Guess You Had to Be There

Back in nineteen sixty three
We walked a fine line
We were taking to the streets
Skating on a thin dime
We were searching after truth and beauty
Now they turn it into late night movies

How can I explain
That it's not the same
Guess you had to be there to be where
Love belonged to everyone

Flowers in the long hair, we stood there
Singing we shall overcome
Knowing the eyes of the world were on us
Knowing the whole world cared
Guess you had to be there

In the summer of our youth
We came together
And we knew that our truth
It would live forever
We were gonna make the whole world honest
When a bullet got the bravest of us
Somehow nothing else was sacred
And we all stood naked

Guess you had to be there to be where
Love belonged to everyone
Flowers in the long hair, we stood there
Singing we shall overcome

Knowing the eyes of the world were on us
Knowing the whole world cared
Guess you had to be there
Now we listen to the news
And it seems all hope is gone
Everybody feeling used

And there's nowhere left to run
Sometimes it feels like the memory
Is all that's left of our used-to-be
But what can never be denied
Is the way we changed inside

Guess you had to be there to be where
Love belonged to everyone
Flowers in the long hair, we stood there
Singing we shall overcome
Knowing the eyes of the world were on us
Knowing the whole world cared
Guess you had to be there copyright © janis ian/her co-writer(s) if any/their publisher(s). all rights reserved