Don't Stand By

The reason I’m still living has come clear to me
I’ll lead you all to peace through victory
When I was a young man,
In a land called Acadie,
My people thought that love would win the day
We let the English run our lives
For years, believed their promised lies
We stood by, mute,
And prayed and smiled
And they were plotting all the while
To rip us from the only home we knew
Now, here I am with you
This time will be different
This time, I vow to win
For you, for yours,
For all in Acadie
They promised you can all go free
Just lay your guns down,
Then you’ll see
Yes, you can choose now to believe
That they’ll not give you cause to grieve
That they won’t cheat you, beat you,
Break your trust
Or you can stand with us
I won’t stand by a second time
I’ll not abandon you
I’ve nothing now in this wide world,
Except to see this through
Every second, every minute,
I see her drowning in the deep
Yes, every week, and month, and year,
I wish I’d fought,
Not stayed asleep
But if you think God’s asking you
To turn your weapons to a plow,
If you don’t want to see this through,
The time to run away is now
I thought God was patience
Thought he was tolerance
Maybe God’s a verb,
And not a noun
I thought love would conquer
All things in its path
Don’t believe it, men
Don’t just stand by
Don’t just stand by