Ancestors Carry Me

Intro

Mm

Mm-hmm

Oh-oh

Drop

Ancestors carry me

Ancestors carry me

Verse 1

My grandmother's hands still ache from a field she never saw

They passed the weight down like a hymn

Nobody taught us how to grieve in a language that was stolen

So we hummed it in the drums

Pre-Chorus

I was told to be quiet

Be strong be still be grateful

But the river in my chest keeps rising

Chorus

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Every wound is a doorway

Every doorway a song

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Drop

Let the water run

Let the water run

Verse 2

The therapist asked me where it hurts

I pointed at my name

At the map that was redrawn across my back

I am learning to be soft again

Learning to be loud again

Learning that my body is not a crime

Pre-Chorus

They tried to make me smaller

Tried to make me disappear

But my mother's mother's mother taught me how to stay

Chorus

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Every wound is a doorway

Every doorway a song

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Bridge

Say their names

Say their names

Say their names out loud

(Say their names)

I am the prayer they whispered in the dark

I am the drum that never stopped

Drop

I am the drum

I am the drum

I am the drum that never stopped

Chorus

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Every scar is a story

Every story a sun

Break the silence open

Let the water run

Outro

Let the water run

Let the water run