“There’s a cross up yonder up on Calvary Hill
there’s a slip of blood on a silver knife
there’s a graveyard kid down below
where at night the dead come to life
well, above the stars they crackle in fire
a dead man’s moon throws seven rings
we’d put our ears to the cold grave stones
this is the song they’d sing
We are alive
and though our bodies lie alone here in the dark
our spirits rise to carry the fire and light the spark
to stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
A voice cried I was killed in Maryland in 1877
when the railroad workers made their stand
I was killed in 1963 one Sunday morning in Birmingham
well, I died last year crossing the southern desert
my children left behind in San Pablo
well, they’ve left our bodies here to rot
oh, please let them know
We are alive
and though we lie alone here in the dark
our souls will rise to carry the fire and light the spark
to fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
Let your mind rest easy, sleep well my friend
it’s only our bodies that betray us in the end
I awoke last night in the dark and dreamy deep
from my head to my feet, my body’d gone stone cold
there were worms crawling all around me
my fingers scratching at an earth black and six foot low
Alone in the blackness of my grave
alone I’d been left to die
then I heard voices calling all around me
the earth rose above me, my eyes filled with sky
We are alive
and though our bodies lie alone here in the dark
our souls and spirits rise
to carry the fire and light the spark
to fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
to stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart
we are alive”.
