Hearts of Oak may refer to:
Ted Leo (born Theodore F. Leo on September 11, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana), is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has played in the bands Citizens Arrest, Chisel, the Sin-Eaters, the Spinanes, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. He has also kept up a consistent presence as a solo performer since the late 1990s.
Though born in Indiana, Leo grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where his family is from, and spent many formative years in the hardcore punk scene of New York City during the 1980s and early 1990s. He graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange in 1988 and the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1993 with a degree in English. His brothers Chris Leo and Danny Leo are also singer-songwriters, and members of Native Nod, The Lapse, The Van Pelt, Vague Angels and Holy Childhood. He is a vegan.
Ted is a fan of and frequent contributor to WFMU, most notably to Tom Scharpling's "The Best Show on WFMU."
I was walking along some downtown avenue.
I was whistling a new song to myself.
and it went, it went something like this one,
but I just couldn't make it end.
but I was talking about this song to a friend of mine,
and she sang me a new song of her own.
she said, she said the cards are still stacked against her,
but she said she could still do it alone.
and i saw for all of us, she spoke:
"wont you stand up for the hearts of oak?"
I was listening to this song by this friend of mine.
I was feeling what she said, i was hearing her rage.
she said, "no weak, no weak heart shall prosper!"
she said, she said,"nothing's wrong,
and I belong on this stage" and i saw for all of us,
she spoke: "wont you stand up for the hearts of oak?"
and I saw her stand - she couldnt be broken.
and I saw her show her heart of oak
again and again and again and...
If you think, if you think, everything is cool (yeah, yeah),
can't you hear, can't you hear what the girl goes through? (yeah, yeah)
can you tell, can you tell me that it's not true?
(no, no) can you find, can you find the heart of oak in you?
when the night, it ends, and you've awoken,
wont you stand up with your heart of oak again?
like the girl withstands
she cant be broken wont you stand up for the hearts of oak
again and again and again and again
I was walking along some downtown avenue.
I was sharing the sidewalk with my friend.
we were singing this song together and it sounded so good,
we said, we said "let's sing it again!" (and it had
no end)...