A Church Is Burning (Live 1964) - Paul Simon

A church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky

Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying

"You can burn down my churches, but I shall be free"

Three hooded men, through the back roads did creep

Torches in their hands, while the village lie asleep

Down to the church, where just hours before

Voices were singing and hands were beating

And saying "I won't be a slave anymore"

And a church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky

Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying

"You can burn down my churches, but I shall be free"

Three hooded men, their hands lit the spark

Then they faded in the night, and they vanished in the dark

And in the cold light of morning

There is nothing that remains

But the ashes of a Bible and a can of kerosene

And a church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky

Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying

"You can burn down my churches, but I shall be free"

A church is more than just timber and stone

And freedom is a dark road, when you're walking it alone

But the future is now, and it's time to take a stand

So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land

And a church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying, aglow in the sky

Like hands that are praying, the fire is saying

"You can burn down my churches, but I shall be free"