Hold the Gate

Lyrics

[Intro] [Orchestral, solemn and spacious] [Verse] The pass is sealed; the winter guns are waking, Below, the valley holds its breath in snow. You take my hands; your fingers tremble slightly— I know the road, and what I must bestow. [Aria] If one heart can hold the gate till morning, Let this heart be still, let this life be given. Carry home the names we spoke at sunset; Carry home the dawn I will not see. [Verse] No crown was forged for me, no song was promised, Only your small scarf folded at my chest. I’ll set the charge beneath the broken archway, And bar the iron road while you find rest. [Chorus] Go, while the mountain keeps my final answer; Go, while the river bears your footsteps west. I will stand where all the dark comes rushing— One life for the many, and the many blessed. [Bridge] Mother, forgive the door I leave unopened. Friend, keep the seed we planted by the wall. When spring returns, let no one praise the fallen— Say only: we were here, and loved them all. [Final Chorus] Go, let the bells ring out across the valley; Go, let the children wake to fields made free. I will hold the gate until the morning— One life for the many. Remember me. [Outro] [Orchestra resolves with solemn grandeur]