Plains of Shinar

Lyrics

[Verse 1] They laid the bricks on Shinar’s plain So heaven would remember their name But Jacob slept with a stone for a bed And heaven came down to him instead I’ve seen that tower in a thousand forms A room full of screens, a field full of storms We get a little higher every year And still can’t hear the person standing near [Chorus] I kept my eyes on the gates all night I thought I’d know the enemy by sight But the voice that said, “Don’t let them in” Sounded just like mine again Oh, the hardest war to win Is the one that starts within [Verse 2] Papa walked the field when the grass was wet There are things the paper won’t remember yet A deed can tell you where the acres end It can’t tell you how to be their friend I learned to stand when they called my name And read the words beneath the words they gave But if I win the field and lose my kin Tell me what kind of harvest that has been [Chorus] I kept my eyes on the gates all night I thought I’d know the enemy by sight But the voice that said, “Don’t let them in” Sounded just like mine again Oh, the hardest war to win Is the one that starts within [Verse 3] A tanker calls for help across the waves A child in Kyiv sleeps two floors below I watch the front lines change from day to day And never learn the names of those who go I ask a machine to tell me what it sees It gives my own words back as certainty I’d rather hear a friend say, “Think again,” Than have the whole world tell me I was right [Bridge] Babylon has gold around her cup She pours a little more and calls it love But Christ knelt down and washed the feet Of men who’d swear they’d never leave I want the city where there’s no more night No locked gate, no watchman on the height But if I’m waiting for that world to start What am I guarding in my own heart? [Final Chorus] I kept my eyes on the gates all night I thought I’d know the enemy by sight Now the morning’s coming through the trees And there’s a place at the table next to me Oh, the hardest war to win Is the one that starts within [Outro] If heaven comes down to this field again Let it find me planting Let it find me planting