[Verse 1]
I laid my coat on the black oak gate
Dust on my hands from the long road home
You stood there still with your eyes like steel
Said, "If we fall, we fall as one"
The rain hit hard on the iron roof
The dogs went quiet, the whole yard froze
I held your name like a matched-lit flame
And the dark leaned in to hear us speak
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, the ground shook low
Oh, the wind stood back
We were not made for a quiet life
We were made for that
[Chorus]
Hold the line, hold the line
(hold the line)
We rise again, we rise again
We do not bend, we do not break
(we do not break)
Hold the line, hold the line
[Verse 2]
I saw your mother at the church door
Her hands still rough from the washing stones
She said, "The world takes what it wants to take"
Then she sang out low like a warning drum
The youngest child with the torn red sleeve
Beat on the table with a wooden spoon
And every heart in that little room
Found the same fire in the same old tune
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, the walls came down
Oh, the fear let go
When the first voice called from the front row
Every soul said, "Go"
[Chorus]
Hold the line, hold the line
(hold the line)
We rise again, we rise again
We do not bend, we do not break
(we do not break)
Hold the line, hold the line
[Bridge]
Deep voice: I was the stone
I was the fault
I carried the weight
Until I heard you call
Female voice: I was the thread
I was the spark
I lit the road
In the middle of the dark
[Breakdown]
[Low strings and choir swell]
Hey
Hey
The night can roar
The night can roar
[Final Chorus]
Hold the line, hold the line
(hold the line)
We rise again, we rise again
We do not bend, we do not break
(we do not break)
Hold the line, hold the line
We rise again, we rise again
We do not bend, we do not break
(we do not break)
Hold the line, hold the line
[Outro]
Black oak standing
Black oak strong
If we go down
We go down singing