[Verse 1]
They put a name on my wrist
Like I was born to kneel
Mud on my tongue
But I still bite the steel
My people in rows
With the sun on their backs
Hands full of scars
From the whip and the racks
I seen hope in the ditches
I seen fire in the eyes
Every broken lock
Got a thunder in the sky
If they want my silence
They gon' taste this shout
I was made in the prison
I was built to break out
[Pre-Chorus]
Hear that chain say "never"
Hear my heart say "now"
One spark in the dark
And the whole place bow
They can board up the door
They can flood every hall
But a thousand names rise
When I call, when I call
[Chorus]
Free my people
Free my people
Break these chains
Free my people
Free my people
Burn the cage
(Free my people)
[Verse 2]
I got dust in my lungs
And a map in my skin
Every scar on my back
Is a place we begin
From the wells to the yard
To the fields in the rain
We been speaking in blood
We been sharpening pain
Now the walls got a tremble
Now the guards feel fear
When the first drum hits
The whole truth gets clear
No more bowed heads
No more stolen breath
If they come for our future
Then they meet with death
[Pre-Chorus]
Hear that chain say "never"
Hear my heart say "now"
One spark in the dark
And the whole place bow
They can board up the door
They can flood every hall
But a thousand names rise
When I call, when I call
[Chorus]
Free my people
Free my people
Break these chains
Free my people
Free my people
Burn the cage
(Free my people)
[Bridge]
We are not a rumor
We are not a breed of dust
We are the hands that build
We are the ones they trust
I lift my brothers
I lift my sisters high
If they want a war
Then look me in the eye
[Breakdown]
Take the gate
Take the keys
Take it all back
Take what’s ours
Take the night
Take the crack in the sky
We don't beg
We rise
[Final Chorus]
Free my people
Free my people
Break these chains
Free my people
Free my people
Burn the cage
Free my people
Free my people
Hear us roar
(Free my people)
(Free my people)
We are here no more