Over My Dead Body

[Image: 'Meltdown' Front Cover]

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Lyrics

After the Nazis we were baited by the Russian bear
Our "liberators" wanted Poland for a thoroughfare

I was a victim of December 1981
I took a final beating from the blunt end of a Russian gun

You plant your missiles while our people wait in line for bread
You hang an army tank above us by a bloody thread

You bought our government they crawl like bleating sheep to you
We know from history that human life is cheap to you

Over my dead body
Redemption draweth nigh
Over my dead body
I hear a battle cry

Try and blow out the fire
You're fanning the flames
We're gonna rise up from the ashes
'Til we're ashes again

You make a mockery of all that we hold sacred here
You drive us underground in hopes that we will disappear

We seek our sanctuary where the altar candle burns
Our dignity's a legacy the cross of Jesus reaffirms

Over my dead body
Redemption draweth nigh
Over my dead body
I hear a battle cry

Try and blow out the fire
You're fanning the flames
We're gonna rise up from the ashes
'Til we're ashes again

After the Nazis we were baited by the Russian bear
Our "liberators" wanted Poland for a thoroughfare

Rise up my brothers don't despair the Iron Curtain's rod
Someday we'll draw the string assisted by the hand of God

I was a victim of December 1981
I took a final beating from the blunt end of a Russian gun

You made a memory--the memory will multiply
You may kill the body but the spirit--it will never die

Over my dead body
Redemption draweth nigh
Over my dead body
I hear a battle cry

Try and blow out the fire
You're fanning the flames
We're gonna rise up from the ashes
'Til we're ashes again

Recorded Appearances

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About The Song

From Clone Club News Flash Spring/Summer 1984, Spring/Summer 1984:

When persecution hits the church, it separates the wheat from the chaff. Last summer I took my second trip behind the Iron Curtain to the country of Poland, and once again met with people who have counted the cost and decided that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than personal security and possessions. While in Warsaw I walked into a church courtyard and saw a huge cross on the ground made of thousands of flowers. Pinned to the cross were photos of a young man, and I asked a person next to me what their significance was. He explained that the young man was a member of the church who had volunteered to obey the Lord's command to visit those in prison by delivering food supplies stored in the church basement to imprisoned Solidarity members who were being underfed. The Polish secret police found out what this young man was doing, and one day in May, 1983, they stopped him on the street and beat him to death. 1 John 2 says, "The man who says, 'I know God,' but doesn't do what he commands is a liar...but if anyone obeys His word, God's love is made complete in him." "Over My Dead Body" is both a memorial to this young man's faith and courage, and a cry of outrage against the government that pulls the strings of the Polish regime.

From Ichthus 1984, April 28th, 1984:

This summer I noticed more and more that we got a lot of Christian things going on in the United States, a lot of Christian activities, a lot of that stuff is good. But this summer I got the opportunity to go behind the Iron Curtain where they don't have the kind of Christian stuff that we have. I remind people all the time that Jesus is alive, you have to depend on things like the Bible to make sure that faith is where it's supposed to be.

I went to the country of Poland, I got an opportunity there to see people who understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus, not because they have the freedom to, but because they really want it. It seems like when persecution comes, it separates the wheat from the chaff. If you weren't really a Christian, if you weren't really a believer, there's no reason to say you are anymore, because you're going to suffer for it.

I remember going into Warsaw, in the old town square. I was walking around through the courtyard there and I came across this big church, and next to the church was an archway. I went in through the archway, and there was another courtyard there, and the sun was shining down. On the stone floor was this huge cross made up of thousands and thousands of flowers. Pinned to that cross were pictures of a young man, photographs. I asked the guy next to me, "Who is this young man? Why are his photographs pinned on this cross?"

He said, "The young man was a member of the church here. He volunteered to do what the Lord commands us, to visit those in prison. So he volunteered to take food supplies that had been stockpiled in the basement of the church, and deliver those food supplies to imprisoned Solidarity members who were being underfed."

One day he was stopped by the secret police, kind of a goon squad for the Polish government, and of course their whole government is just a puppet of the Russian government. The police asked him what he was doing, he told them, and they took this young man out in a back alley, and they beat him to death.

I John chapter two says, "The man who says 'I know God' but doesn't do what he commands is a liar, but if anyone obeys His word, the love of God is made complete in him." So we want to dedicate this next song to the faith and courage of that young man who understood that talk is cheap, that we show our love for God by our obedience to Him. While we're at it, let's make this song a song of protest to the government that was responsible.