Ready to Stand
"Ready to Stand" skips the hero and follows the teacher, the technician, and the courier who get a community back on its feet together.
The stories behind Ready to Stand
- Ready to Stand: A Song Built on Many Hands, Not One Hero — "Ready to Stand" skips the hero and follows the teacher, the technician, and the courier who get a community back on its feet together.
Lyrics
A BORROWED MAP
We gathered by the doorway
With our notebooks and our names
No one carried every answer, but we carried
all the same.
From the hands that knew the hillside to the voices far
away.
Every lesson crossed the distance.
Every small part found its place
we rise with what we share
we build because we care hand to hand
from near and far we turn the dark toward where we are
And when the last green signal rang
The daycare came back
We were ready to stay
A teacher drew the pathway
A technician checked the line
A courier brought the missing piece through dust
and changing skies The elders named the patterns
that the manuals could not see
And every screen of learning
Made a bridge for you and me
No locked door could divide us
No long road could make us small
When the world became a mountain
We became the heads for all
We rise with what we share
We build because we care
Hand to hand, from near and far
We turn the dark toward where we are
And when the last green signal rang
The daycare came back
We were ready to stand
Let the brass call over rooftops
Let the drums awake the ground
Let the voices of our neighbors
Carry every lesson round
What was distant now is with us
What was fragile learned to bend
Knowledge opened every doorway, and the many made one
end.
We are here, we are here, side by side the road
is clear.
We are here, we are here, shared hands turn the tide
this year.
We rise with what we share, we build because we
care. Hand to hand, from near and far
We turn the dark toward where we are
The tools are bright, the room is warm, the work goes on beyond
the storm With every voice and every hand, the
daycare came back
We were ready to stand
We rise with what we share, we build because
we care No one alone, no distant land
Can stop a heart that learns to understand
And when tomorrow calls again
We'll bring the circle back
We'll bring the knowledge in
With every voice and every hand
And the day came back
We were ready to stand
Ready to stand
Ready to stand
Ready to stay
Together we carry the light
Ready to stand
