A match will burn for long enough to light a single candle A candle only burns until the conversation's done One bright conversation shines a light across a lifetime Every life has time enough to shine - like the sun At first you couldn't listen. You held to your suspicion 'Cause this new point of view seemed bold and strange But that simple truth's insistence melted your resistance 'Till all at once you knew that what you knew must change Your search for easy answers only led to harder questions But you rose up when that simple faith fell through, and Fearless in the rubble, you kept shaking the foundations You weren't afraid to shatter what you thought you knew A gentle revolution that could change a generation Your words could strike a match and light a flame And one by one the light spread through the people of a Nation, 'till the tyranny of hate would never be the same On the balcony in Memphis with a bullet through your body We heard you say a strong and gentle prayer They try to kill the future, as if just a gun could stop you But the heart of you is beating everywhere