[Intro — spoken] Elitism and ableism are closer than they seem just spectrum of ability running through the human dream Are you able? Are you capable? Or are you more than able — elite? [Verse 1] Skills rise and fall across the population Different gifts, different minds, different combinations Some have many, some have few No-one has every skill they could ever use You don't need every skill to understand You don't need most skills to lend a hand You don't need brilliance to stay engaged You need civic harmony, courage, and faith [Pre-Chorus] And if you refuse to call anybody dumb The same rule means you can't call anybody smart If every difference must be flattened away What becomes of truth when we throw out the scale? [Chorus] Are you able? Are you more than able? Are you elite? Tell me what you see Everyone can speak Everyone can be heard But if you're gonna judge the world You'd better know your work [Verse 2] If you refuse to name the state of a being After all that education, all that seeing Then you'll build a world where distinctions disappear While incompetence quietly steers do you wonder why your culture falls backwards Why the social body grows sick with practice You cannot heal what cowards insist we don't name phone-y plastic standard stale erasing the game [Bridge — rising] Bigotry is not the word they said Bigotry is what they did instead It's when prejudice becomes an act And someone else gets harmed by that Language can warn us Language can reveal But words alone don't tell us square, level, plumb for real [Chorus] Are you able? Are you more than able? Are you elite? Tell me what you see Everyone should speak Language grows the mind if you're gonna judge the world You'd better know your work [Breakdown — rhythmic] Everyone has a right to speak Everyone has a right to speak Everyone has a right to speak But judgment takes elite skill Everyone has a right to speak Everyone has a right to speak Everyone has a right to speak Elite judge the spectrum, still. [Final Verse] Strength won't worship weakness last men won't worship the strong Don't confuse a human soul With the skills they have or don't Differentiate with compassion Measure without hate Build a moral bar worth trusting Then post it proud, at the gate If you think it's safe to judge careful not to make a grudge If you enforce a standard Make it worthy of our trust [Final Chorus] Are you able? Are you more than able? Are you elite? Tell me what you see Everyone can speak Everyone can be heard But if you're gonna judge the world You'd better know your work [Outro — spoken, fading] Everyone has a right to speak. Everyone. But nobody has a right to be free from the consequences of what they do. networking is elusive build it again from the start Square level Plumb build it tall, foundation strong lasting faith for emergent song
