Roots Run Deep

[Verse 1] (Minor pentatonic melody, melismatic phrasing) Sunrise ooover Babylon walls... yeah Feel the chains, hear the ancient call From the east, to the western sho-o-ore Our bloodline cries, forever mo-ore Bass drum pounds on the third b**t low Nyabinghi hearts make the spirit grow [Chorus] (Call: Lead vocal - gospel melismas / Response: Choir - rich harmonies) CALL: Lift every voice, break the shackles free! (Ooh-oooh-yeah!) RESPONSE: Still we ri-i-ise! (Still we ri-i-ise!) CALL: From the ashes, grow the jubilee! (Grow it now!) RESPONSE: Jah light in our eyes! (Light the way!) [Verse 2] (Wurlitzer & Organ swell, brass stabs) They wrote our story in the whip's cruel crack (No more!) But the rhythm answers, won't hold us back Melodica weeps a sweet, defiant sound (Sweet sound!) On the sacred ground where our hope is found Bass walks steady, holds the truth below (Holds it down!) Guitar chops sharp where the righteous go (Chop! Chop!) [Chorus] (Call & Response intensifies) CALL: Lift every voice, break the shackles free! (Break 'em now!) RESPONSE: Still we ri-i-ise! (From the ground up!) CALL: From the ashes, grow the jubilee! (Let it grow!) RESPONSE: Jah light in our eyes! (Guiding star!) [Bridge] (Spoken word over stripped bass & drums, nyabinghi pulse) Check the foundation... deep, deep in the soil. Africa's seed, scattered by turmoil. But roots don't perish. Roots push through concrete. Roots remember. Resistance ain't defeat. It's the breath in our lungs, the fire in the chant. Lion of Judah, hear the people's want! Liberation! [Chorus] (Full force: Lead, Choir, Brass, Organ, Dub echoes on guitar) CALL: LIFT EVERY VOICE! BREAK THE SHACKLES FREE! (SHACKLES FREE!) RESPONSE: STILL WE RIIII-IIISE! (OH YEAH, WE RISE!) CALL: FROM THE ASHES! GROW THE JUBILEE! (JUBILEE NOW!) RESPONSE: JAH LIGHT! IN OUR EYES! (BRIGHTEST LIGHT!) [Outro] (Extended Call-and-Response over heavy groove, dub effects swirling, percussion polyrhythms prominent, horns riffing, organ sustaining) CALL: Roots run deep! (DEEP DOWN!) RESPONSE: Deep down! (DEEP DOWN!) CALL: Can't be moved! (HOLD STRONG!) RESPONSE: Hold strong! (HOLD STRONG!) CALL: Feel the power! (AFRICA!) RESPONSE: Africa! (MOTHERLAND!) CALL: Stand up now! (I-TAL!) RESPONSE: I-TAL! (LIFE!) CALL: (Ad-lib melisma: Ooooh-yaaah-weeee-eeeee...) RESPONSE: (Harmony cluster: Haaaaa-lle-lu-jah...) (Groove, percussion, dub echoes fade slowly)