From the recording Summer In Rhode Island
Those of us who were watching the civil rights movement live as it unfolded in the 60's and 70's, and who watched our country transformed, and our relationships with all races transformed in films, in music, and on television way back then could not help but think "we are much better than this" as a people and as a nation as we watched the 2020 riots and unrest in our cities. I know many people today see the song and the video Ebony and Ivory with Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder as hokey or silly, but back then we sang along and we meant it with all of our heart. We still do....
Lyrics
Better Than This
(Words and Music by Charlie Nault)
We are better than this
Peace and Love is what we miss
We all used to get along
How’d we let it go so wrong?
Ebony and Ivory, Since the nineteen seventies
I ask you friend put down your fists
Cause you know, we are better than this
MLK had a dream
And we had come so far it seemed
We can’t just let that slip away
And fill our children’s’ minds with hate
Cause we are better than this
Peace and Love is what we miss
We all used to get along
How’d we let it go so wrong?
Ebony and Ivory, Since the nineteen seventies
I ask you friend put down your fists
Cause you know, we are better than this
Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder
Ray Charles and Billy Joel
Taught us how to work together
R&B and Rock and Roll
Turn off your TV and your phone
Find someone who’s all alone
Show them how you love them dearly
Soon you’ll realize that clearly…
We are better than this
Come on, we are better than this
You know, we are better than this