The land †

They say there's two sides to every story,

one side dark and gory,

and the other will bring God — the much needed glory.

Even in the midst of all this destruction,

can we still bring about the resurrection?

Can a person truly live through the land

yet still they stand with God hand in hand?

---

🌹 [Chorus – Both]

Through the pain, through the dirt, through the blood on our hands,

we still rise, still fight, still stand.

God walks these streets, He ain’t scared of the land,

He still reaches for hearts where the lost ones stand.

Yeah… this is the land.

(This is the land…)

---

I've seen ppl kill and be killed up and down these blocks,

and I've seen a mother sell her own flesh and blood

for 1 or 2 crack rocks.

I've been down the darkest alleys and saw The walking Dead,

and I've had to bust some bottles over a n****'s head,

cuz after a couple days they all lose her mind

looking for bags they'll never find.

---

🌹 [Chorus – Both]

Through the pain, through the dirt, through the blood on our hands,

we still rise, still fight, still stand.

God walks these streets, He ain’t scared of the land,

He still reaches for hearts where the lost ones stand.

Yeah… this is the land.

(This is the land…)

---

I've seen an expectant mother walk up and down this track,

turning tricks and an abandoned check

just so she could shoot up another bag of smack.

I've seen a grown man go into shock

when he realized that the boy that he just shot

was from his very own stock.

---

I've held my best friend as his soul left this earth,

the whole time his wife was at the hospital giving birth.

I sold a gun to a friend when my addiction needed to be fed,

it was the same gun they used when he was shot dead.

His mama was left to bury her one and only son that Mother's Day,

while I stood by his grave and told her everything would be okay.

---

🌹 [Chorus – Both]

Through the pain, through the dirt, through the blood on our hands,

we still rise, still fight, still stand.

God walks these streets, He ain’t scared of the land,

He still reaches for hearts where the lost ones stand.

Yeah… this is the land.

(This is the land…)

---

I sold a hot shot to the one who snitched on one of mine,

praying for God to forgive me the whole time.

I had to go out and buy me a knife,

when the devil's new disguise wasn't the man who called me as wife.

He told me to mind my own and walk away

from my girl who was screaming for my help one day,

while the man that she loved beat her instead —

man g, I still hear her screams in my head.

---

But...

I gave some food to the hungry man holding up the sign,

and another fin to the old man who needed some wine.

And to the crackhead walking barefoot down 7th Street,

I'm the one who put shoes on her fee

So when you say that God is dead,

I've got some people who disagree.

Maybe you should ask some instead —

Pimps, prostitutes and crack whores,

the homeless and the sick,

the drug dealer down the block

and the dope fiend junkie pulling a lick.

---

🌹 [Final Chorus – Both]

Through the pain, through the dirt, through the blood on our hands,

we still rise, still fight, still stand.

God walks these streets, He ain’t scared of the land,

He still reaches for hearts where the lost ones stand.

Yeah… this is the land.

(This is the land…)

---

God's love comes in all different forms —

actually it's His norm.

So when you decide to do what's right,

surrounded in darkness with no sign of light,

when you feel like God has left you all alone

with the devil to fight...

Open up your eyes and take the offered hand,

God will dust you off and show you how to stand,

and bring hope to the hopeless,

in this God-forsaken land.