[Intro]
The rifles slept at morning,
The horses bent their heads.
The trail had turned to silence,
The fire had turned to lead.

[Verse]
We had crossed the burning valleys,
We had climbed the frozen stone,
We had buried too many children
On a road that had no home.
The soldiers waited quietly,
Their faces hard and pale,
And the wind moved through the cedars
Like the ending of a tale.

[Pre-Chorus]
I looked upon my weary people,
Saw the hunger in their eyes,
What is freedom when the children
Have no strength left to rise?

[Chorus]
The Last Surrender, bitter as rain,
Lay down the rifle, carry the pain.
Not every chain can break the ember,
I will remember The Last Surrender.

[Verse]
They spoke of peace and distant places,
Spoke of mercy, spoke of law,
But I had heard those words before them
From another open jaw.
Still the mothers held their babies,
Still the old men could not stand,
And I felt the whole world closing
Like a fist around my hand.

[Pre-Chorus]
If I fight, I lose the living.
If I yield, I lose the sky.
Some roads cut the soul in pieces,
Some roads teach the brave to cry.

[Chorus]
The Last Surrender, bitter as rain,
Lay down the rifle, carry the pain.
Not every chain can break the ember,
I will remember The Last Surrender.

[Instrumental]
Soft guitar, heavy strings,
Drums like mourning eagle wings.

[Bridge]
Do not call this peace.
Do not call this grace.
I gave my gun to save my people,
Not to bless this stolen place.

[Breakdown]
Hands open.
Heart burning.
Eyes lifted.
World turning.

[Build-up]
Take the weapon, not the name,
Take the road, not the flame.

[Chorus]
The Last Surrender, bitter as rain,
Lay down the rifle, carry the pain.
Not every chain can break the ember,
I will remember The Last Surrender.

[Chorus]
The Last Surrender, under gray sky,
No free man chooses where dreams go to die.
But deep in the dust, beneath every ember,
The spirit survives The Last Surrender.

[Outro]
The rifles slept at morning,
The horses bent their heads.
The trail had turned to silence,
But the old fire was not dead.
