[Verse 1] Dust in the cradle where the Yellow River was born Eight thousand years of emperors, eight thousand years worn A billion tons of China sliding yearly to the sea Kids born with the taste of silt already on their teeth Grandmothers counting ribs on goats too weak to stand One mouthful of grass left, then the whole hillside ran We ate the future just to breathe another dawn And the river answered back: “Your children will be gone” [Pre-chorus] Then came the cadres with maps and red-arm bands “Pack your pots, the mountain’s closed, new life is in our hands” Some cried, some cursed, some simply turned to stone But the grass remembers what the wind had never known [Chorus] Sharpest, hardest line, cut the hunger at the root Make ribbons of the old life, tear it up and follow suit Black cat, yellow cat, only matters that it bites We’re planting tomorrow with the blade of today’s fights Loess, Loess, rise up green again From the grave of the cradle we will live again [Verse 2] They built a million small dams with blistered peasant hands Moved whole villages downhill like a general moves his men Gave every family a wage to let the steep slopes sleep And locked the goats in concrete pens so roots could tunnel deep Satellite eyes watched every blade that dared to sprout Fines for a stray sheep, prison if you dared to doubt But year by year the gullies filled, the silt refused to run The Yellow River ran clear for the first time under sun [Pre-chorus 2] You can call it violence, you can call it sin But the children born in ’05 have never tasted wind That carries half their county out across the sea They drink from taps and chase the leopards in the trees [Chorus] Sharpest, hardest line, cut the hunger at the root Make ribbons of the old life, tear it up and follow suit Black cat, yellow cat, only matters that it bites We’re planting tomorrow with the blade of today’s fights Loess, Loess, rise up green again From the grave of the cradle we will live again [Bridge – half-spoken, half-sung] Don’t come to me with gentle dreams When the planet’s on a clock Sometimes the only way to heal Is to cauterize the shock I’ve seen the photos: moonscape turned to forest in my span If that’s authoritarian Then I don’t give a damn [Chorus – bigger, almost shouting] Sharpest, hardest line, cut the hunger at the root Make ribbons of obstruction, tear the sky and follow suit Every tree a soldier, every terrace is a wall We don’t have time for purer hearts when the whole world’s about to fall Loess, Loess, rise up green again From the grave of the cradle we will live again [Outro – quiet, almost a whisper over fading strings] The grass remembers The grass forgives The grass comes back And so, somehow, do we
