The beacons are lit
The first fire on Jeju
The second on Songni Mountain
The third in the market street
The fourth right here, in your chest
In exile I wrote my last piece
This time not a poem but a call to rise
Ten years I held it in, ten years I hid it
The blade hidden at the brush tip, I draw it now
The Jeju wind carries this writing out
It reached a clown's hands and rose to the people's mouths
There is no more time to write in ink
The night has come when letters become embers
I came down from the mountain
I did not take off the robe — this is my armor
Instead of the wooden bell I took up a torch
The praying is over. Now it is my turn.
You told me to let go of the anger
But tonight the anger lights the road
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
From mountain to mountain the fire spreads
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
One person's ember becomes ten thousand fires
The scholar's ink became the clown's song
The clown's song became the people's roar
We hide no longer
Tonight, we are the beacon
I took off the mask, I am a clown no more
Snapped the drumstick and traded it for a torch
Ten years smiling with poison in my mouth
These feet that mimicked a nobleman's walk
Walk toward the palace today
The people of the market street follow behind
The guards draw swords and still we do not stop
A thousand voices weigh more than one blade
Beyond the palace wall the shouting carries
King, open your window
The writing you erased has come back
The people you killed have come back
Like letters blooming out of ash
We are the thought you could not kill
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
From mountain to mountain the fire spreads
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
One person's ember becomes ten thousand fires
The scholar's ink became the clown's song
The clown's song became the people's roar
We hide no longer
Tonight, we are the beacon
I began with a brush
I began with a prayer
The writing became a song
The prayer became fire
The ink does not dry
The anger does not go out
We began apart
But tonight we are one fire
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
Across all eight provinces the fires are up
Raise the signal fire, raise the signal fire
Not even rain puts this one out
The ink of the exile became the prayer of the temple
The prayer of the temple woke the market street
And the market street woke the whole country
Tonight Joseon opens its eyes
The beacon goes out
But the ember remains
Ink and embers
Ink and embers