She was born in Honolulu
She was raised by the Ohio
Her life was filled with vile explosion
Ever so

She turned to God and posed a question
"What can I do with the cards I'm dealt?"
She looked hard and wild at God's creations
"I can make a new way" is how she felt

She yanked her dreams down from above her
She looked a monster right in the eye
She said, "My children won't see me suffer
They'll see me rise and rule before I die"

From scratch, she carved a woman's vision
But was beat down again and again
She used her hands, she used her troubles
God took her mind, God took her men

She lay confined for years in silence
Unembraced by everyone
Did she lose her faith? I'm here to sing to you:
She didn't lose a thing, she passed it on

She built a garden, she drew a drawing
She looked her shadow right in its eye
She said, "My children won't see me suffer
They'll see me rise and rule before I die"
Kids will play, kids will wander
Every day farther from home
Hold us close, mother and father
Friends, don't leave our friends alone

We roll in waves at Makapu'u
While those afraid sit on the shore
We roam the roads, we follow clues to
Where we've never been before

We build a fire, scream at a star
While the laughter rolls sweetly by
Holes in our lives, and still we are
Going to rise and rule before we die
Mmm

When our bodies turn to cinder
And our names are rarely said
And I wonder, do our friends ponder
How we are now we are dead

Wounds are healed so forcefully
As we think on the deceased
When we say thanks around our table
We say their names with some relief
We skip their names with some relief
Mmm
They melt away like heat and moondrops
Into a space in black beyond
She comes in colors even there
And so she'll rise and rule now her burden's gone