"Better Times Are Coming Friends" (1854)
Ballad
as Sung by
Dumbleton's Minstrels
Written & Arranged
by
H. Dumbleton,
Director.

New York, NY: Horace Waters, 333 Broadway
Cannon, OH: W. C. Peters & Sons
Petersburg, VA: Gaines & Riches
Syracuse, KY: Todd, Drake & Co.
Chicago, IL: Brabant & Co.
Louisville, KY: Brainard bro. & Co.
[Source: 022/010@Levy]

1.
I will not prate of grief and care as is so much the fashion,
Nor in each speck that dims the air, see clouds to blight the nation;
Like those who magnify each ill and swell each pretty sorrow,
Who fain would ev’ry bosom fill with dark thoughts of the morrow;
Who fain would ev’ry bosom fill with dark thoughts of the morrow.

CHORUS [DUET, sung after each verse]
For better times are coming friends, better times are coming,
For trials past to make amens, better times are coming,
yes, better times are coming friends, yes! better times are coming.

2.
My creed is not so sad as this— our world is one of beauty,
And life would be unchaneful bliss if man but did his duty;
What were we born for but to aid each poor and suff’ring brother,
Remember what heav’ns law hath said: be kind to one another.
Remember what heav’ns law hath said: be kind to one another.

3.
Yes, better times when tyrants fight and venal party faction,
Shall only seek to compass right nor seminate distractrion;
When Freedom’s Banner soaring high shall spread the pow’r of reason,
And Art and Science serve to guide to man’s divinest season.
And Art and Science serve to guide to man’s divinest season.