This episode features three original songs from Our Freedom’s Edge: The River We Inherited, Born on Third Base, and The Work of Freedom. Three reflections on history, privilege, and the unfinished work of freedom in America.
Some of the lyrics in these songs reference history, privilege, and social structures in ways that may raise questions. If you’re curious about a specific line or word, feel free to email me and I’ll be glad to explain the meaning or context.
Four hundred years of footsteps
Pressed into this land
Some arrived in chains and sorrow
Some arrived with deeds in hand
One was sold a lifetime
Before the sun could rise
Another claimed a continent
Under open skies
The river we inherited
Still runs through this place
Some were born in storm and shadow
Some in quiet grace
And the current keeps on moving
Through every time and place
Carrying the memory
Of unearned grace
Freedom came in whispers
After cannons lost their flame
But chains can change their language
While the weight remains the same
Fields of dust and courthouse steps
Lines drawn in the sand
Some were told to keep their place
Others owned the land
The river we inherited
Still runs through this place
Some were born in storm and shadow
Some in quiet grace
And the current keeps on moving
Through every time and place
Carrying the memory
Of unearned grace
Maps were drawn in red ink
Where the banks refused a loan
Neighborhoods divided
By the color of a home
Schools that shaped the future
Some bright and some run down
Opportunity had borders
Invisible in town
Privilege is quiet
It rarely speaks its name
It lives inside the starting line
Of every different game
In roads already paved
In doors already wide
In the wind behind the sails
Of an easier ride
The river we inherited
Still runs through this place
But rivers change direction
When courage shows its face
And the current of tomorrow
Is ours to re-embrace
If we dare to name the water
Of unearned grace
The river we inherited
Still runs through you and me
And what we choose to carry
Will shape what it will be
That the race was fair and square
Work hard, keep your head down
And you’ll get your rightful share
They said the road was open
Just courage and good grace
But nobody ever told me
Where we started in the race
Some were born on third base
Cheering like they earned the run
Thinking they were heroes
When the game had just begun
Some were still in the dugout
Waiting for their chance
While others circled home plate
Before they took a stance
History writes quietly
In laws and lines and land
In schools and neighborhoods
And who gets the upper hand
In doors that open quickly
And doubts that never rise
In the benefit of patience
And the freedom of surprise
Some were born on third base
Cheering like they earned the run
Thinking they were winners
When the race had barely begun
Some were fighting uphill
Just to stand inside the game
While others wore the crown
Before they learned the name
Grandparents bought the houses
When the maps were colored red
Others built their futures
On the loans they never had
Generations turning
Like pages in a book
Some inherit ladders
Others only get the look
Privilege ain’t a crime
And it ain’t a personal sin
But denying where you started
Is where the lies begin
Some were born on third base
Now the truth is plain to see
The field was never level
For you and me
So the question of our time
Is not who wins first place
But whether we’ll admit
Where we started in the race
The scoreboard tells a story
If we’re brave enough to read
Justice isn’t charity
It’s giving everyone the lead
Some were born on third base
And the cheering filled the air
But the bravest thing a nation does
Is choosing to play fair
So the story isn’t finished
And the ending isn’t fixed
The game begins again
The moment truth exists
So before we claim the victory
We should tell the truth about the race
Built by hands we never knew
Stone by stone and beam by beam
Carried slowly into view
Every generation
Crosses to the other side
But the weight of every footstep
Tests the strength of what we guide
Freedom isn’t finished
It’s work we have to do
In the quiet acts of courage
And the choices we live through
It isn’t just a story
From battles long ago
Freedom is the work we do
To keep the crossing whole
Some crossed under burden
Some were turned away
Some were told the promise
Would belong to them someday
The river kept on moving
The current pulled the same
But the bridge was never equal
For everyone who came
Freedom isn’t finished
It’s work we have to do
In the quiet acts of courage
And the choices we live through
It isn’t just a story
From battles long ago
Freedom is the work we do
To keep the crossing whole
No nation stays a beacon
Just by praising what it was
Rust will claim the strongest steel
If no one tends because
The bridge survives the future
Only if we understand
Freedom lives in those who choose
To keep it strong by hand
Freedom isn’t finished
It’s work we have to do
In the voices still defending
What the promise said we’d do
The past may build the crossing
But the future is our role
Freedom is the work we do
To keep the bridge whole
The bridge was never perfect
But it carried hope along
The work of freedom calls to us
To keep it standing strong
Lyrics © 2026 Diane Bailey
Music generated using LyricsIntoSong.
Licensed for commercial use by the creator.
All songs written and produced for Our Freedom’s Edge.
