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