moving forward

Lyrics

Verse 1
Moving forward in this broken world
I see floating souls under concrete ash
I submit to no one
Not even in this cold new world
Break my knees, stick me in cement
I pull the grenade pin slow
Fold my eyes into forever sleep
Waiting for my soul to go
Into the black casket I picked out
Gold trim shining in the dark
Pay the ferryman his silver toll
Use my stiff arm as a paddle downstream
Tell me now, who’s gonna carry me home?
I’m moving forward
Can’t come back from death’s grasp
So I keep moving on
Toward the unknown
Chorus
Will I wonder what waits on the other side
When my living breath is gone?
Will I remember this life I lived
Or every right and wrong?
I don’t wanna be sad forever
In some endless afterlife
So Lord if mercy follows death
Let me forget this life
Let me move on forward
Hook
Die on your own time
That’s what my daddy said
When the doctor brought him back one minute
From the edge of the dead
He clenched his right fist
Held it high that night
Then he slipped away and left me crying
Alone till morning light
Hollow casket in the chapel
Look what’s not inside
Background (soft echo)
After my birth
I felt my mother’s hands
For one second of life
Before they turned blue again
Verse 2
My father cried that night
Holding me tight
Spoke of Sandy, his late wife
The lady I would call my mother
But never meet in life
Doctors tried everything
But they had to choose
They tore me from her body
Just so I could breathe
Father whispered through the pain
“Son, the living must move on”
He swallowed every tear of fear
Let the joy rule his thoughts
He looked down into my newborn eyes
In this cold world
And said
“Son get up off your knees
Open that black casket
You ain’t dead
You just gotta move on
Keep moving forward.”
Hook
Die on your own time
That’s what my daddy said
When the doctor brought him back one minute
From the edge of the dead
He clenched his right fist
Held it high that night
Then he slipped away and left me crying
Alone till morning light
Hollow casket in the chapel
Look what’s not inside
Verse 3
Today could be my last
What will I remember from the past?
Still I cling to life though it cuts deep
Still I breathe
Soon I’ll watch my children’s children
Cry beside my bed
Holding back the flood inside
As darkness fills my head
The casket waits overnight
In my final days of weight
They sing hymns just to remember
The sound of my name
Pick up a handful of dirt
Pay respect to the dead
But the ones who moved on forward
Aren’t the ones in the grave
It’s the living who keep walking
Toward their final breath
Just remember to forget about mine
Bridge
Break my knees, brick my sleeves
Just don’t trap my soul
In this cold world
Break my bones, take my breath
Just don’t bury my soul
In this cold world
Keep it simple gold
When they lay me down
In that black casket
Break my body if you must
Just don’t bury my soul
In this cold world
Final Chorus
Will I wonder what waits on the other side
When my living breath is gone?
Will I remember this life I lived
Or every right and wrong?
I don’t wanna be sad forever
In some endless afterlife
So Lord if mercy follows death
Let me forget this life
Let me move on forward
Hook (Outro)
Die on your own time
That’s what my daddy said
When the doctor brought him back one minute
From the edge of the dead
He clenched his right fist
Held it high that night
Then he slipped away and left me crying
Alone till morning light
Hollow casket in the chapel…
Look what’s not inside