That We May Be Free

Freedom, most precious of all jewels
May my love for you never grow cool
A nation founded with a burning desire
That we may be free

In Boston they tricked us, taking our arms,
Then heard of a cache among our farms;
So out they marched to nearby towns,
Elite troops representing the crown:
Disarm us, then bring us to our knees
Our only desire: that we may be free

Once disarmed, how could we resist?
How could we face an army in our midst?
Sent by a tyrant, for whom we did not vote,
His kingdom an island, the sea his moat...
The best of his army marching through our fields
Either we fight now, or forever we yield

We stood our ground, this despite our fear;
If they mean to have war, let it begin here.
In the early spring morning we faced them down
But our world fell apart on hearing the next sound:
At the crown's soldiers we fired our shot;
Now it had begun, turn back we could not

Freedom, most precious of all jewels
May my love for you never grow cool
A nation founded with a burning desire
That we may be free

More of our men arrived as we exchanged our volleys
Far from their garrison, surrounded, they saw their folly
Hurrying back to town, shot followed them from the trees
Better to die on our feet, than beg tyranny's mercies

The shots echoed around the world that day
An ancient world order crumbled away

Freedom, most precious of all jewels
May my love for you never grow cool
A nation founded with a burning desire
That we may be free

Difficult to be free, easy to be a slave
More comfortable to be herded than to be brave
So the freedom that was bought changed hands and was sold
A nation's love for liberty has turned ice cold

Security and comfort, wealth and vice
Are these the demons that change men into mice?
So along with the herd we rush from bad to worse
"Change" is the slogan of those driving freedom's hearse

And change it will be, but not the kind we need
Our Constitution written in blood, but we have forgotten to read
So we choose between two who seek to wear the crown
As each sends his people out into our town

They disarm us with their words, and we question not their lies
Charmed, the snakes have us as we gaze into their eyes
Too many years gone by, we forgot what we learned
Our passion for freedom is cold, now we get burned

Upon the graves of our dead, the ancient order is reborn
It seems freedom from tyranny is not history's norm
So back in Boston we are, with both asking for our arms
As each eyes the caches hidden among our farms
You can stand for nothing when they have you down on your knees
Our only desire: that we may be free