Nine days before I was born you were gone But what you left behind Great architect of health reform came forth From your soft heart and tougher mind When nothing good comes easy We fight for the dreams that we hold When you finally got that bill through though You had to stuff their mouths with gold And the purpose of power is to give it away This is my truth tell me yours And freedom won’t be freedom until poverty is gone So Nye, your dream’s alive and strong Nurse tired and drained it’s 2 a.m. She’ll summon up the strength again and smile It’s not for the weight she does this job It’s a greater call that cannot be defined The surgery, the plaster tape The arm around the aching and confused And drugs to give a little one more time to play Should never be refused And the purpose of power is to give it away This is my truth tell me yours And freedom won’t be freedom until poverty is gone So Nye, your dream’s alive and strong The accident, the cancer cell The final breath of sacrament at dawn The beating heart, the broken And the cry of the fragile being born Nine days before I was born you were gone But what you left behind Your greatest hour remains with us If we hold on with soft hearts and tougher minds For no society can call itself civilised If the sick are denied through lack of means And if you don’t believe me take a plane my friend Go break your arm, see what it costs in New Orleans And the purpose of power is to give it away This is my truth tell me yours And freedom won’t be freedom until poverty is gone So Nye, your dream’s alive and strong