Lyrics Pray - Flobots

Pray

Any dream can become a nightmare
If we never wake from it
Any person can seem like a devil
When their story and history are lost to lies
We are blinded by falsehoods and weak mythology
We are called to wake
We are called to rise
The opposite of oppression is liberation
Together we can confront the bloodstained chapters of our stories
And write with new ink
Pages of reconciliation and forgiveness
It is time for an exorcism
To expel the demons which have separated us
To purge our souls from the toxic claims of whiteness
To walk gloriously into that great truth we have always known
We are family
When my father handed me the lash
Taught me false tradition
Separate my family white from black
Consecrate division
I was young and ignorant of grace
Lived as they had taught me
Down in the river
I claim my sins
Cast the devil off me
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Blessed be my witness
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Cry for my forgiveness
When the demons beckoned me to come
Why did I believe them
Named my brother as three fifths a man
Left his body bleeding
Claimed my sister as their property
Used her for their pleasure
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Cleanse my sins forever
Look at me and what do you see
See somebody up in a tree
Saying don’t lie to us
At the worst of times
I see nursery rhymes
Too anonymous to believe
I’d rewrite them posthumously
But we can’t wipe the blood from these leaves
It’s inside of us
Like a demon spawn
Conceived deep beyond
Pray to God for us to be free
I first caught him in the valley where the water was tainted
Followed on the map and saw the spot where it was painted
The bottle was ancient
Fiddle with the folds of a riddle made sacred
7 million dollars out of only one sl-p
From the mystery run
Screaming oh my God it’s begun
Now we read prophecies of our progeny
And the monsters they have become
What the hell have we done?
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Make my soul unbroken
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Let my eyes be opened
Hip hop is transphobic
I speak the statement seeking its irrelevance
When it’s said the further from hell it gets
So why call BLM some terrorists
We did the same with Martin
And worse with the suffragettes
First resistance
Forgiveness is coming next
Before the wing is the cell of the chrysalis
The catalyst to something else
They’d pay attention
If I eliminated a Mona Lisa
When God’s masterpieces are
Killed with increasing frequency
Imitate immortals just to get someone to listen
We are building up a world that changes shame into contrition
We have named our mission
Praying, not condemning
Blood relations are craving witness
Liberation from this nation’s sickness
We will win with no malice and no militias
Speak truth to your neighbor
For we are all members of one body
Be angry and sin not
Do not let the sun go down on your wrath
Nor give place to the devil
Our weapon will not be righteousness
Our tool will be humanity
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
Shout him from the heavens
Usher in the souls long cast aside
Beg for resurrection
Turn and face your savior eye to eye
Stand for your conviction
Pray the pale white devil back to hell
'Til the Lord is risen