I held my head in my hands, and I trembled
The cries from the crowd and the girl in the camera
I said, in a prayer, a kind of surrender I wished her peace, wondered what she rendered

Neda, you made a place for the innocents, a prayer for the dissidents
Afraid I gave up; I never thought the world could be so small

And the loss of your innocence wasn't enough, I guess
The cost of what you're holding in wasn't everything
All the leaders say, "they'll forget someday,"
But what you'd live to see would take their breath away

These ragged smoldering lines and these embers,
The cries in the night to say they remember the face of a girl,
Who faithful and tender, wanted only peace and not to surrender

Neda, your mother can't cry for your memory or mourn for the tragedy
They tore your grave up
I never thought the world could be so small

And the loss of your innocence wasn't enough, I guess
The cost of what you're holding in wasn't everything
All the leaders say, "they'll forget someday,"
But what you'd live to see would take their breath away

And the flowers on your grave
And the things you gave away were another kind that day
And the flowers on your grave

And the loss of your innocence wasn't enough, I guess
The cost of what you're holding in wasn't everything
But all the people say, "we won't forget the day, and what you lived to see takes our breath away"

Neda, you made a place for the innocents, a place for the dissidents
We nearly gave up
I never thought the world could be so small