The Banners We Burn

They're not knockin' on the door, they're already in the house;

they've been quiet in the attic, quiet as a little mouse.

They've been redrawin' all the maps, they've been poisonin' the well,

they've been teachin' all the children that their history is hell.

They want a different kind of flag, a different kind of pledge.

They're pushin' all the "others" to the very outer edge;

they want a nation "pure" again, they want a nation "clean".

They've got a brand new book of laws, it's brutal and it's mean.

SO WE WILL BE THE FIRE, WE WILL BE THE RAGE,

WE'LL BE THE ONES WHO STAND AND TURN THE GODDAMN PAGE.

THIS IS THE NEW RESISTANCE, THEY CAN'T STAMP IT OUT;

WE'LL BURN THEIR BANNERS DOWN, WE'LL LEAVE 'EM WITH NO DOUBT;

WE'LL BURN 'EM DOWN!

They call us the aggressors 'cause we won't accept the chain,

they call us the dividers 'cause we're standin' in the rain

and tellin' them the storm is real, the levees gonna break.

They call it "civil discourse" when they're feedin' you the snake;

this ain't a "difference of opinion," this is life and this is death.

This is a fight for the very right to draw a simple breath.

They want compliance, they want silence, they want patriotic fear;

but the sound of my rebellion is the only sound they'll hear.

SO WE WILL BE THE FIRE, WE WILL BE THE RAGE,

WE'LL BE THE ONES WHO STAND AND TURN THE GODDAMN PAGE.

THIS IS THE NEW RESISTANCE, THEY CAN'T STAMP IT OUT;

WE'LL BURN THEIR BANNERS DOWN, WE'LL LEAVE 'EM WITH NO DOUBT;

WE'LL BURN 'EM DOWN!

My grandma told me 'bout this, she saw it in her day,

the way the ordinary people learn to look the other way.

The way the darkness dresses up in a suit and tie and smiles

and promises a future while it's stackin' up the piles...

of the books... and the bodies... No. Not again.

SO WE WILL BE THE FIRE, WE WILL BE THE RAGE,

WE'LL BE THE ONES WHO STAND AND TURN THE GODDAMN PAGE.

THIS IS THE NEW RESISTANCE, THEY CAN'T STAMP IT OUT;

WE'LL BURN THEIR BANNERS DOWN, WE'LL LEAVE 'EM WITH NO DOUBT;

WE'LL BURN 'EM DOWN!