Forgotten When the Fire Goes Out

[Verse 1]
They printed my picture on cardboard
Held it high in the pouring rain
Chanted my name like a chorus
Swore they'd never be the same
Cameras caught every teardrop
Every fist
Every broken shout
But the ink on those homemade banners
Started fading as the sun came out
[Chorus]
Revolution loves you
’Til the fire burns down
Then the world walks past your name
Lying quiet on the ground
You can give your last breath
To a desperate
Dying crowd
But you're forgotten
When the fire goes out
[Verse 2]
Mama kept the coat that I bled in
Folded neat in the bottom drawer
They said I'd live on in their stories
But they don't come ’round here no more
New faces stand in the crosshairs
New slogans in fresh red paint
They borrowed my blood for a moment
Then they moved on
Just like saints
[Chorus]
Revolution loves you
’Til the fire burns down
Then the world walks past your name
Lying quiet on the ground
You can give your last breath
To a desperate
Dying crowd
But you're forgotten
When the fire goes out
[Bridge]
Do you hear that quiet?
That’s the sound of the cause moved on
All those raised hands
Now they're scrolling on their phones
Tell me
Is there a heaven
For the ones they left behind?
Or just a gravestone leaning sideways
In an unremembered line
[Chorus]
Revolution loves you
’Til the fire burns down
Then the world walks past your name
Lying quiet on the ground
You can give your last breath
To a desperate
Dying crowd
But you're forgotten
(yeah, you're forgotten)
When the fire goes out

Slow-burning blues-soul ballad with male vocals, roomy drums, and a mournful Hammond organ under smoky electric guitar. Verses stay intimate and low, bass walking gently; chorus lifts with gospel-style backing vocals and sustained guitar bends. Final chorus adds tambourine and a raw, cracked vocal ad-lib, then the band fades on a lingering organ chord., blues, world, soul