living one for all
And all for one is what it's
Gonna take for us to break this fall
Oh, how long? How long?

[Chorus:]
He said, till justice rolls down like water
Till justice rolls down like water
Till justice rolls down like water
And that righteousness starts flowing
Like a mighty stream