Free

Lyrics

Crossing the river

We’re crossing the river and my body is half frozen. This is no way to spend a Christmas night. But we are hopeful, that with God’s gracious mercy, tonight we put our enemy to flight. “The war is going badly” we all heard the general say. So every man bowed to his knees and to God we prayed that if it be His sovereign will this nation should be born that He would grant us victory by the light of morn. We are crossing the river. We’re crossing the river from Kentucky to Ohio and freedom’s calling from the other side. It’s been so long, but my hope never faded. I swore myself to freedom or to die. I don’t know what awaits me over on the other side, but I know it must be better than the life I leave behind. So I’m rowing in this small boat pointing toward a distant light that shines like a beacon in the darkness of the night. We are crossing the river. We’re crossing the river, waste deep in the water. From Laredo to Laredo’s a long way when you come at nightfall, sneaking cross the desert, hoping to find work for a few days. The border guard may catch me and send me back across, but my children they are hungry and I must pay the cost. So northward I will travel in a desperate search of pay, every moment hoping I can find a better way. We are crossing the river. We are crossing the river, every man and woman. We don’t know what is on the other shore. But we are hopeful, and that’s what keeps us going. Hope is what we all are living for. We are crossing the river. We are crossing the river.