The Great Divide

Janis Ian

Come good people and gather 'round
Step out of the water before you drown
Tide is coming swift and deep
Gonna knock you off your feet
There's a tide of greed that knows no shame
and a tide of money that holds no stain
A tide of men who worship pride
and will not be denied

While politicians lie and cheat
to get to higher ground,
we follow them like sheep
and salute them as we drown
but no man will be king
when all men wear the crown,
and there will be a reckoning
from deep inside the rising tide
as we tear down the walls
of the Great Divide

Come good people and gather here
You who still hold freedom dear
Step across the waters
Bring your sons and daughters
Some will sink and some will swim
Some will walk on the water again
Some will rise and some will fall
Each one will hear the call

While churches counsel patience
and heavenly reward
they sub-divide our nations
by the shield and by the sword
and every congregation
has a pipeline to the lord
but there will be no salvation
and no place to hide for those who lied
and buried us alive to build the walls
of the Great Divide

And oh, when the poorest of the poor
come knocking at the door
they will not be denied
And oh, when those who took too much
are stripped of it and judged
then mercy will provide for the rising tide

So come good people and gather 'round
Come and stand on common ground
Raise your voices up and sing
Let's make the heavens ring
And you whose silence costs your soul
Learn to speak or dig your hole
Tomorrow's here and it won't wait
No time to hesitate

The tide's already risen
The deluge is at hand
Don't sit there by the ocean
while it sucks away the sand
'cause you'll be left with nothing
but the memory of land
while we sit high above the tide
and watch the walls begin to fall
as one by one our children wave goodbye
to the Great Divide

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