[Intro: huge drums, synth riff] [Verse 1] Two hundred and six in a village called Wasla, Sitting under the stilt houses, nobody making a sound, Every family got one bag, every child got a hand, And the army on the ridge was digging in the ground. [Chorus: stadium chant] Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Carry them across the river, Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Get them over by the light, Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Ten canoes and a hundred prayers tonight! [Verse 2] Little girl in a yellow dress washed almost white, Holding a bear by the arm, one ear and one button eye, Her mama went across with the baby on the first trip, She said her name was Nena, and she didn't cry. [Verse 3] The mortars came at a quarter past one, And the tracers came down green, The canoe beside us went over, And a woman in the water was calling "Nena!" I reached out with the paddle, she got a hand on the blade, I felt her weight, and I started to pull. [Chorus: stadium chant] Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Carry them across the river, Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Get them over by the light, Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Ten canoes and a hundred prayers tonight! [Bridge: drums drop out, quiet] I felt her let go of the paddle. That's all I'm going to tell you. [Spoken] I need to stop a minute, kid. [Verse 4: band returns slowly] Johnny held the both of them, the woman and the girl, I paddled from the back with my eyes on the three, The schoolteacher counted on the bank at dawn, She counted three times, and she counted to a hundred and ninety-four. [Verse 5] And on his knee in the mud of the Coco River, Johnny held a ring out in the palm of his hand, She looked up the bank at the man with the paddle, And she said, "Not yet, Johnny." [Final Chorus: huge, crowd chanting] Safe haven! (Safe haven!) A hundred and ninety-four! Safe haven! (Safe haven!) A hundred and ninety-four! Safe haven! (Safe haven!) Carry them across the river tonight! [Outro: drums, synth riff, fade] [End]
