WHAT IS THE FIRE FOR?

What is the fire for? Light the hall, unlock the door.

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WHAT IS THE FIRE FOR? lyrics

Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.

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Intro

St. Luke's basement. Eight rows. Rain ticks the march photo by the EXIT. Ruth sets one spare mic down. "Let everybody finish."

Verse 1

Back wall, black scrawl: BIRMINGHAM. Ruth, seventeen. Sunday shoes, mud-bruised; white sleeve split clean. Poll card, small scar, bus stub in the frame. Each scrap maps a body and a name. June brings two pay stubs: same shift, slim pay. Cal's ramp stamp slept downtown since May. Dee and Ana pass their county license round. Fresh blue ink; ten red NOs struck down. New pins press in; Ruth's frame stays where it stood. Rain stains one corner, darkening the wood. She smooths June's claim, clips Cal's plan straight. Sets the marriage page by the poll card's date. No new note floats the older proof away. The board holds more; no face gives up its place. Ruth strikes one light; the low blue burner glows. Steam streams past faces in the EXIT glow.

Chorus

What is the fire for? Light the hall, unlock the door. Warm the hands they left outside. Don't burn the house to prove you're right. What is the fire for? Light the hall, unlock the door. Warm the hands they left outside. What is the fire for?

Verse 2

Nine-ten, map pinned beneath fluorescent hiss. Malik's red X marks the curb the crew still missed. Tess sets two timecards by two coffee rings. Same name, same days, two rates in blue ink. Maya lays four mails down after saying stop. Old name, bold face, laughing faces at the top. Eli eyes the draft, taps paragraph nine: "Can doubt stay in the room and still cross this line?" Maya: "You call it doubt. I clock it after five." Eli: "Name the act; don't cage the thought inside." Three seats screech; Jo crushes paper flat. Half the room calls, "That question sends us back." Chair palms the gavel, points him toward the hall. Back-row shouts rise; no one hears the call. Ruth cuts the gas. Brass clicks once, twice. One hand holds the spare mic. She does not rise.

Chorus

Verse 3

Truth is, I wished Eli gone before the vote. Each phrase had a blade; he wore debate as coat. Maya's four mails stayed cruel upon the screen. Cal still faced those stairs; Ruth stayed seventeen. His finish would not bleach those facts. A cut mic could not mend the cracks. At St. Luke's, Chair read roll; my name came third. Jo fixed her eyes; my raised hand broke her word. [THE BET #2 - untuned held lead] The room knew my name, looked away. Ruth rose; old soles whispered on the tile. She did not shake his hand or bless his claim. She slid the spare mic down and said his name. He finished. Maya answered, voice still rough. No one switched sides; no one called it love. Ruth lit the burner, set two cups apart. One low flame held beneath them in the dark.

Chorus

Outro

What is the fire for?

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Inside the recording

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01 / The opening