I’ve been asleep for a long, long time
Blond hair to brown and then brown to white
My ma is buried beside my dad
But I was asleep for all of that
I shut my eyes for a moment’s rest
‘Cause I get so tired
What thing transpired while my body slept?
Beset my mind
All the schools that I went to have all been closed
And all of my teachers are dead I suppose
The songs that we sung have all gone quiet
What happens below as you sleep at night?
I shut my eyes for a moment’s rest
‘Cause I get so tired
What things transpired while my body slept?
Beset my mind
The river’s up, the reeds are caught
Halfway across what never was
The water rose and swept in slow
When the reeds awoke they were half below
I’ve been asleep for a long, long time
Blond hair to brown and then brown to white
My ma is buried beside my dad
But I was asleep for all of that
I’ve been asleep for a long, long time
Blond hair to brown and brown to white
My ma is buried beside my dad
But I was asleep for all of that
angus hang up
you're not gonna win like this
losing your head and losing your grip
say your goodnights
and head out to the yard
out by the fence where the birch trees are
if words could explain
there wouldn't be this
unspeakable pain buried deep in your chest
get it out angus
get it out.
they planted a tree
the year you were born
but it grew in a V and it's still only short
pulled apart and stunted
but it's not like that's you
or it somehow represents
no, you'll straighten this out and stand tall till the
get it out angus
get it out
pull it out...
get the roots
get it out.
now, dirt undernails
and a whiskey or two
and we're laughing out loud at all the shit we've been
through
get it out angus
you cringe, you complain
you sing, sing, that old refrain
the roof is falling in
the roof is falling in
i'm not kidding
you can probably feel the wind
no, no, not again (darling go to sleep)
put your head on my legs (breathe deep)
it's not time for your untimely end, yet (no not yet)
no no no no no no no not yet
i got this feeling you'll live to get what you
give...you'll be an old man soon...
you wait, you waver
you think, think, always must consider
cause every path's a problem
every turn is trouble
and you'll probably never solve them
so why not love them?
no no this is not allowed (darling go to sleep)
wrap that busy head in sound (breathe all this in)
rocking gently inside this (the din be peace)
no, no, no, no, no, no, yes! yes! yes!
i got this feeling you'll live to get what you
give...you'll be an old man soon...
i know its messy but you'll make it right
you don't want pity you want pride
a king, a lion, a god among men and children who cry
when the thunder begins
their heads fall to their chests while you watch from a
great height
with your head high
In the wet grass out back
we spread the sheet
and with one last easy laugh
the night released
we breathed the dark, the shaking stars
the distant, constant cars
breathed the sweet
air between us
What was it like?
to be young, strong, stupid and drunk
soft in the jagged night
my open, rosy throat
dekeing secret knives
now we close these petals
to the oncoming ice
And I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out, I'm not
Coming out.
My love, my love is dead I buried it
in the falling leaves, looking awful green, in the whipping wind
my love, my love is dead I buried it
and it's better hid, all the shit we sling into the whipping wind
my love, my love is dead I buried it
just an honest kid, I always did everything they said
my love, my love is dead I buried it
you and I made a pact
a deal that as we lay dying
we'd think about eachother then
and smile as we're taken in
I listened like a little child
to the story of your earthbound pilot
he plummeted so violent
a parachute not opening
and rushing to oblivion
he broke into that knowing grin
I think about that a lot
cause a lot is what I've not got
and a smile is what I least expect
in the clutches of this darkness
you I was surprised to hear
your birdsong velvet in my ear
the phone broke its silent stint
I pulled the cord and I needed it
you billowed like a bowl of silk
Who is at my window weeping,
Weeping there so bitterly?
It's I, it's I, your own true lover
Arise, arise and pity me.
Darling, go and ask your mother
If my wedding bride you'll be
If she says no, return and tell me.
And I'll no longer trouble thee.
I cannot go and ask my mother
For I'm her only child and dear
Oh, darling, go and seek some other,
She whispered softly in his ear.
And Darling, go and ask your father
If my wedding bride you'll be
If he says no, return and tell me.
And I'll no longer trouble thee.
I cannot go and ask my father
For he lies in bed and rest
Beside him lie that silver dagger
To slay the one that I love best
Then William took that silver dagger
And pierced it through his aching heart
I bid adieu, to all false loved ones.
I bid adieu, for now we part.
Then Mary took the blood-stained dagger
And pierced it through her lily breast.
I bid adieu to my cruel parents.
I bid adieu, for now we rest.
I bid adieu to my cruel parents
i raised my head from the riverbed and i tasted the air
i built my home of oak and stone and i feasted on the
animals and earth
i raised my kids in modern beds and i taught them to take
what's theirs
i built this town on god and doubt and science (an
economy of fear)
i drained the pond and the woods beyond for dinner, and
the river for a song
the more i've got the more i want. i'm blinded…but i'm
waking up!
tired eyes, open wide
blossom iris into lily white
tired eyes, open wide
salty brine - bluest sky
tired eyes, open wide
so march is in like a lion
and she marches out like a lamb
you can't blame a girl for trying
we all need a helping hand
maybe someone who could drag me up
out of my dirty dreams
pick me up and dust me off
so i might spread some relief
you build your life out of diamonds
and you brush away the dirt
and you brush away the problems
and you wonder what
that good life's got
miles of rope to
burn
there's a girl tied to the train tracks
down the road from your house, singing
"the western world could mark a throwback
spaghetti dangling from their mouths"
if life is sex and entertainment
then i die some everyday
i'll count my losses and cash my chips in
i might better spend my pay
you build your life out of diamonds
and you brush away the dirt
and you push away your problems
and you wonder what
the good life's got
piles of rope to
tie down the dying
you can stop the train...
