Sunday, October 19, 2014

Thou Shalt Survive

To listen to Thou Shalt Survive, click here





First the passing of the law, 
   then the beating on the door
Echoed by the heart that beats in fear
No time to think, 
   no time to run, 
      no use to flee the pointing gun
The tolling of the bell is in your ear
See the fire and the light 
   of still more fires in the night
Until the night is burning you alive
Then comes a voice out of the flame, 
   calling you as if by name
Whispering the words - Thou Shalt Survive

A prayer towards the heavens grows, to find the ears of God are closed
To find there’s only blackness in the sky
No hope to rise above despair, no purpose in another prayer
That dies like men impaled upon barbed wire
So loud the lashing of the whips, like thunder of the apocalypse
No chance that any man could hear the cries
Yet seeping out among the smoke, a voice half-stammering half-choked
Mouths the holy words, Thou Shalt Survive

You stand forsaken, angry now, till something makes you cry aloud
To act or speak the vengeance of the dead
You call out, No man has the right to set these fires in the night
To raise the axe or crown above his head
You reach out and remove the crown, you take the axe and cut him down
You say, I murder in the name of life
Now tyrants rot upon the graves, their names now added to the names
Of those who first cried out, Thou Shalt Survive

Then let the fire take up my song, and sing it for the broken ones
For those who have no homes or have no names
Better be a refugee, better no identity
Than bear upon your backs the tongues of flame
Whether you fight in name of truth, or eye for eye and tooth for tooth
Beware the fire mirrored in your eyes
No plan of God can be your plan, nor that of any other man
The one commandment reads, Thou Shalt Survive

When all the rivers turn to flood, and all the deserts turn to blood
And all the forlorn hopes have turned to doubts
When every promise proves empty, leaving inhumanity
To drink the well of truth that’s gone to drought
When only smoke and dust are left, when all men who might hear are deaf
Upon the tombs these words are still inscribed
Carved in spools of burning fire, wrapped in tresses of barbed wire
The epitaph that reads, Thou Shalt Survive

When all has turned to broken bones, and dust to dust, and stone to stone
And ash is heaped on ash - Thou Shalt Survive
When smell of death meets stench of fire, & corpses rot upon their pyres
And hunger tears your soul - Thou Shalt Survive
When all the open gates are locked, when all the open roads are blocked
When every will to live in you has died
When every dream has turned to glass, and future shatters like the past
Yet still the dead cry out - Thou Shalt Survive










If you would like to include "Thou Shalt Survive" in your repertoire, either for paid public performance or to record for commercial purposes, or if you would like to re-use the recordings attached to this blog-page for commercial purposes, contact argaman@theargamanpress.com. 
Use of this song, and/or these recordings, for non-commercial purposes, is not simply permitted but invited.



Words and music by David Prashker

Copyright © 2014 David Prashker


All rights reserved

The Argaman Press


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