Nothing for Certain (ALIVE in Des Moines Version) [Draft 6]

[Applause settles; bass and muted guitar keep a steady pulse] [Spoken - Vox, conversational] Let's give the other side a fair hearing. The Academics weren't telling everybody to stop asking questions. They sought truth, but questioned whether we could grasp it with certainty. What if something false could look just as convincing as something true? They held back assent and followed what seemed probable in daily life. Augustine takes that challenge seriously. Can we find anything those doubts cannot overturn? [Drums lift into the original song] [Original song - retain its melody and lyric order] They smiled with their clever words Said truth is just a cage of nerves No one knows they said with flair Don’t even try there’s nothing there But deep inside a hunger grows If nothing’s certain how do they know Nothing for certain that’s what they claim But they’re so sure while they curse the name Of every truth they can’t define Lost in the loop running out of time They build with fog they walk on air Throw down the map pretend it’s fair But when the storm begins to break You need a rock not a clever fake They preach doubt like it’s a creed But silence doesn’t meet the need Nothing for certain that’s what they claim But they’re so sure while they curse the name Of every truth they can’t define Lost in the loop running out of time If I know that I don’t know Aren’t I still standing on a stone Doubt can’t live on doubt alone It needs a seed it never sown Nothing for certain they try to shout But I see the cracks in their sacred doubt Something’s calling in the flame And I won’t walk away the same Nothing for certain that’s what they claim But they’re so sure while they curse the name Of every truth they can’t define Lost in the loop running out of time [Original final cadence completes; appreciative applause]