Lost but not Done (Get Up!)

(Chorus – shout it together) Get up, get up, though the roots drink red, Get up, get up, though the boughs hang dead! The moon is cracked and the stars gone cold, But the green remembers what the grave never told: Get up, get up, ye broken and few— The world ain’t done, and neither are you! (Verse 1) I’ve seen the Thornwood fall in thunder, I’ve seen the river choke on its own wonder. I’ve held the stag while the hunters laughed, Watched the wolf-pack starve and the raven crash. My shield is splinters, my spear is cracked, My oath lies bleeding in the black— But a seed still sprouts where my blood was spilled, And something stubborn refuses to yield. (Chorus – louder, defiant) Get up, get up, though the roots drink red, Get up, get up, though the boughs hang dead! We lost the war before it began, But we never lost the song of the land: Get up, get up, ye broken and few— The world ain’t done, and neither are you! (Verse 2) They burned the meadows, they felled the kings, They chained the wind and clipped her wings. They said, “Lie down, old guardian, it’s over and done,” I spat out a tooth and answered, “Son, Every scar on me is a seed I’ve sown— I’ll bloom in their ashes when they’re long gone.” (Bridge (half-spoken, half-sung, voice raw)) So drag your bones from the cairn, brother, Pull your sister from the smother. One more step, one more breath, One more “no!” to the jaws of death. (Final Chorus (everyone, roaring, until lungs give out)) Get up, get up, though the night won’t end! Get up, get up, till the sky descends! We were defeated the day we were born, But we’ll fight on bleeding till the final dawn. Get up, get up, ye stubborn and ye few— The world ain’t done… And damn it all, neither are you! (Last line, quieter, almost a vow) …Get up. The green is still in us. Get up.