Janis Ian Breaking silence 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 Chorus 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 seems 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 Chorus