The Young Are at the Gates

I won't forget that frigid January morning When my heart was in my stomach At the President's front door I could barely feel my toes But my spirit was on fire With the thrill of trying something No one's ever done before I could feel my shoulders tighten So unsure how this would go But we vowed to keep a vigil here To let the old men know The young are at the gates The young are at the gates Open up, the future's here The young are at the gates The young are at the gates The young are at the gates Tyranny, your time is near The young are at the gates At first, we feared We were too few to keep this going How could such a little army Go on standing in the cold? But day by day more women came From all corners of the country I could feel a hum of hope Each time a new one joined the fold We got nurses from Virginia College girls from Michigan and Idaho And we weren't all young, you know? We got workers from the factory Teachers from New York Even Mary Church Terrell came through I brought my daughter too And what started as a dozen Turned to hundreds within weeks Standing there with standing stares With icy air upon our cheeks Though not a word was spoken Our volume only grew As winter turned to spring We never left the avenue The young are at the gates The young are at the gates Open up, the future's here The young are at the gates The young are at the gates (the young are at the gates) The young are at the gates (the young are at the gates) Tyranny, your time is here The young are at the gates April sixth, 1917 Wilson declares war on Germany Alice, we can't do this anymore If we go out there now, they might arrest us They might But Inez died trying to finish this fight So are we going to give up? Or are we going to make damn sure her sacrifice was worth it? I won't forget That muggy April morning As we took our place A crowd of scowling men began to form Ten policemen lurked nearby Holding billy clubs and smirking I could feel us start to panic Like a fast approaching storm But then suddenly we felt it Like a mighty cannon blast Every cost and battle lost of every generation past So we rose up in defiance Yes, we chose to risk it all For our sisters' silent voices Let the patriarchy fall The young are at the gates The young are at the gates Come and get us if you dare The young are at the gates The young are at the gates And we'll be at the gates Until you open up your eyes Until the world will realize The old way always dies The young are at the gates