God is alive magic is afoot
God is alive magic is afoot
God is alive magic is afoot
Alive is afoot magic never died

God never sickened many poor men lied
Many sick men lied magic never weakened
Magic never hid magic always ruled
God is afoot god never died

God was ruler though his funeral lengthened
Though his mourners thickened
Magic never fled
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live
Though his words were twisted
The naked Magic thrived
Though his death was published
Round and round the world
The heart did not believe

Many hurt men wondered many struck men bled
Magic never faltered magic always led
Many stones were rolled
But God would not lie down
Many wild men lied many fat men listened
Though they offered stones
Magic still was fed
Though they locked their coffers
God was always served magic is afoot
God rules alive is afoot
Alive is in command many weak men hungered
Many strong men thrived
Though they boasted solitude
God was at their side
Nor the dreamer in his cell
Nor the captain on the hill magic is alive
Though his death was pardoned
Round and round the world
The heart would not believe
Though laws were carved in marble
They could not shelter men
Though altars built in parliaments
They could not order men
Police arrested Magic
And Magic went with them
For Magic loves the hungry

But Magic would not tarry
It moves from arm to arm
It would not stay with them magic is afoot
It cannot come to harm
It rests in an empty palm
It spawns in an empty mind
But Magic is no instrument magic is the end
Many men drove Magic but Magic stayed behind
Many strong men lied
They only passed through Magic
And out the other side many weak men lied
They came to God in secret
And though they left him nourished
They would not tell who healed
Though mountains danced before them
They said that God was dead
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live
This I mean to whisper in my mind
This I mean to laugh with in my mind
This I mean to mind to ser 'til
Service is but Magic
Moving through the world
And mind it'self is Magic
Coursing through the flesh
And flesh it'self is Magic
Dancing on a clock
And time it'self the magic length of God

Copyright: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Writer(s): Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen