Keep the Faith

Keep the Faith They came in with the hammer Came in with the long knife Came to bend the backbone Came to break the bright life Came to split the circle Came to fray the strong line Came to make us strangers To what was yours and mine Keep the faith, keep the faith Through the long and lengthening night Keep the faith, keep the faith Till the dark gives back the light Hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder Voice to voice and bone to bone We begin here now between us We are not walking alone I won't pretend I see it I won't pretend I know How far this road descends Or how much darker it goes But I can feel the edges Of a country we don't name And I will not lie to you, love To spare you from the same Keep the faith, keep the faith Through the long and lengthening night Keep the faith, keep the faith Till the dark gives back the light Hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder Voice to voice and bone to bone We begin here now between us We are not walking alone What they want is the splintering What they want is the doubt What they want is each of us Standing it out alone So we light one for the neighbor And we light one for the friend And we tend the small fire Till we know how this will end They cannot have our laughter They cannot have our song They cannot have the table Where we still belong They cannot have the morning They cannot have the rain They cannot have the kindness We will make again Keep the faith, keep the faith Through the long and lengthening night Keep the faith, keep the faith Till the dark gives back the light Hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder Voice to voice and bone to bone We begin here now between us We are not walking alone We begin here now between us We are not walking alone