Follow the Flute, Follow the Flame

[Verse 1]
I came down with a lantern in my throat
Boots on the boards and a line in the smoke
Every widow, every worker, every kid with a name
Knows the taste of a door that won't open again
They took from the table, they took from the field
They took and they took till the skin had to yield
But I saw you in the windows, I saw you in the rain
I heard your heels on the floorboards — answer my name
[Chorus]
Follow the flute, follow the flame
Come to the circle, call it by name
Hands in the dark, hearts in the rain
We are the river they could not tame
Follow the flute, follow the flame
One by one, we rise the same
No more bending, no more shame
Follow the flute, follow the flame
[Verse 2]
Old men lie in clean collars and gold
Counting our hunger in the stories they sold
But the mill keeps turning, and the fields stay wide
With a thousand small fires moving side by side
Mothers at the curb, boys on the stoop
The baker, the driver, the march, the coup
I lift my voice like a match to the night
If you hear it, come closer — we'll make it right
[Bridge]
[Build]
Now the drum in the chest says, “Enough, enough”
Now the whole street answers, loud and rough
No king, no gate, no iron hand
Can hold back a people who understand
[Chorus]
Follow the flute, follow the flame
Come to the circle, call it by name
Hands in the dark, hearts in the rain
We are the river they could not tame
Follow the flute, follow the flame
One by one, we rise the same
No more bending, no more shame
Follow the flute, follow the flame
[Outro]
[Swelling choir]
Lift it higher, higher now
Every broken voice be loud
Follow the flute, follow the flame
We come together, we come again

country, Female-led political anthem with a slow-burn intro, militant handclaps, swelling gospel choir, stomping toms, and a huge brass-and-string crescendo that blooms into a crowd-sing chorus