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A Church Is Burning Lyrics
A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
Three hooded men through the back roads did creep
Torches in their hands while the village lies asleep
Down to the church where just hours before
Voices were singing and hands were beating
And saying, "I won't be a slave any more."
And a church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
Three hooded men, their hands lit the spark
Then they faded in the night and they vanished in the dark
And in the cold light of morning there's nothing that remains
But the ashes of a bible and can of kerosene.
And a church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
A church is more than just timber and stone
And freedom is a dark road when you're walking it alone
But the future is now, and it's time to take a stand
So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land.
And a church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying
"You can burn down our churches but I shall be free."
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
Torches in their hands while the village lies asleep
Down to the church where just hours before
Voices were singing and hands were beating
And saying, "I won't be a slave any more."
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
Then they faded in the night and they vanished in the dark
And in the cold light of morning there's nothing that remains
But the ashes of a bible and can of kerosene.
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying,
"You can burn down my churches but I shall be free."
And freedom is a dark road when you're walking it alone
But the future is now, and it's time to take a stand
So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land.
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky
Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying
"You can burn down our churches but I shall be free."
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I believe it is about slavery of the black people(in the USA, most probably)
'Three hooded men' - Ku Klux Klan 'where just hours before Voices were singing and hands were beating' - Gospel 'saying, "I won't be a slave any more."' - self-explanatory
The person speaking in the song could even be Martin Luther King..
I see this as a song of victory (albeit victory at a cost). Even the fire, the chosen instrument of violence, speaks out in defiance of oppression and ignorance.
I totally agree with this as well, @ShineYouDiamond. It even says, in the chorus, 'You can burn down our churches but I shall be free,' Which is exactly the idea that you're giving in your comment.
I totally agree with this as well, @ShineYouDiamond. It even says, in the chorus, 'You can burn down our churches but I shall be free,' Which is exactly the idea that you're giving in your comment.
i agree completley w/ shineyoudiamond. the line "a church is more than just timber and stone," says it all. the value of the church is not in the building, but in the people "saying i won't be a slave any more!"