A Church Is Burning (alternative version) - Paul Simon

A church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying

They grow in the sky

Like hands that are praying

The fire ascends

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 lies asleep

Down to the church where, just hours before

Voices were singing, and

Hands were meeting, and

Saying, "I won't be a slave anymore"

A church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying

They glow in the sky

Like hands that are praying

The fire ascends

You can burn down my churches

But I shall be free

Three hooded men, their hands lit the spark

And they faded in the night, they vanished in the dark

And in the cold light of morning, there was nothing that remained

But the ashes of a Bible and a can of kerosene

A church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying

They glow in the sky

Like hands that are prayin'

The fire ascends

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

A church is burning

The flames rise higher

Like hands that are praying

They glow in the sky

Like hands that are praying

The fire ascends

You can burn down my churches

But I shall be free