Lyrics to the songs in I Will Stand Fast

The Hills Of Ayalon

In the hills of Ayalon above the broken earth
Two boys shout and play with a ball on a field of shrub and dirt
Divided sons of Abraham exhausted embrace
Prince of Islam, pride of Judah know each other's face
"If we met on the sands of Sinai under a molten sky
And if you held me in your sights and looked me in the eye
What would you do?"
"If we met on the sands of Sinai under a molten sky
And if I held you in my sights and looked you in the eye
I would shoot you dead."

In the hills of Ayalon that once were no man's land
Shepherds chase their wandering sheep and lead them home again
"My grandfather died at Dachau, never will I forget"
"The British set fire to my grandfather's village and left twelve moslem dead"
"If we met on the cliffs of Haramoun stunned by the rocket's flash
And if you found my heart exposed and a pistol in your grasp
What would you do?"
"If we met on the cliffs of Haramoun stunned by the rocket's flash
And if I found your heart exposed and a pistol in my grasp
I would take you prisoner, hide you away, then set you free."

In the hills of Ayalon the young ones play a game
Toss an orange in the air and call each other's name
Ricky, Shimon, Shalom, Naomi -- catch it before it falls
Youssef, Hassan, Amal, Amira tear down the walls
"If we met by the River Jordan under a rain of nails
And if you raised your rifle up and your aim could not fail
What would you do?"
"If we met by the River Jordan under a rain of nails
And if I raised my rifle up and my aim could not fail
I would put down my gun, open my arms, and weep."

Diamonds of Anger

The boy rolls the hoop past the barricade
Pushing it fast with a stick that he made from a coathanger
The hoop is a wheel of rusted steel from a junkyard bicycle
The girl on the corner plays the guitar
It's a petrol can with strings of wire
She sings a song from the tribal days
But the words are new -- she sings "amandla."

Blond surfers on white sandy beaches
Wait for the perfect wave
The sky has no clouds at sunset they go home
The signs say no dogs or natives allowed
Nervous white boys in combat gear
Speed through the township in armored trucks
People scatter but the soldiers run them down
Kick them until blood runs from their mouths

Crossroads
We are diamonds of anger we are brilliant gold
Every blow makes us stronger the chain cannot hold
We are rocks against tear gas we are songs against guns
We are life against terror we have already won.

The old woman waits for the broken down bus
To take her from this shantytown of tin and paper
No toilet no running water
The street is already hot
She rides to the white homes of Johannesburg
To mop the kitchen tile polish the silver
Wipe the babies' bottoms she must leave by nightfall.

Sixteen on trial for plotting revolution
Charged with singing songs of freedom
Or being present when these songs were sung
Or writing pamphlets or speaking at meetings
Botha tells the whites what they want to hear
The only votes he needs are theirs
Crazed with their backs to the sea
Drunk with the fear of retribution.

Crossroads
We are diamonds of anger we are brilliant gold
Every blow makes us stronger the chain cannot hold
We are rocks against tear gas we are songs against guns
We are life against terror we have already won.

Black babies white babies still reach for each other
Fingers stretching from a passing pram
Eyes amazed and smiling through doors and broken windows
Straining to touch

Behind the silence of Pollsmoor Prison
Nelson Mandela reads the international press
Receives foreign visitors
The chief in exile, the lion at bay
Give up violence say the key-jangling jackals
He answers let those who shoot my people
Beat with whips torture with electrodes
Let these renounce violence and I will walk free.

Teenagers born since he was imprisoned
Hear his voice though they have never seen him
Feel the tremor of righteous fury
A vision burning a tidal wave coming
New leaders born in the schoolyards and churches
Forged in the mines singing at funerals
Turning to block the blow as it's falling
Seizing the whiphand standing rejoicing

Crossroads
We are diamonds of anger we are brilliant gold
Every blow makes us stronger the chain cannot hold
We are rocks against tear gas we are songs against guns
We are life against terror we have already won.

We are life against terror we have already won.

I Will Stand Fast

The echoes of childhood whisper violence
Cold wind beating out of the past
Rage in your throat, muffled silence
Hold on, I will stand fast.

In the darkness your guardians had left you
Cold wind beating out of the past
None to hear your cries, none to defend you
Hold on, I will stand fast.

I will stand fast, I will stand fast
You are safe in the daylight at last
Nightmare and fear, they have no power here
I will stand fast.

I will listen to the terrors that tried you
Cold wind beating out of the past
I will cradle the child that breathes inside you
Hold on, I will stand fast.

Though you take the shape of a hundred ancient horrors
Cold wind beating out of the past
Though you strike at me and flee into your sorrow
Hold on, I will stand fast.

