[Male vocal] [Instrumental intro: waves, stones knocking, rope creak, tabla] [Verse 1] The army stood along the shore With the ocean wide before And every arm that could carry stone Carried stone into the foam Boulders rolled and mountains moved Every back and shoulder proved That a road could cross the water If the strong would only work [Chorus] [Low male crew chant, claps] SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Stone by stone into the sea SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Hand by hand, the bridge will be Lift it, drop it, set it down Every stone a step from town SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Stone by stone into the sea [Verse 2] [Rhythm drops to waves and bansuri] But between the giant boulders Down among the feet and dust Ran a squirrel to the water Rolled herself in sand, and just Shook it off between the stones Back and forth, and back again Grain by grain, and on her own While the crew laughed at her pain [Verse 3] Then the strongest of them all With a mountain on his back Stopped before the squirrel's path Where his foot would leave its track And he set the mountain down And he knelt upon the shore "Look," he said, "between my stones, Where my strength can't fill, hers pours" [Pre-Chorus] Then a hand came, gentle as dawn And it stroked her small grey back [Bridge] [Soft, bansuri only] Three pale lines across her fur Where the gentle fingers lay Every squirrel since that morning Wears the thanks of that one day [The Prophecy] [Spoken, elder, slow, waves and drone] Big stones leave gaps. That is what big stones do. Only sand can fill them. You will not see your grain when the bridge is finished. No one will point to it. But the bridge stands because the space between the giants was not left empty. Carry your sand. It is not small work. It is the work that holds. [Final Chorus] [Low male crew chant returns, full, claps] SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Stone by stone into the sea SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Grain by grain, the bridge will be Lift it, drop it, fill it in Every gap a place to win SAY-toom BUD-nun-tee VAA-nuh-raah Grain by grain into the sea [Kokopelli Whisper] [Whispered, waves and one last stone] The bridge remembers every grain.
