Lord I had a mother who could pray loud I had a mother who could pray loud If I die and my soul be lost where Nobody's fault but mine {Instrumental} Oh lord lord lord Oooooohhh Oooooohhh I had a mother who could pray loud I had a mother who could pray loud If I die and my soul be lost where Nobody's fault but mine I had a mother who could sing loud I had a mother who could sing loud If I die and my soul be lost where If I die and my soul be lost If I die and my soul be lost I sad it ain't nobody's fault but All mine Oooooohhh Ahahaha

I don't wanna lie I don't wanna cry I cant keep up cuz i know I'm too far behind All i can say is Hi how are you? Hi Im scared from the ocean tides Im scared from going home cuz I might write my thoughts on the walls Its a melody for a night We cant keep on lies I dont wanna see on my sofa flirting with other guys Its a broken heart on fire I kept it on my back and now you know that I'm just tired You kept on forcing my thinking to multiply My heart is 404 Gone and missing from the same old floor Why you always banging on my door I deny the facts and explore the hate I hate the love and love the hate Piece by piece Stone by stone Like by like We all hate me I know the facts Its a melody for a night I don't wanna say goodbye When we're going through this certain Motion of hate Its a broken heart on fire I kept it on my back and now you know that I'm just tired You kept on forcing my thinking to multiply

I grew up with reverence for the red, white, and blue Spoke of God and liberty, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance Learned love of country from my own family Some shivered and prayed, approaching the beaches of Normandy The flag waves high and that's how it should be So many lives given and taken in the name of freedom But the story's complicated and hard to read Pages of the book obscured or torn out completely I am a son of Uncle Sam And I struggle to understand the good and evil But I'm doing the best I can In a place built on stolen land with stolen people Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco A misnamed people and a kidnapped race Laws may change but we can't erase the scars of a nation Of children devalued and disavowed Displaced by greed and the arrogance of Manifest Destiny Short-sighted to say it was a long time ago Not even two lifetimes have passed since the days of Lincoln The sins of Andrew Jackson, the shame of Jim Crow And time moves slow when the tragedies are beyond description I am a son of Uncle Sam And I struggle to understand the good and evil But I'm doing the best I can In a place built on stolen land with stolen people We are more than the sum of our parts All these broken homes and broken hearts God will you keep us wherever we go? Will you forgive us for where we've been? We Americans Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar Blood on the table with the coffee and the sugar I've been to every state, and seen shore to shore The still open wounds of the Civil War Watched blind hatred bounce back and forth Seen vile prejudice both in the south and the north And accountability is hard to impose On ghosts of ancestors haunting the halls of our conscience But the path of grace and goodwill is still here For those of us who may be considered among the living I am a son of God and man And I may never understand the good and evil But I dearly love this land Because of, and in spite of, we the people We are more than the sum of our parts All these broken bones and broken hearts God will you keep us wherever we go? Can you forgive us for where we've been? We Americans We Americans Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory Love in our hearts with the pain and the memory

I don't write 'cause I don't think I don't have a need to speak I don't see the bright side, quite as clear Accolades and happy days They don't ever last Stories of courage clouded up with fear In the broom grass, I would l lie Glimmer in my eye, the sun smiled back on me From victory, I tried To match eternal light with how I live my life Of course, I was forced to retreat From victory,I accept defeat Waxy green and yellow walls Outside my windows fall Covering the light I thought I'd see Am I sad or am I sick? What's at the root of it? Do I throw my hands and quit? Something tells me, no In the broom grass, I would l lie Glimmer in my eye, the sun smiled back on me From victory, I tried To match eternal light with how I live my life Of course, I was forced to retreat From victory, I accept defeat Worries on all sides of my mind In silence, my darkness is denied In the broom grass, I would l lie Glimmer in my eye, the sun smiled back on me From victory, I tried To match eternal light with how I live my life Of course, I was forced to retreat And from victory, I accept defeat From victory I accept defeat

If I get murdered in the city Don't go revenging in my name One person dead from such is plenty No need to go get locked away When I leave your arms The things that I think of No need to get over alarmed I'm coming home I wonder which brother is better Which one our parents love the most I sure did get in lots of trouble They seemed to let the other go A tear fell from my father's eyes I wondered what my dad would say He said, "I love you and I'm proud of you both In so many different ways" If I get murdered in the city Go read the letter in my desk Don't bother with all my belongings But pay attention to the list Make sure my sister knows I loved her Make sure my mother knows the same Always remember there was nothing worth sharing Like the love that let us share our name Always remember there was nothing worth sharing Like the love that let us share our name

Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place I lied to the doctor I lied to my lover I wanna make amends But where do I start? Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself Tell the truth I can make my mother, my father, my sister, my brother My lover, my neighbor, my friends, all happy Give of myself whatever they ask But without this single truth, it is only emptiness that I cast A happiness that will not last But I'm not here for that For what does happiness help Without this simple truth given to thyself? I was the coward I did strangle your heart I wanna make amends But where do I start? Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place Tell the truth to yourself And the rest will fall in place

When my body won't hold me anymore And it finally lets me free Will I be ready? When my feet won't walk another mile And my lips give their last kiss goodbye Will my hands be steady when I lay down my fears, my hopes, and my doubts? The rings on my fingers, and the keys to my house With no hard feelings When the sun hangs low in the west And the light in my chest won't be kept held at bay any longer When the jealousy fades away And it's ash and dust for cash and lust And it's just hallelujah And love in thought, love in the words Love in the songs they sing in the church And no hard feelings Lord knows, they haven't done much good for anyone Kept me afraid and cold With so much to have and hold Mmm, hmm When my body won't hold me anymore And it finally lets me free Where will I go? Will the trade winds take me south through Georgia grain? Or tropical rain? Or snow from the heavens? Will I join with the ocean blue? Or run into a savior true? And shake hands laughing And walk through the night, straight to the light Holding the love I've known in my life And no hard feelings Lord knows, they haven't done much good for anyone Kept me afraid and cold With so much to have and hold Under the curving sky I'm finally learning why It matters for me and you To say it and mean it too For life and its loveliness And all of its ugliness Good as it's been to me I have no enemies I have no enemies I have no enemies I have no enemies

When I drink I say things I don't wanna say I do things I don't wanna do I talk mean to you But if I think I just might get something out of this My parents taught me to learn when I miss Just do your best Just do your best It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be At least a little better than I've been so far But when I drink I hear things that aren't really there I feel things when I shouldn't really care Have fist fights with the air But if I think about someone besides myself I lived through the silver and the bell With something to tell Just do your best It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be At least a little better than I've been so far But when I drink I spend the next morning in a haze But we only get so many days Now I have one less Just do your best It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be At least a little better than I've been so far Oh, at least a little better than I've been so far