Holy Old City

[Verse 1]
I see a soldier with a gun slung on her shoulder
And a grandpa with a toddler on his knee
Here across the sea
A siren warning blares against the call to prayer
I hear a foreign and familiar harmony
Here among the fossils of apostles
And the remnants of descendants
Where centuries are circles and eternity's a day

[Chorus]
In this holy old city
In this holy old city

[Verse 2]
A cloud of smoke beyond the hilltop from a headline horror
Just beyond a border from me now
I do not know how to reconcile the beauty I am witnessing
With all the hatred on the screen I'm scrolling down
Do I kiss the ground beneath my feet
Or kick the hot tin can down the old dirt street?
Here in the desert where my mother wandered
I am wondering

[Chorus]
In this holy old city
In this holy old city

[Verse 3]
Up on the roof, the mosque, the wall, the church
Seem all from the same heart
But down below the bloodlines boil in the sand
As gods and kings demand that scrolls and slabs of stone
Say if this land is their land
While folks from every stripe and creed
Live in hope and fear and need

[Bridge]
Peace is the common language
And we're all fluent, but speechless
Peace is the common language
And we're all fluent, but speechless
Peace is the common language
And we're all fluent, but speechless
I am fluent, but speechless

[Chorus]
In this holy old city
In this holy old city
Holy old city
Holy old city

[Outro]
A group of travelers stop to photograph themselves
Already desperate to remember what they've yet to see
A girl whose face is covered by a veil is walking up ahead
She looks a lot like me

I will walk this ancient land
I will search for what is true
I will try to understand
Then I will come back home to you