STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS
by Joyce Johnson Rouse
(Earth Mama, www.earthmama.org) ©1995 Rouse House Music, ASCAP. All rights reserved.
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us
We are stronger for their courage
We are wiser for their words
We are lifted by their longing for a fair and brighter future
We are grateful for their vision, for their toiling on this Earth
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us
They are saints and they are humans, they are angels, they are friends
We can see beyond the struggles and the troubles and the challenge
When we know that by our efforts things will be better in the end
They lift us higher than we could ever fly
Carrying our burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn’t tried
We wouldn’t be here celebrating today
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us
We are honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold the ones who follow me
They lift us higher than we could ever fly
Carrying our burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn’t tried
We wouldn’t be so very blessed today
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us
We are honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold the ones who follow me