Adapted by Norah and Ziysah von Bieberstein
from the original song lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
We’re the strong ones, we’re not nervous
We’re as tough as the crust of the earth is
We fight for what concerns us
And we glow ’cause we know what our worth is
We know how hard all the work is
We’re prepared to fight for what serves us
Destroyers, greed-mongers, you’re free no longer
We see all the factions, we call you to action
But
Under the surface
I feel berserk as a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus
Under the surface
Was Hercules ever like “Yo, I don’t wanna fight Cerberus?”
Under the surface
I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service
A flaw or a crack
The straw in the stack
That breaks the camel’s back
What breaks the camel’s back it’s
Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that’ll never stop, whoa
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip ’till you just go pop, whoa
Give it to the children, the children are smarter
Give ‘em all the problems that our greed got started
Who are we if we can’t run with the ball?
If we fall to
Pressure like a grip, grip, grip and it won’t let go, whoa
Pressure like a tick, tick, tick ’til it’s ready to blow, whoa
Give it to the children, the children’ll sort it
I’m sure they can fix the balance we distorted
Who are we if we can’t carry it all?
If we falter
Under the surface
I hide my nerves, and it worsens, I worry something is gonna hurt us
Under the surface
The ship doesn’t swerve as it heard how big the iceberg is
Under the surface
I think about my purpose, can I somehow preserve this?
Line up the dominoes
A light wind blows
You try to stop it tumbling
But on and on it goes
But wait
If I could shake the crushing weight of expectations
Would that free some room up for joy
Or relaxation, or simple pleasure?
Instead we measure this growing pressure
Keeps growing, keep going
‘Cause all we know is
Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that’ll never stop, whoa
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip ’til you just go pop, whoa-oh-oh
Let’s share it with each other, so we can hold it,
Find the joy in living how our Elders taught us
Join roots so we buckle and bend but never break
Cause our fates are
Connected like a grip, grip, grip and we won’t let go, whoa
We got each other’s backs, backs, backs and we’re ready to go, whoa
Come and join us and we can wonder
At the earth’s laws that we live under
Who are we? We’re the kids who have what it takes
No Plan-et Beeeeee
Climate change
We’re on it!
