Live 03 Jun 2013 version
Yes, yes. Grazie, grazie mille San Siro. (cheers) Uh... this is a song of... now the dead speak to us if we listen. Our ancestors, all those who came before us, who lived through their hard times, and who learned how to live through their hard times, now they speak to us if we listen.
[THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND:]
Yeah once I rode that ribbon highway
I saw above me endless sky
I saw below me golden valley
This land is made for you and me
This land is your land, this land is my land
California, New York Island
From the Redwood Forest, Gulf Stream water
This land was made for you and me
I roamed and rambled, followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of the diamond desert
All around me a voice was sounding
Yeah this land was made for you and me
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California all the way to New York Island
From the Redwood Forest, the Gulf Stream waters
Well this land, this land, this land was made for you and me
[WE ARE ALIVE:]
There's a cross up yonder up on Calvary Hill
There's a slip of blood on a silver knife
There's a graveyard kid down below
Where at night the dead come to life
Well above the stars they crackle in fire
A dead man's moon throw seven rings
We put our ears to the cold grave stones
This is the song they sing
We are alive
And though our bodies lie alone here in the dark
Our spirits rise to carry the fire and light the spark
To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart
I was killed in Maryland in 1877
When the railroad workers made their stand
Yeah well I was killed in 1963 one Sunday morning in Birmingham
I died last year crossing the southern desert
My children left behind in San Pablo
Well they've left our bodies here to rot
Well please let them know
We are alive
And though we lie alone here in the dark
Our souls will rise to carry the fire and light the spark
To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart
Let your mind rest easy, sleep well my friend
It's only our bodies that betray us in the end
Ah!
Well I awoke last night in the dreamy deep
From my head to my feet, my body'd gone stone cold
There were worms crawling all around me
My fingers scratching at an earth black and six foot low
Well alone in the blackness of my grave
Alone I'd been left to die
Then I heard voices calling all around me
The earth rose above me, my eyes filled with sky
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
We are alive
And though our bodies lie alone here in the dark
Our souls will rise
To carry the fire and light the spark
To fight shoulder to shoulder and hearts to heart
To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart
We are alive
We are alive
We are alive
Hey! Ha! Ho!
(Hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
(Hoo-hoo-hoo hoo-hoo)
The above lyrics are for the live 03 Jun 2013 performance of WE ARE ALIVE at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, Italy, during the Wrecking Ball Tour. The song was played in a full-band arrangement. This version uniquely starts with a solo acoustic THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND. The parts in bold are by the crowd.
List of available versions of WE ARE ALIVE on this website:
WE ARE ALIVE [Album version]