The World on a Brink

Well, the tensions rose in '62, a standoff cold and grim
Nuclear shadows hanging tight, the world looked awfully dim
And the bravest faces in the town, they couldn't hide their dread
With two superpowers at the brink, and history in their head
Some folks always say we're free, our fate is ours to choose
But who speaks for the ones who live with nothing left to lose
In the halls of power, the talks went all through the night
A world on the edge of tears, clung to hope with all its might
The gambit played with human lives, a pawn on a chessboard vast
While families huddled close in fear, praying the storm would pass

But it's the will of people strong, that bends the arc of time
On the brink of darkness then, we chose to climb
Now we stand in history's glow, but the lessons burn so deep
With missiles locked away from launch, the price of peace ain't cheap
In every heart the memory stays, of just how close we came
To a world forever changed, to an ever-burning flame

Some will talk of victories, of politics and spies
But the truest win was life itself, beneath uncertain skies
The drums of war, they beat again, echo in the halls
Leaders stand with lines so drawn, while the uncertain call
And the youth with distant eyes, inherit skies turned grey
With talks of fire and fury's path, we fear the break of day
We know leaders play their games, where rhetoric takes its toll
But we're the ones who walk the streets, believing in our soul
Gone the sirens of the past, but new shadows now are cast
Voices rise 'gainst the roar, saying 'We won't fight your war'
We've seen the cost, counted the dead, won't relive the past we dread

'Cause it's the voice of every soul, that pushes back the night
In the face of darkness now, we kindle our own light