you've been a prisoner

been a prisoner all your life

held captive in an alien world

where they hold your need for love to your throat like a knife

and they make you jump

and they make you do tricks

they take what started off as such an innocent heart

and they break it and break it and break it

until it almost can't be found



well i don't know when

and it don't know how

i don't know how long it's gonna take

i don't know how hard it will be

but i know

you will go free



you can call it the devil

call it the big lie

call it a fallen world

what ever it is it ruins almost everything we try

it's the sins of the fathers

it's the choices we make

it's people screaming without making a sound

from prison cells in paradise

where we're chained to our mistakes



well i don't know when

and it don't know how

i don't know how much it's gonna cost you

probably everything

but i know

you will go free



you can't see your jailer

you can't see the bars

you can't turn your head round fast enough

but it's everywhere you are

it's all around you

and everywhere you walk this prison yard surrounds you



but in the midst of all this darkness

in the middle of this night

i see truth cut through this curtain like a laser

like a pure and holy light

and i know i can't touch you now

and i don't want to speak too soon

but when we get sprung

from out of our cages baby

god knows what we might do



well i don't know when

and it don't know how

i don't know if you'll be leaving alone

or if you'll be leaving with me

but i know

you will go free





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Tony Bowden, Belfast, N Ireland