We saw you step on our grave, son, like you didn’t know
Felt the beat of a war-drum echo below.
We saw them painting the windows of every house in the land
Saw them hang up the banners and watch the marching bands.
We watch you sit in the shadow under the tree
Still weary from traveling over the sea.
And while you stare at the fireworks, bursting in the air
We rest here in the darkness under Washington Square.
We are the unknown forgotten, the bravest men to be found
We defied odds and reason to turn the world upside down
We followed our Captain, no hesitation nor doubt
All the way to Virginia and into the Clouds.
The father of fathers, larger than life
Men is not born to yield, but to seek and to strife
And like Caesar at the Rubicon, we crossed the Delaware.
Now we rest here in the darkness under Washington Square.
We may have died long ago, but we are not gone
They say a soul that is righteous lives on.
Can you hear us calling from when this country was new
Like the ghost of your conscience towering over you.
Can you hear us calling from days long gone by
Through the noise on the street on this 4th of July.
And while some jeopardise the fruits for which we suffered in despair
We rest here in the darkness under Washington Square.
Music & Lyrics by John Allen
2021.