[VERSE 1 — quiet, intimate, almost spoken] There’s a mother holding what is left, Of the little one she tried to protect. A photograph with dust across the face, A bedroom turned into an empty space. And somewhere people argue over words, While another child is carried from the dirt. They debate what we should call this pain, While the sky keeps falling down on them again. [PRE-CHORUS — building, restrained anger] Call it security, Call it something clean, Change the words around it So you don’t have to see. But you can’t blame a child Who’s bleeding in the street, And you can’t call it victory When children won’t get to breathe. [CHORUS — huge, emotional, full voice] Free Palestine, let the children live, How much more are we expected to forgive? You refuse to call it war, then you turn away, But a child is still a child when the bombs fall today. Free Palestine, let the whole world see, No child should die for somebody’s victory. Say their names, don’t look away, Free Palestine, let them live another day. [VERSE 2 — stronger, conversational] You say it’s not a war, then what do we call The homes that disappear, the families lost in it all? What word makes it easier to sleep at night When another little body is beneath the rubble tonight? Politicians talk in polished halls, While mothers remember the names of the small. And every headline becomes yesterday’s news, While politicians debate which words to use. [PRE-CHORUS — rising] Call it collateral, Call it justified, Call it self-defense While another child dies. How many more children Before we’ve had enough? How many more mothers Must lose the ones they love? [CHORUS — bigger, with backing voices] Free Palestine, let the children live, How much more are we expected to forgive? You refuse to call it war, then you turn away, But a child is still a child when the bombs fall today. Free Palestine, let the whole world see, No child should die for somebody’s victory. Say their names, don’t look away, Free Palestine, let them live another day. [BRIDGE — stripped back, almost whispered] I don’t care what flag you fly, I don’t care what side you’re on. A child deserves a morning, A mother deserves her son. A little girl deserves to laugh, A little boy deserves to grow. And if we call ourselves human, Then how can we let this go? [BRIDGE BUILD — increasingly powerful] It’s about the ones we buried, It’s about the ones still there. It’s about the mothers crying, And the children left in despair. It’s about refusing silence, Refusing to look away. It’s about the lives that matter, Every single one, every day. [FINAL CHORUS — explosive, full contralto] Free Palestine, let the children live, How much more are we expected to forgive? You refuse to call it war, then you turn away, But a child is still a child when the bombs fall today. Free Palestine, let the whole world see, No child should die for somebody’s victory. Say their names, don’t look away, Free Palestine, let them live another day. [FINAL CHORUS — slightly altered, anthemic] Free Palestine, let the children live, How much more are we expected to forgive? No more changing words to make the horror disappear, No more turning our backs because the truth is hard to hear. Free Palestine, let the whole world see, Every child deserves to grow up free. Say their names, don’t look away, Free Palestine. Let them live. Let them live today.
