(Verse 1) Before the sun can break the night Somebody's out there keeping on the lights Somebody's hauling what the city throws away Somebody's growing what we'll eat today A mother holds her baby through the night A nurse keeps fighting for another life A working man comes home with aching bones To pay the bank for a place he calls his own They call us ordinary Till the ordinary's gone Then they find out who was carrying This whole damn world along (Pre-Chorus) We ain't looking for a kingdom We ain't asking for a crown We're just tired of building heaven While we're barely getting by somehow [Chorus — big, everybody sings] WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! THE HANDS THAT KEEP THE WORLD ALIVE! WE ARE THE ROOTS BENEATH THE STONE! WE WANT OUR LIVES BACK AS OUR OWN! NO MORE KINGS AND NO MORE THRONES! NO MORE FIGHTING ALL ALONE! SIDE BY SIDE, WE DRAW THE LINE! WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! (Verse 2) A hundred sixty-eight hours in a week How many are really ours to keep? We work to live, then live to pay And watch our children's childhood slip away They built machines to lighten up the load But somehow we're still running down the road If all this progress means we're doing fine Then tell me where the hell's our extra time? A farmer feeds a thousand A lineman lights the town But somebody gets a million Just to throw a ball around (Pre-Chorus) We're not saying they ain't human We're not saying they don't try We're just asking one damn question What's a human lifetime worth, and why? [Chorus] WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! THE HANDS THAT KEEP THE WORLD ALIVE! WE ARE THE ROOTS BENEATH THE STONE! WE WANT OUR LIVES BACK AS OUR OWN! NO MORE KINGS AND NO MORE THRONES! NO MORE FIGHTING ALL ALONE! SIDE BY SIDE, WE DRAW THE LINE! WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! [Bridge — music drops, one voice] This ain't about revenge This ain't about the blame It's about a world of people Who deserve more than their chains We don't need another master We don't need another war We need a place at every table And the keys to every door There's enough love to go around Enough strength to lift the weak And a million different voices When the silent start to speak [Build — drums, stomps, claps] Who's gonna keep the water flowing? WE ARE! Who's gonna keep the power going? WE ARE! Who's gonna grow the food we're eating? WE ARE! Who's gonna build the world we're dreaming? WE ARE! And who's gonna make it better? WE ALL ARE! [Final Chorus — full choir, all in] WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! WE'RE MORE THAN DOLLAR SIGNS! WE ARE THE HEARTBEAT AND THE HANDS! THE DREAMERS OF A BETTER LAND! NO MORE KINGS AND NO MORE THRONES! EVERY SOUL DESERVES A HOME! LET EVERY HUMAN HAVE THEIR TIME! WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! WE'RE THE NINETY-NINE! ONE HUMAN RACE, ONE SHARED SKY! WE AIN'T HERE TO TEAR IT DOWN! WE'RE HERE TO TURN THIS WORLD AROUND! [Outro — a cappella, voices together] Not for the money Not for the fame Not for the power Not for a name For every child For every life For every tomorrow We're the ninety-nine.
