There Was a Time is a song written and performed by James Brown. It was recorded June 1967 during a live performance at the Apollo Theater. The song was part of The Jackson 5's repertoire beginning early in their career. They perform it in concert on the album Live at the Forum. In a famous incident, Michael Jackson and Prince performed the song while sharing the stage with Brown and his band at Los Angeles' Beverly Theater in 1983.
Lyrics[]
- There was a day
- There was a time
- When I used to date
- There was a time when I used to praise
- But dig me now
- Baby, don't worry about later
- Dig the dance I used to do
- They call her Mashed Potatoes
- There was a day
- Now dig this
- There was a dance
- They call a Jerk
- Everybody relax and watch me work
- In my hometown where I used to stay
- The name of the place is Augusta, GA
- Down there we have a good time
- We don't talk
- We all get together in time, for rhythm then we do
- The camel walk
- Lookey here, dig this
- Now there was a dance that I used to do
- The name of the dance
- They call it Boogaloo
- I may not do the dance as well as you
- But baby, you can bet your bottom dollar
- You never hear me holler
- I'll do the best that I can do
- Lookey here, feeling good
- There was a time, sometimes I dance, lookey here
- Sometimes I dance, sometimes I clown
- But you can bet you haven't seen nothing yet
- Until you see me do the James Brown