LET THE MEETINGHOUSE BURN

[Opening Hook - full band] Let the meetinghouse burn! Let the bell forget my name! [Verse 1] Wallace, you have set your table; Tell me, is the harvest sweet? There are footsteps in the passage; There is earth beneath the feet. Every lock remembers fingers That were turned away in rain. Now the timber starts to whisper; Now the door forgets its frame. [Chorus] Let the meetinghouse burn! Let the bell forget my name! All the words you used to bind me Rise like cinders in the flame. Slewfoot walks beside your judgment— Nothing leaves the night the same. [Verse 2] Black wings gather in the rafters; Small things answer from the ground. Men who thundered from the pulpit Cannot bear the growing sound. Samson moves beyond the lanterns; Every shadow learns his stride. In the glow I see the woman Who once begged to stay alive. [Chorus] Let the meetinghouse burn! Let the bell forget my name! All the words you used to bind me Rise like cinders in the flame. Slewfoot walks beside your judgment— Nothing leaves the night the same. [Bridge - grieving, half-time] Edward, I can almost hear you In the space between the cries. Would you know the hands that loved you? Would you know these living eyes? There is nothing in this fire That can bring our kitchen back. Still the roof begins to buckle. Still the night is turning black. [Final Chorus - immense female choir] Let the meetinghouse burn! Let the bell forget my name! All the words you used to bind me Rise like cinders in the flame. Slewfoot walks beside your judgment— Nothing leaves the night the same. [Outro - lone voice over one bell] When the last bright timber falls, Who will answer when I call?