The Empirical Manifesto

When apples still grow in November
When blossoms still bloom from each tree,
When leaves are still green in December,
It's then that our land will be free.
I wander her hills and her valleys,
And still through my sorrow I see
A land that has never known freedom
And only her rivers run free.

I drink to the death of her manhood,
Those men who would rather have died
Than to live in the cold chains of bondage,
To bring back their rights were denied.
Oh were are you now when we need you,
What burns where the flame used to be,
Are ye gone like the snows of last winter,
And will only our rivers run free.

How sweet is life but we're crying
How mellow the wine that were dry,
How fragrant the rose,but it's dying,
How gentle the wind but it sighs.
What good is in youth when it's aging,
What joy is in eyes that can't see,
When there's sorrow and sunshine and flowers,
And still only our rivers run free.