Iron Curtain Rhythms

Hands up high, we remember

Boots on stone, cold December

Gray blocks, wet streets,

people packed in the square Homemade signs in the air,

winter smoke everywhere Mothers by the tram stop,

students moving in rows Every face knew the risk,

still they came through the cold Files in a metal room,

names underlined in red But a rumor moved quicker than the fear

in their head From Gdansk to the Danube,

from the mills to the rails You could feel history shift when

the loudspeaker failed We were young and the sirens were loud

Still we sang, still we stood in the crowd Walls can shake

when a thousand hearts pound Hold the line,

never let it back down

Nineteen eighty-nine, you could hear the locks give way Keys turned in

old doors, whole flags changed in a day Portraits off the plaster,

new names over the gates But the wage stayed thin and the

rent still came late Then the nineties hit hard with a market-made

scar Bright ads on the window,

empty tanks in the yard Still the kids kept marching for a

future they could trust Learning freedom ain't a poster,

it's a practice made by us Not a statue,

not a date

Not a headline saved on tape

It was hands that linked in rain It was hope against the

chain

We were young and the sirens were loud

Still we sang, still we stood in the crowd

Walls can shake when a thousand hearts pound Hold the line,

never let it back down Names fade out,

but the steps remain

Through the years, through the rain

If you listen, you can hear that sound

People rising from the ground