Come, you beloved—come one, come all
Drink in the fresh air away from that stifling hall
The outsiders who never got asked to the prom
Are hosting a ball of their own
No one’s guarding the door, no one asks where you’re from
The ones who were last are now leading the dance
Refrain:
Leading the dance
Take your turn leading the dance
Winds of the Spirit are changing so fast
And the ones who were last are now leading the dance
Dance at the table, dance at the wall
Dance in the place where they’ve never seen dancing at all
There’s no waiting for any permission this time
Because nobody bothered to ask
When the voice of the Healer says “Rise up and walk”
You don’t say “May I please?”, you just lead in the dance
Refrain
Dance in the light-stream through broken prison bars
Dance in the darkness alive with a billion bright stars
This is not time for fretting what others will think
‘Cause you never know when it’s your turn
Just remember the Wisdom: the first will be last
And the ones who were last are now leading the dance
Refrain (2x)
The ones who were last are now leading the dance
The ones who were last are now leading the dance
Copyright ©2020, 1999 by Lee Krähenbühl / Found Space Music. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. Permissions: LeeKrahenbuhl@aol.com.
Composed: Kalamazoo, Michigan, Spring 1999, with lyric revisions at Fairland Heights, Maryland, Autumn 2020
First public performance: Plymouth Church UCC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 25, 1999
Notes: Written as the theme song for the conference “Leading the Dance: Living the Church Re-Imagined,” Plymouth Church UCC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 25-27, 1999, a gathering of the Brethren-Mennonite Council for LGBTQ+ Concerns. Published in the anthology Shaping Sanctuary: Proclaiming God’s Grace in an Inclusive Church, Kelly Turney ed. (Chicago: Reconciling Congregation Program, 2000) 354.
Lee Krähenbühl, PhD 