Shibboleth

Treat me like dirt 
I can take the hurt 
As long as you say you love me 
I will try to walk on water for you 
All you need do is tread gently on me 
I'll bear the burden of guilt for the world 
The pain and the blame for all that goes wrong 
No need for trickery to carry the load 
Only too willingly I'll take it on

Couldn't you see I'd have walked through fire 
Just to hear you speak my name 
With the pride and the joy you used to show?

The words that we said have lost all sense 
In the Babel that has engulfed me 
Many are the voices saying different things 
I can't hear my own in the din 
Many are the lines to read between 
And I seem suddenly to have lost my place 
Even the unity that was your voice 
Has shattered into barbs that pain me

Couldn't you see I'd have walked through fire 
Just to hear you speak my name 
With the pride and the joy you used to show?

Shibboleth, all meaning gone 
Shibboleth, it's time to move on

Couldn't you see I'd have walked through fire 
Just to hear you speak my name 
With the pride and the joy you used to show?

The promises we made in faith have dissolved 
In the flood of tears I have wept for you 
The firm ground on which we used to stand 
Submerged by your own knowing hand 
Underwater held until it drowned 
Only then 'Love' did you baptise it 
And seek to return me to your arms 
The fallen with garlands now re-crowned