Somewhere beneath the long dry grass, A column marches through. With sharpened jaws they storm a home They never once belonged to. Down into the nursery, Into the dark they go, Carrying children into daylight Who will never know. They wake inside another house, They learn another name, They feed the mouths that stole them And never ask who came. [Pre-Chorus] But before we call one master, Before we call one slave, Remember every word we use Is something humans gave. [Chorus] We are animals— But the meadow is no law. Nature tells us what has happened, Not what justice ought to be. We can question. We can answer. We can tear the old page free. The ants cannot read what we have written. The ants cannot choose another way. But we can read the words our fathers handed us And write a better sentence on the page. [Verse 2] Linnaeus named the living world, Each feather, tooth and bone, But when he reached humanity He left us there alone. No grand description underneath, No crown upon the shelf— Only two old words remained: Know thyself. We called ourselves the wise ones. We’re still earning that today, For wisdom isn’t knowing What the wilderness will say. The meadow only tells us What a creature had to do. But nothing born without a choice Can tell us what is true. [Chorus] We are animals— But the meadow is no law. Nature tells us what has happened, Not what justice ought to be. We can question. We can answer. We can change what we believe. The ants cannot read what we have written. The ants cannot turn around and say: “We were wrong. We know it now. Let’s write a better way.” [Verse 3 — building] We searched the blood for boundaries, For a line between our kinds. But most of human difference Lives within the lines. Mountain lungs and northern seas, Milk and grain and sun— Different roads our families walked, But still a family: one. Not a ladder. Not a ranking. Not a measure of our worth. Only footprints left by people Learning how to live on Earth. [Pre-Chorus] And history keeps receipts Of every time we failed— Every door we locked, Every voice we silenced, Every human life we scaled. But history keeps something else: The moment someone said, “This law is wrong. This door must move. Read the words again.” [Chorus — bigger] We are animals— But we can change the law. We can hold our own handwriting To the light and see the flaw. We can question. We can listen. We can say what came before Was written by another hand And doesn’t rule us anymore. The ants cannot read what we have written. They cannot rewrite yesterday. But we can hold the page together And write a better way. [Bridge — stripped back] Put away the triangle. There was never any need For someone at the bottom So another one could lead. Put away the ladder. There is nowhere we must climb. Maybe progress isn’t standing At the front of some straight line. Take the circle. No beginning. No one waiting at the end. Look through both eyes. Depth appears When different ways of seeing blend. Not admitted. Not tolerated. Not accommodated. Partners. Standing eye to eye. [Instrumental build] [Final Chorus — huge] WE ARE ANIMALS— And maybe that’s the start. But we remember yesterday, And carry it inside the heart. We can question. We can listen. We can change the things we know. We can put the old way down When it is time to let it go. We are one family Who walked in every direction, Changed a little on the journey, Never changed our human connection. No one born to be the master. No one born to serve. No one standing underneath another To decide what they deserve. Let everyone belong here. Let everyone take part. Let everyone be relevant. Let equality be where we start. [Final Refrain — slowing] And when the thing we’ve always done No longer leads us through, May somebody ask the question— And may we listen when they do. Because knowing better isn’t knowing That we’re wiser than before. It’s having courage to keep reading What we’ve written— And revise it once more. [Outro — almost whispered] The ants cannot read what we wrote. They cannot question. They cannot choose. We can. That is the only advantage we have. And it is enough.