I will stand fast, I will stand fast
You are safe in the daylight at last
Nightmare and fear, they have no power here
I will stand fast.

Birds flash upon a branch in winter
Cold wind beating out of the past
Ice in the sun begins to splinter
Hold on, I will stand fast.

You will walk with no fetters to bind you
Cold wind beating out of the past
All the love you have wanted will find you
Hold on, I will stand fast.

I will stand fast, I will stand fast
You are safe in the daylight at last
Nightmare and fear, they have no power here
I will stand fast.

I will stand fast.

At the Elbe

Well mister I just overheard you talking through your drink
How the Russians lie like rugs how they've pushed us to the brink
Now sit right here beside me I've an old man's tale to tell
How Yanks and Reds were friends once at the Elbe.

My name is Joe Polowski I hitched up in '41
Left my sweetheart in Chicago and I learned to fire a gun
The fog in the Ardennes so thick you could not see your nose
Nor the ghosts in the Belgian wood advancing through the snow.

We left our dead behind us and we scaled the Dragon's Teeth
With screaming mimis overhead not one of us could sleep
Some fell to the enemy some fell to the creeping cold
And I killed a German sniper who was not fourteen years old.

When a soldier takes a hit my friend it ain't like Hollywood
Bone and guts go flying and everywhere there's blood
For a moment he is mystified there must be some mistake
As it all drains out in a crimson lake.

Then April turned the weather and likewise the tide of war
As haggard hungry Germans surrendered by the score
And thank god for the Russians who took the battle's brunt
And broke the back of the Wermacht along the eastern front.  Then

We saw a burst of lilacs and the river swift and wide
And rest and welcome waiting for us on the other side
And Yanks and Reds laughed out loud to be alive at the Elbe.

We caught the glint of water and upon the distant shore
Men and trucks and horses not German and not ours
No bridge to cross but at the dock a boat securely tied
We blew the chain and rowed like demons for the other side.

But when we stepped up on the land oh Jesus what a sight
Blackened bodies of civilians like driftwood piled high
Cut down by stray artillery -- what the hell is it all for
We knelt and cursed the cruelty and madness men call war.

Three Russians approached us, we shook hands and then embraced
Stalingrad had traced its lines of sadness on their face
Upon that field of corpses these weary happy men
Swore an oath that it must never happen again.

And then we wept and cheered and spoke in languages unknown
They poured us Russian vodka by god we drank it down
We sang "The Volga Boatman" they sang "Tavern in the Town"
I never kissed so many men as on that afternoon when

We saw a burst of lilacs and the river swift and wide
And rest and welcome waiting for us on the other side
And Yanks and Reds laughed out loud to be alive at the Elbe.

But no sooner were we stateside than the cold war headlines read
Commies in the unions commies under every bed
Hurrah the Nazi devil's down long live the devil Red
And not one word about the oath we swore amongst the dead.

There are kids today who'll tell you we fought Russia in the war
There are armchair heroes set to settle some old score
There are profiteers and pushers primed to send young men once more
To blow themselves to glory on some godforsaken shore.

So drape my coffin with the flag of the good old USA
Let Yanks in army khaki and Reds in Russian gray
Lower me so gently into the German clay
And speak again the oath we swore that day when

We saw a burst of lilacs and the river swift and wide
And rest and welcome waiting for us on the other side
And Yanks and Reds laughed out loud to be alive at the Elbe.

...at the Elbe.

If I Were a Moose

If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks
Would you tell your friends "No moose jokes!"
If I were a moose and you were a cow.

Would you invite me to your club
And risk a cruel bovine snub
Would you lead me down the receiving line
And boldly boast "This moose is mine!"

Would your parents watch us graze
Shake their heads, "It's just a phase"
Or would they thank the stars above
Their precious heifer's found her love?

Would your grandparents change their will?
They'd really expected a Holstein bull
"For this we toiled before the plow --
You bring home someone who's not even a cow.

There's lot's of proper stock around
Like that nice young Guernsey at Farmer Brown's
Or that last one we ridiculed and cursed
On second thought you could do worse.

But if you think this thing will last
Could he learn to moo and eat our grass
Shed his antlers in the dirt
Could you persuade him to convert?"

If our anatomies did not quite fit
Would you make the best of it
Would you nuzzle up so near
And hum sweet cow tunes in my ear?

Or would you sadly break it off
When all the hillside sneered and scoffed
"You know those moose are all the same
They're lazy, they're stupid, they come from Maine."

