Count My Heart
Kathleen Hannan

Mandela on the day he was released

That this should finally happen in my lifetime
I am filled with joy like a dreaming child
We only know what has gone before
Who can say what is coming now?

But this has finally happened in our lifetimes
We are filled with joy like the mountain side
And so we stand in line, a thousand at a time,
to be counted.

Count my heart which is beating
Count my eyes which are open
Count my children, my sisters, my brothers
Whose hearts were once beating
Their voices once sang with us
Their spirits will always sing:
Freedom is coming
Freedom is coming
Freedom is coming, we paid with our lives
because no one gives freedom away
Freedom is coming, we’re coming to take it
cause no one gives freedom away.

Thanks, Kathleen, for this song, whose lyrics came in part from an NPR interview with a South African woman in an endless line to vote. This song is vital to the soundtrack of my life. You can buy the CD “Count My Heart” at CDBaby