Between You and the Dark

Lyrics

[Intro]
Cold river under an iron sky.
Not all of us will reach the firelight.

[Verse 1]
Wet stone remembers every fallen leaf,
It slicks our steps and measures what we’re worth.
A rope between the banks, a trembling line,
Torch ash drifting with the river’s breath.
We count the limping, bundling the weak,
Small hands like sparks that won’t go out.
Your shoulder at my back, we set our spines,
We do not cross; we are the narrowed mouth.

[Pre-Chorus]
I hear the bundle of a quiet sob,
I taste the iron in a winter lung.
If fear is tide, we shoulder through,
Weight to weight until the current numbs.
Set your heel and set your name,
Carve it into stone and cold and night.

[Chorus]
Go now—carry the children to the fire (go now)
We hold—ankles numbed to knife-bright ice (we hold)
Backs together, breath and bone a door
We are the wall between you and the dark
Cross now—wounded and old, take dawn and go
We are the wall between you and the dark
Go now, do not look back (go now)
We hold until the river learns our names (we hold)

[Drop]

[Verse 2]
The current tugs like teeth around the shin,
A boy slips by with carved wood in his fist.
An elder mouths the story of our land,
We keep her steady with a leaning rib.
A man with bandaged breath finds both his feet,
We nod him through toward ember smoke.
From timber’s edge the watching branches breathe,
We pace the water’s bite and mortar cracks of stone.

[Pre-Chorus 2]
The ground begins to answer in my chest,
I set my jaw like granite under frost.
“Go now,” I throw across the black,
“We hold,” you fire back through river’s hiss.
The line is thinning, dawn is wet with ash,
I feel the night prepare its weight.

[Chorus 2]
Go now—gather the names you thought you’d lose (go now)
We hold—boots welded to the slick black seam (we hold)
Backs together, shoulders making law
We are the wall between you and the dark
Cross now—find the torches on the far bank’s bend
We are the wall between you and the dark
If breaking comes, let breaking break on us
We are the wall between you and the dark

[Drop 2]

[Bridge]
I’m not afraid to go, I’m afraid you’d go alone,
If I fall first, turn my face to where it warms.
If you fall first, I’ll be the stone beneath your boot,
I will not leave you to the river’s word.
Two names no one will carry in a song,
Peace is choosing to be the door that doesn’t open.

[Chant Break]
Go now (hey!)
We hold (hey!)
Hold the ford (hey!)
Backs together (hey!)
Stone and bone (hey!)
Go now (hey!)
We hold (hey!)
We are the wall between you and the dark (hey!)

[Final Chorus]
Go now—take the dawn, take your breath, take your names (go now)
We hold—welded backs, wet stone and winter veins (we hold)
We are the wall between you and the dark
We are the wall between you and the dark
Cross—every wound and wrinkle, child and cane
We are the wall between you and the dark
If there must be a gate, let it be our ribs
We are the wall between you and the dark
Go now—don’t turn, remember only light (go now)
We hold—until the river writes us out (we hold)
We are the wall between you and the dark

[Outro]
The water keeps our footsteps, the morning keeps your names.
The far bank gathers fire; the river swallows sound.