It's true things slip a moose's mind
That cows remember all the time
Bulbous nose and knobby knees
A coat that harbors ticks and fleas

But a moose can be a handy thing
When hungry wolves come visiting
In icy gust of winter storm
Our fur is deep and dry and warm.

And someday should your milk run dry
And farmer stare with baleful eye
In dead of night I'd slip your noose
And lead you home to the land of moose
If I were a moose and you were a cow.

If hunters came to do me harm
Would you hide me in the barn
Would all the herd come on the run
And glare until they dropped their guns?

Might you permit a goodnight kiss
Could you learn to love wet moose lips?
If I were a moose and you were a cow
If you were a cow and I were a moose.

Every Man

I was born in the city hospital
Torn from darkness into the light
First man I saw was the first to hit me
First woman I saw said hush don't cry.

I played with girls till I was six years old
Guys told me you don't want no girl a friend
You can kiss em you can touch em
When you screw em you'll be a man.

Every man gonna be a soldier
Every man be cut to kill
Every man looking over his shoulder
Every man be shaking still.

I played war, king of the mountain
When I hurt I did not cry kids'd laugh
Big guy hit me hot fire in the stomach
I hit a little guy put him on his back.

Mike and me eight-year-old cowboys
He said c'mon whatsa matter you a queer
We went to Molly's pulled her down and kissed her
She got up walked inside without a word.

Every man gonna be a soldier
Every man be cut to kill
Every man looking over his shoulder
Every man be shaking still.

Came the war to my generation
Government said son it's your time make us proud
Some went to jail some went to Canada
Some went over some went crazy some went down.

I walk the streets jagged with strangers
Wait for the gauntlet to be hurled
Push to shove edge of a razor
Make something of it he'll cut you good.

Every man gonna be a soldier
Every man be cut to kill
Every man looking over his shoulder
Every man be shaking still.

I have killed but I am not a killer 
I have cried out at the devil in the dark
I have reached out through the bars of my confinement
I have watched the tower I built fall apart.

Gonna listen for the breathing of the baby
Gonna hold him in my arms when he cries
Gonna meet my lover's gaze without turning
Gonna see myself and be satisfied.

Every man got love abiding
Every man got a hurt unhealed
Every man got a heart in hiding
Every man gonna be revealed.

Scott and Jamie

Call us America's sweethearts -- We found a place in Roxbury
Where we can meet the mortgage, go to church on Sunday
I teach communion class and David leads the choir
Ten years together thinking 'bout children.

Lots of children out there beat up beat down hoping 
For a home and a harbor, a hand that doesn't hit
Where the form said father and mother we had to cross it out
Father and father that's David and me.

Twelve months of waiting, suddenly two little boys on our doorstep
Scared and crying, gave them a bath and tucked them in
Three-year-old Jamie, little brother Scott
Jamie had a bruise like a boot in the middle of his back.

Love is love no matter who no matter where
Love is love and a child knows when it's there
They can pry away the fingers that graced these walls with dirt
They can pull us apart they can lie oh they can hurt
But love leaves a trace and the heart holds a place for love's return.

McDonalds and K-Mart -- do you know how hard it is to find kid's shoes?
Scott's first hair cut, grinning and a little confused
Outside the aquarium baseball jackets red and blue
A picture is like time standing still.

Jamie was a scrapper, he punched his brother, decked the kid next door
He threw a plate at David then ducked and cowered waiting for the blow
After supper I held him close, "You're safe here this is your home."
And the rains came to the parched and broken earth.

The papers smelled the headlines -- gay parents, two little innocent boys
T.V. news on the front porch, politicians made a lot of noise
Liberal governor he gave the order
Social worker phoned, "Have them ready at three."

Picked Jamie up at day care, kids were running, shouting as they played
We didn't want to tell him, maybe the Governor could have explained
Jamie was screaming when we strapped him in the welfare car
David said "We love you" and they were gone.

You find out who your friends are, some came round some just let it go
Rallies on the common people singing people saying no
This is crazy -- but Scott and Jamie
Are still pinballs in a busted machine.

Kitchen's clean and quiet, we changed the furniture around
Still keep Scott's rabbit -- in the middle of the night sometimes I wake to the
  sound
Of a little one crying when there's nothing there at all
David holds me, says "Go back to sleep."

Love is love no matter who no matter where
Love is love and a child knows when it's there
They can pry away the fingers that graced these walls with dirt
They can pull us apart they can lie oh they can hurt
But love leaves a trace and the heart holds a place for love's return.

The heart holds a place for love's return.

