Can’t Stop Me Now

you can take away my fingers
you can break my guitar
you can tie me to a flag pole
if that’s the way you are
you might think you got me
when you got me over there
but you don’t understand me
‘cause I’m singin’ everywhere

I’ve been singin’ out for centuries
across the universe
every corner of the infinite
for better or for worse
I’ve sung in every language
on every kind of dare
you can’t stop me singin’
I’m singin’ everywhere

(chorus)
you couldn’t stop me then
and you can’t stop me now
you can’t stop me singin’
no matter how you try

I was singin’ in the caves
when there were no words
in the great migrations
singin’ to the herds
up on the mountain
singin’ high above the birds
I was learnin’ to throw my voice
all the better to be heard

I was singin’ on the beach
when the ships went out to sail
outside the bastille
to get them out of jail
singin’ to win when they were
only bound to fail
no other way to get there
I was singin’ on the trail

(chorus)

I sang against the empire
of the king and the queen
against the gods of retribution
no one had ever seen
any kind of inquisition
where justice is extreme
I sang and I kept singin’
till I found a better dream

I sang against slavery
against the owners of skin
against child labor
the sweat shops they’re working in
and I sang for better wages
for the right to take a breath
to live to be an old age
to die a natural death

(chorus)

I don’t sing for celebrity
or a house up on a hill
or baggage full of unmarked
hundred dollar bills
I don’t care about your ego
i’m not inclined to feed it
I won’t sing for who you want me to
i sing for those who need it

you won’t see me when I’m leavin’
I’ll be gone with the wind
but you’ll hear me, yes you will
when I’m coming back again
in the voices of the undertow
the voices of the crowd
I’m a motor mouth
and I can get loud

you can write me off
because I only play guitar
throw me under the bus
beneath the wheels of a car
but I’ll be back and in your face
when you least expect me there
I’ll be singin’ in your future
I’ll be singin’ everywhere

(chorus)