Why did you steal the matches
From the one room motel
Once they gave you answers
Now they give you hell
They will never understand
They wonder where did they go wrong
How could you be so selfish
Why can't you get along

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

You've seen it in the movies
And you've heard it on the street
Craving the affection
Your blood is full of heat
They don't listen to your reasons
As original as sin
Deny all that you feel
And they will bring you home again

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

Your body is alive
But no one told you what you'd feel
The empty aching hours
Trying to conceal
The natural progression
Is the coming of your age
But they cover it with shame
And turn it into rage

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

You are digging for the answers
Until your fingers bleed
To satisfy the hunger
To satiate the need
They feed you on the guilt
To keep you humble keep you low
Some man and myth they made up
A thousand years ago

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

Mothers tell your children
Be quick you must be strong
Life is full of wonder
Love is never wrong
Remember how they taught you
How much of it was fear
Refuse to hand it down
The legacy stops here

Oh my child


Lyrics submitted by Ice

Silent Legacy Lyrics as written by Melissa Etheridge

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Silent Legacy song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment
    Christianity, perhaps inadvertantly, teaches many of us to fear physical affection.. sex is a sin, sex is bad, sex is something to be feared. It teaches teens to think that the hunger they feel.. or the pleasure of filling that hunger.. is immoral. This fear does much damage to humanity and hampers our relationships with each other. Refuse to hand the fear to the next generation. We can do better. It's possible to be a moral sexual animal without being afraid - afraid of commiting some 'sin' that no one can even explain to you why is bad, afraid of offending some bizarre god that feels that killing his own son would result in the rest of us being forgiven. Many of the morals of christianity are good - but the implimentation is rotten. Refuse to hand the fear down. Your children don't need to be saddled with your parents' neuroses. Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Sheer
    SMUSER26982on May 07, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    that makes sense. i guess i always took it as homophobia.
    thatpartydresson June 29, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I love Melissa's music, her songs are incredible. This one speaks to me the most. It is such an accurate picture of our society.
    MajickM@hotmail.comon March 28, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    It sucks thinkin' thinking one should have to live this way. "REFUSE to hand it down the lef=gacy stops here" I did. SLY
    SLYcraftson October 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Hummm, my last entry does not make much sense, maybe it was the Southern Comfort. I raised a Son, a most precious gift. I knew I was the artist of this perfectly clean canvas. I was the one to choose what went on this canvas. I choose NOT to raise my Son in fear of this most pathetic, selfish, evil, jealous god. I taught him every and all religions so he could make his own knowledgeable desision. This song came out when my Son came of age. In fact we were at the last concert of the 'Yes, I am" tour in Houston, TX. Melissa is a very wise women and a excellent song writer. Sly
    SLYcraftson August 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    It's about being gay in the 20th century when it was still considered a taboo and shameful thing to be. The lyrics so perfectly capture the agonizing pain of the homosexual while at the same time shattering the age old myths that being gay is a sin. Today, in the positive gay friendly 2010's, this song is rendered irrelevant and moot, and a historical artifact. But to those of us who listened to this in the 1990's, it packed a very powerful punch and was a beacon of light in the darkness of the time.
    chris330ron December 25, 2017   Link

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