Denmark 1943

And it's Eichmann and Himmler are turning the screws
The Fuhrer they say grows impatient
"How can it be Denmark's Jews still walk free
After three years of kind occupation?
We will take them like sheep in their beds as they sleep
On the second night of their new year
Devoutly at home they'll be helpless alone
When they cry out no one will hear

But Duckwitz the German tells Hedtoft the Dane
"My friend I have dangerous news
In three hours the transport ships will set at anchor
You must warn them warn all the Jews"
Soon good Rabbi Melchior stands in the synagogue
"There'll be no service today
The raids come tomorrow, dwell not on your sorrow
By nightfall we must be away."

And it's fire up the diesel and look out for swells
We're leaving Espergaerde behind us
Who strike at our friends strike us a s well
We'll pray the patrol boats don't find us
When the sirens are wailing and shouts fill the night
Never will you stand alone
So it's over the O*resund
Till the day we can welcome you home.

Sompolinski the tailor on the eve of Rosh Hashana
Gathers his family near
"The Lord is my light and salvation
Whom on this earth shall I fear?"
When a young Danish gentile steps into the glow
Of the candle with tears flowing down
"Good neighbors flee -- I pray you believe me"
And as quickly the young man is gone.

Christian policemen, shopkeepers, and teachers
Tell their friends of the quickening storm
While students on bicycles race through the streets
Searching for Jews to be warned
And Katlev the foreman blurts out to the trainman
"My family has no place to hide"
"Well bring em to my house" the stranger replies
"And we'll spit in the damn Nazi's eyes."

And it's fire up the diesel and look out for swells
We're leaving Espergaerde behind us
Who strike at our friends strike us a s well
We'll pray the patrol boats don't find us
When the sirens are wailing and shouts fill the night
Never will you stand alone
So it's over the O*resund
Till the day we can welcome you home.

Ellen Nielsen the fishwife in the port of Drago*r
Has no use for political views
She'll call out the catch "Fresh salmon!  Fresh cod!"
Comes a whisper "Please help.  We are Jews."
"But if you are Jews you're not safe on the street
I know a man with a sail"
Till moonrise they sleep in the shade of her eaves
And escape on the fisherman's keel.

Rabbi Melchior hires a young trawlerman
To ferry his family across
After twelve hours afloat in a scurfy old boat
Morning light shows the same Danish coast
Says the skipper "I'm afraid of the German blockade
So we've motored in circles around"
The rabbi gives a shout, with one blow knocks him out
And steers a straight line 'cross the sound.

Frozen with fright in the October night
Families huddle in basements and barns
Mistaking each breath for the angel of death
The Gestapo the shot the alarm
Then down into the hold with the stench and the cold
And drug all the babies with schnapps
Someone shouts "Valkoemmen till Sverige
You are in Swedish waters at last!"

Seven thousands of Jews smuggled over to Sweden
By fishermen, nurses, and priests
Hitler sends Eichmann to hunt them down
But his quarry have vanished like mist
When the war's over the Jews return
Cheers and flowers adorn their way home
"We're not heroes or martyrs" so say the Danes
"We were just looking after our own."

And it's fire up the diesel and look out for swells
We're leaving Espergaerde behind us
Who strike at our friends strike us a s well
We'll pray the patrol boats don't find us
When the sirens are wailing and shouts fill the night
Never will you stand alone
So it's over the O*resund

...And today we will welcome you home
And today we welcome you home.

This Love

Sometimes people ask what is it like
This love that's holding me, unfolding me
Sometimes people ask what's the difference
That we see in your days
It's not romance if romance is a dream world
It's not bliss if bliss is ignorance
And if I tried to tell the truth of us
The closest I'd come could be this:

If for just one moment
People all over the world could know this love
Armies would hold their fire
Soldiers would unlace their boots
And play soccer on the shrouded fields
Let the tanks rust where they stand
Take hold of a foreign hand
"Tell me of life in your native land."

If for just one moment
People all over the world could know this love
Ancient tribes betrayed
Sometimes slaver sometimes slave
Would lay wreathes upon the graves
And gather under a spreading tree
Saying "Hear our tragedy
And we will listen to you."

And the bully who beats on the weaker one
Would say "My God what have I done?"
Has it come to this?"
And the victim who bore it so long
Would be strong enough to stop it
And find a way to forgive

If for just one moment
People all over the world could know this love
People on line at the bank
Would whistle and yodel and dance
The teller would say "Just fill in the blanks
For whatever you need today"

People around the block
Would leave the front door unlocked
And all you gotta do is knock to be welcomed
When you get this close to someone
There is no blaming no mistaking
You know that they've been through
And the courage it's constantly taking

If for just one moment
People all over the world could know this love.
If for just one moment
People all over the world could know this love.