[Instrumental] [Intro] Sand in my teeth Heat on the wire I came back breathing Through the mouth of the fire [Verse 1] No map in my pocket, just a scratch on a stone A road full of warnings, told to leave it alone They sell fear by the gallon, put a price on the rain Then call it peace and order when they tighten the chain I saw a kid count water from a rusted tin cup While men in cool rooms kept the figures locked up So I carry that silence like a drum in my chest Every mile asks plain what you choose to protect Dust on my tongue, truth in my lung I speak for the hands that never got raised up No throne, no flag, no borrowed disguise Just a straight road out and a level sky [Pre-Chorus] If the ground can remember Then it remembers our names If the wind can cross borders Why do we bow to the gates? [Chorus] Break the chain, let the buried water rise Stand awake, look the lie straight in the eyes We are more than the fear they pass around More than a number, more than a crown From the hard dry earth, from the hard white sun One clear voice says the work’s not done [Instrumental Transition] [Verse 2] Fast feet, black boots, dust kicking off the floor Bass rolls low like a warning at the door I don’t preach from a mountain, I say what I see A hundred small choices decide if we’re free Mother keeps a ledger by the stove at night Names of the missing in her careful writing Brother learns patience with a stone in his hand Sister turns silence into something that stands No clean hero, no spotless past We drag our mistakes through the furnace glass But a wound will tell you where the blade went through And a people can change what a people will do [Pre-Chorus] When the night gets heavy Put your shoulder to the gate When the well runs empty Share the last taste [Chorus] Break the chain, let the buried water rise Stand awake, look the lie straight in the eyes We are more than the fear they pass around More than a number, more than a crown From the hard dry earth, from the hard white sun One clear voice says the work’s not done [Bridge] No vengeance in the message No worship of the gun Only hands locked together Till the long drought comes undone Let the old walls hear us Let the sealed rooms shake We were never born helpless We become the moves we make [Final Chorus] Break the chain, let the buried water rise Stand awake, look the lie straight in the eyes We are more than the fear they pass around More than a number, more than a crown From the hard dry earth, from the hard white sun One clear voice says the work’s not done [Outro] Carry the water Carry the name Walk through the furnace And refuse the frame
