I hear some distant drumbeat, a heartbeat pulsing low Is it coming from within, a heartbeat I don't know? A troubled soul knows no peace, a dark and poisoned pool Of liberty now lost, a pawn, an oppressor's tool Chorus: Oh my heart be strong And guide when eyes grow dim When ears grow deaf with empty words When I know there's life within A gunfire shatters silence where birds once sweetly sang A mother cradles a child now dead, now d**h where life began
From the troubled heart of South Africa, Nicaragua's festering sore The turmoil on the streets of China, d**h crying out for more (Chorus) A change is slow in coming, my eyes can scarcely see The rays of hope come streaming through the smoke of apathy (Chorus) May the spirit never die though a troubled heart feels pain When the long winter is over, it will blossom once again