The Candle Won't Ask Your Name

Light it, light it, light it

Usher hands me a match at the back of the hall
Said, son, the flame is for everybody, that's all
I came in with a lie about being fine
Coat buttoned wrong and a mouth full of pride
Crooked wick, the wax already low
Somebody lit it long ago
Nobody wrote a name on the glass
Nobody asked me where I had been
Just a small gold tongue saying, come on in

You don't have to be worthy
You don't have to be worthy
You don't have to be sure
Hold the match to the wick
And let the dark ask for more

The candle won't ask your name
It burns the same for the saint and the shame
The candle won't ask your name
Come on in out of the rain
(Siyakubonga)

Light it, light it, light it

Light it, light it, light it
(light it, light it)
Burn on, burn on, burn on
(light it, light it)
Burn on, burn on, burn on
(burn on, burn on)

The woman beside me had a hospital band on her wrist
The man behind me kept a fist in his fist
A child with a cough and a Sunday shoe
Passed the flame along like it was nothing to do
We lit them in a row, one off the other
Nobody said a word, nobody said, brother
The wax ran together on the rail
A hundred small prayers in a single trail
And the room got warm and I forgot to hide
And the candle burned brighter on the inside

You don't have to be worthy
You don't have to be sure
Hold the match to the wick
And let the dark ask for more

The candle won't ask your name
It burns the same for the saint and the shame
The candle won't ask your name
Come on in out of the rain
(Siyakubonga)

Light it, light it, light it

Light it, light it, light it
(light it, light it)
Burn on, burn on, burn on
(light it, light it)
Burn on, burn on, burn on
(burn on, burn on)

When I'm gone and the hall is cold
Matchbox down to its last red match, the usher's glasses on the pew
Let somebody walk in with a crooked wick
And find one small flame still lit
That is all, that is all
Let the little light be the call

The candle won't ask your name
It burns the same for the saint and the shame
The candle won't ask your name
Come on in out of the rain
Siyakubonga, Siyakubonga
The candle won't ask your name

The candle won't ask

The candle won't ask
(light it)
Come on in
(burn on)