When Everyone Wore Hats - Lyrics - Daniel Amos

Here's to the long-lost world of Chain-smoking dreamers War and baseball heroes Ticker tape and streamers, Cocktail drinkers, Bible believers When light was still filling up a New York river They knew the grace of tradition Possessed a love of decorum Shook the hand of conviction No one complained then of boredom When everyone wore hats They dreamed of ocean voyages Believed in true romance Found their hearts and voices Here's to the long lost hopes of Those mothers and fathers Of rags to riches Of style and manners To the American dream in a Pledge to honor Promises made to their Sons and daughters Threw off the chains of depression Built up the arms of aggression Left us a mixed impression Some died before they learned their lesson When everyone wore hats In the land of immigrants and pilgrims The world came rolling off their backs And landed on their children's They knew the grace of tradition Possessed a love of decorum Shook the hand of conviction No one complained then of boredom When everyone wore hats And innocence found simple pleasures They built the cities, drew the maps With clues to find their buried treasures When everyone wore hats And handed down their pride and prejudice They dropped good fortune in our laps We traded it for vice and avarice When everyone wore hats Would-be kings with ragged crowns They say the style is coming back What's out-of-fashion comes around Uncertain where the road was leading But trusting God was on their side They traced the moral chain of being And filmed it all in black and white And everyone wore hats...