We Rise We Rise!

We learned to speak in kitchens

With curtains drawn at noon

Counting every hard-won breath Like

rent was coming due

You held my shaking hand

Said we are not done (ahhhh)

Lift your head now

Let the old walls hear us

Higher, higher, we won't kneel

Ah-ah-ah,

rising through the ceiling

We rise, we rise,

not asking for pardon

Wide awake with our names in the garden

Tear the gate from the ground

Hear us turning the whole house around (oh-oh-oh)

They named the locks as law

And smiled behind the seal

But every borrowed silence

Taught our throats to heal

Now feet gather at dawn

No crown can make us small (hummmm)

Lift your head now

Let the locked doors tremble

Higher, higher, we won't break Ah-ah-ah,

carrying each other

We rise, we rise,

not asking for pardon

Wide awake with our names in the garden

Tear the gate from the ground

Hear us turning the whole house around We rise,

we rise

If they close every window

We become the air

If they write us out in ink

We sing ourselves back there (ah-ah-ah-ah)

We rise, we rise,

not asking for pardon

Wide awake, every voice in the garden

Tear the gate from the ground

We are turning the whole house around (oh-oh-oh)