She watched him walk into the mountain fog
Didn't know if God would bring him back
Left the children sleeping, held her breath
Prayed the hills would cover his back
He marched through cold and hunger, six hundred miles of stone
Every step a promise, this land will not be owned
They came from every valley, every highland, every plain
Different tongues, one heartbeat, marching through the rain
The priests were singing when the sun came up
The Ark was on the hillside, the drumbeat wouldn't stop
And every man who'd ever loved his child, his mother, his home
Looked across that valley, and knew he wasn't alone
Adwa! We stood on the mountain!
Adwa! We answered the call!
From every tribe and every tongue they came together
Africa proved that the united cannot fall!
Adwa! The morning remembers!
Adwa! We gave them our all!
March first, 1896, the whole world felt it
The day love was stronger than the cannonball!
The enemy marched blind through the dark
No maps, no water, no way to know
That a hundred thousand souls were on those hills
Waiting for the dawn to show
The cavalry rode shouting Eh-bal-goo-may!
Reap what you have sown upon our ground!
By noon the hills had taken everything
And silence was the only sound
For every child who never saw his father's face
For every woman who held the home while men held the line
For every people driven from their dignity and place
That morning on those mountains, was for all of time
Adwa! We stood on the mountain!
Adwa! We answered the call!
From every tribe and every tongue they came together
Africa proved that the divided cannot fall!
Adwa! The morning remembers!
Adwa! We gave them our all!
March first, 1896, the whole world felt it
The day love was stronger than the cannonball!
Taytu said our dignity is not for sale
Menelik said every willing soul must fight
The farmers and the priests and the cavalry
Became a single fire in that light
For every people who refused to kneel
For every prayer that rose before the dawn
Ethiopia answered on that mountain
And God was with them all along
Adwa! We stood on the mountain!
Adwa! We answered the call!
From every tribe and every tongue they came together
Africa proved that the divided cannot fall!
Adwa! The morning remembers!
Adwa! We gave them our all!
March first, 1896, the whole world felt it
The day love was stronger than the cannonball!