Once upon an average morn An average boy was born for the second time Prone upon the altar there He whispered up the prayer he'd kept hid inside The vision came He saw the odds A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel "These will vie to take your place, but Father By your grace I will never kneel" And I saw you, upright and proud And I saw you wave to the crowd And I saw you laughing out loud at the Philistines And I saw you brush away rocks And I saw you pull up your socks And I saw you out of the blocks For the finish line Darkness falls The devil stirs And as your vision blurs you start stumbling The heart is weak The will is gone And every strong conviction comes tumbling down Malice rains The acid guile is s**ing at your shoes while the mud is fresh It floods the trail It bleeds you dry As every little god buys its pound of flesh And I saw you licking your wounds And I saw you weave your cocoons And I saw you changing your tunes for the party line
And I saw you welsh on old debts I saw you and your comrades bum cigarettes And you hemmed and you hawed And you hedged all your bets Waiting for a sign Let's wash our hands as we throw little fits Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks Deaf And joyless And full of it The vision came He saw the odds A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel "These have tried to take your place, but Father By your grace I will never kneel I will never kneel..." Off in the distance Bloodied but wise As you squint with the light of the truth in your eyes And I saw you Both hands were raised And I saw your lips move in praise And I saw you steady your gaze For the finish line Every idol like dust A word scattered them all And I rose to my feet when you scaled the last wall And I gasped When I saw you fall In his arms At the finish line