PROMETHEUS

I did not come to rule you I did not come to win I only held a candle Where the night was closing in They called it fire They called it sin But I called it seeing From within I walked among the sleeping With a lantern in my hand They were working, buying, smiling Building castles out of sand Their eyes were open softly But their souls stayed half away They knew how to keep moving But not how to truly live the day I whispered, there is more here Than the cage you learned to love There is sky behind the ceiling There is breath beneath the dust But the first who breaks the silence Is the first they learn to blame So they gathered all their shadows And they gave my light a name Lucifer Light-bringer Fire-thief Wound-singer Prometheus Chain-bearer Truth-giver Dream-tearer I brought the light And they called me the flame I opened their eyes And they gave me the shame I broke through the dark But they cursed what they saw For the half-asleep masses Need the comfort of law I brought the light Not to burn, but to see And the world turned its fear Into hatred of me Every age has its mountain Every crowd has its stone Every prophet stands bleeding Where the future stands alone The healer gets suspected The thinker gets denied The artist gets laughed out of town Till the truth is safe to cite They need their old traditions Like a child needs a wall They need their little kingdoms Even while they watch them fall So the one who says remember So the one who says awake Is the one they call dangerous For the order he might break I touched the wound They called it violence I named the lie They begged for silence I lit the room They missed the night And hated me For being right I brought the light And they called me the flame I opened their eyes And they gave me the shame I broke through the dark But they cursed what they saw For the half-asleep masses Need the comfort of law Do you know what it costs To stand awake in the storm To see the machinery Behind everything normal To see children made quiet And lovers made cold To see bodies made useful And spirits sold To see systems repeat What the wounded once knew To see cages called safety And poison called true I have shouted from rooftops I have burned in the square I have written in ashes There is still a way there But the crowd loves the dream That is killing its heart And the hand that would wake it Gets torn apart So mock me Ban me Name me wrong Put horns on the head Of the one with the song Say I am pride Say I am threat Say I disturb What you’d rather forget Say I’m too loud Too strange Too far Say I don’t know How things really are But I have seen What your comfort costs I have counted the children Your order lost I have watched bright minds Bend down to fit I have watched soft hearts Turn stone from it And every century Gets maybe a few Who can carry the fire And still walk through But you shame them Break them Call them insane Then build them a statue When nothing remains That is the curse Of the masses asleep They kill what could save them Then pray at its feet I am tired But I am not empty I am wounded But not blind If the fire must pass through sorrow Let it pass through me this time I am not your devil I am not your god I am only the question You buried in the mud I am only the mirror You refused to meet I am only the heartbeat Under history’s feet I brought the light And they called me the flame I opened their eyes And they gave me the shame I brought the light Not to rule, but to free And if I must be cursed Let the curse fall on me Chain me to the mountain Bury me in names Still the fire travels Still the night remembers Still somewhere Someone wakes