The Hammer Has to Fall

My name is Daniel Berrigan Chaplain at a hospice for the die I had seen the face of death, it is for life I bring this hammer down My name is Molly Rush, I have six children They deserve a future I strike this blow today for the children all the world around I hear the prophet's cry of hope, ring through the prison wall We've waited 30 centuries to see that hammer fall If we think we've got 30 more, we cannot see at all For swords into plowshares The hammer has to fall My name is Elmer Moss Were this a peaceful world, I'd sit and play piano But lacking Nero's conscience I could not watch that fire devour the land My name is John Shushard I am no stranger to the prison that awaits us But where genocide is legal I stand in outlaw with the hammer in my hand I hear the prophet's cry of hope, ring through the prison wall We've waited 30 centuries to see that hammer fall If we think we've got 30 more, we cannot see at all For swords into plowshares The hammer has to fall Dean Hammer is my name Micah and Isaiah, my tradition Oh, I tried to be their scholar But could not escape their logic in the end My name is Philip Barigan In World War II, I flew the bombing missions Now with every blow I strike today I say the bombs will never fall again I hear the prophet's cry of hope ring through the prison wall We've waited 30 centuries to see that hammer fall If we think we've got 30 more, we cannot see at all For swords into plowshares The hammer has to fall Carl Cabot is my name I have lived and worked among the third world peoples I've seen corporations flourish While the poor were left to fight for every breath My name is Anne Montgomery My life spent in community with women I bring their healing power to this factory of carnage and of death I hear the prophet's cry of hope ring through the prison wall We've waited 30 centuries to see that hammer fall If we think we've got 30 more, we cannot see at all For swords into plowshares The hammer has to fall The hammer has to fall