“People Have the Power” is a rock song written by Patti Smith and Fred “Sonic” Smith, and released as a lead single from Patti Smith 1988 album Dream of Life. The cover photograph is by Robert Mapplethorpe. The music video is filmed mostly in black-and-white and features Patti Smith singing, writing...
[Verse 1]
I was dreaming in my dreaming
Of an aspect bright and fair
And my sleeping, it was broken
But my dream, it lingered near
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
[Pre-Chorus]
That the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
Upon the meek the graces shower
It's decreed: the people rule
[Chorus]
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
[Verse 2]
Vengeful aspect became suspect
And bending low as if to hear
And the armies ceased advancing
Because the people had their ear
And the shepherds and the soldiers
Lay beneath the stars
Exchanging visions and laying arms
To waste in the dust
[Pre-Chorus]
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
[Chorus]
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
[Verse 3]
Where there were deserts I saw fountains
Like cream the waters rise
And we strolled there together
With none to laugh or criticize
And the leopard and the lamb
Lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
To recall what I had found
[Pre-Chorus]
I was dreaming in my dreaming
God knows a purer view
As I lay down to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you
[Chorus]
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
[Bridge]
The power to dream, to rule
To wrestle the world from fools
It's decreed: the people rule
It's decreed: the people rule
Listen. I believe everything we dream
Can come to pass through our union
We can turn the world around
We can turn the earth's revolution
[Chorus]
We have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
[Outro]
The power to dream, to rule
To wrestle the world from fools
It's decreed: the people rule
It's decreed: the people rule
We have the power
We have the power
The people have the power
We have the power
People Have the Power was written by Fred Smith & Patti Smith.
People Have the Power was produced by Jimmy Iovine & Fred Smith.
Patti Smith released People Have the Power on Wed Jun 01 1988.