don’t you swing like a child,
in a tree, on a tire, in 85?
there’s an arc that your feet will ride
on the way between hate and that sunday fire
and that sunday fire
you look so serious
oh, you look so serious
the night is serving us
but you look so serious
and this could be our reward
this could be it
and this could be our reward
this could be it
this simple friday night
where you’re loosening your tie
but there's a tightness in your eyes
you look so serious
why do you look so serious?
the night is serving us
and we’re deserving it
and this could be our reward
this could be it
and this could be our reward
this could be it
this could be all we're owed
all we're owed, all we're getting
and this could be our reward
this could be it
this simple friday night
when you’re loosening your tie
but there's a tightness in your eyes
cause if we swing like a child
then we’re always colliding this time of night
but our arcs, they could align we could align!
we could align!
and over gravity up comes this kicking child
the rain starts off and it wakes you up
you can't sleep with that racket on the roof
you get up slow but you can't get going
it seems this morning the lowness has won
did you stop to see? mediocrity and your self pity,
they were stealing a kiss, look at their lips, still
shiny
did you notice that happiness
happens less the more often you stop to find where it's
been hiding
you say, "it's not my fault that i get so low
there's a weight on my soul that just keeps pulling me
down,
it's pulling me down, i swear it"
so come on by my house and unleash me your monsters
with you at the healm we'll go crashing around together
don't mistake some initial hate for something more that
cautionary
cause baby this is love, i'll come down to hell to keep
you company
of all the days we've got we should be screaming out...
of all the days we've got we should be singing...
what's to be done? one hundred and one
in a tent for twelve with fingers and elbows
in innocent ribs, we're minding our business
we're just minding our business instead of minding our
minds
in times when the storms will ravage your clothes,
the sound and the colour could render you blind
and the throes of a nightmare can sing you to sleep
then some foreign machine wakes you up at a mean hour
but heaven is there, under your hair,
it hides in the noon noise way up in the air
like a bird on the breeze
waiting for you and maybe me too
whats there to do? one hundred and two
are out on the doorstep and they're pushing the bolts
back
they're wanting in, they're humming our hymn
everybodys singing like beautiful birds...
in the trees, listen to it, it's easy man, you can do
it too
sing: i know what i want
i know what i need
cause it's the simplest thing
of all the nights we've got we should be stepping
out...
of all the nights we touch we should be swinging around
from house to house
if i could cheer you up it would mean so much,
clowns in love and laughing it off, laughing it off,
laughing it off
you say, "its not my fault that i get so low
but to drown you too, that's a sick way to love, it's a
sick way to love,
get your things
we're leaving
when the morning birds are singing
we're sailing
cause its time to go
what's to come only fate can show
see her move like a toreador
wielding her cloak and sword
like some twisted sport
but i believe
if we run into red full speed
then there isn't a blade beneath keen enough to pierce
our skins
cause we won't let it in
(in)
i've carried this preconceived false belief
that secretly everybody's fooling me
just acting sweet
but i'm not taking it anymore
cause the only thing that i ever learn
is when trusting a stranger your trust will be returned
(return it)
so we're taking the boat tonight
we're taking our aging lives
and we're waving a new goodbye
our arms open wide
wait-wait-wait-
before you go i want you to know
all that you were and the sound that you made when you
moved
before you leave i need you to see
all that you mean, you would hardly believe it
sitting in the kitchen wondering how it is i'll tell
you this
when the phone rings, so i start right in then:
we are shells or instruments, inside there's sound that
speaks to us
if you listen, and i've been listening
and i'm sorry to reduce you to this useless imagistic
bullshit
but maybe that's all i've got
maybe that's all i've got
sorry to confuse you with some foolish thing that
misses truth
but maybe that's all we are
around a brightly dying star
these spiralled shells, so sexual, could out-reveal the
texts we dwell upon,
or maybe not, but certainly
a sound that's free can open me and easily
just rip my heart out, and start me shouting:
this is how i feel... listen
i'm sorry to reduce you to this useless imagistic
bullshit
but maybe that's all i've got
maybe that's all i've got
sorry to abuse you with this ruthlessly sadistic music
but maybe that's all i want
(i'm just a really pretentious guy)
but wait! wait! wait! wait! wait! wait!
before you go, i want you to know
all that you were, and the sound that you made when you
moved
before you leave, i need you to see
all that you mean, you would hardly believe it
you would hardly believe it...
if i could just speak it...
In the white I wake up
In the white I die
Somewhere in the red, I see your eyes
In the green I'm out walking
and in the green I live
Somewhere in the red, I have your lips
I dream of a cloud
I dream of you
In the blue I'm rising, like an ocean
and in the blue it's down, I sail
Somewhere in the red, I taste your skin
The girls they loved his face
Cut their fingers and they could not look away
Hut your son never saw a thing
His eyes wrapped in all of these dreams
Coloured cloth in autumn gray
Coloured cloth covered with bloody stains
and without the pain
We learn to love again
my dream to find
My dream come true
In the black I feel you
In the black I sense
were you born in water,
a fish so cold?
were you born in autumn,
as the river froze?
cause you shut up
and you're shut in
and i know that
you've got your reasons
but even still, listen:
honey, let your red heart show
won't you let your red heart show?
won't you let your red heart show?
can't you let your red heart show?
were you born a closed book,
full of secret lines? (and bound so tight)
or did you learn to lock it,
as not to break your spine? (oh! you were bound so
tight)
cause you shut up
and you're all shut inside
and i wanted to get you smiling
and maybe once in awhile you could try
and maybe let your red heart show
honey, let your red heart show
come on let your red heart show
come on let your red heart show
won't you let your red heart show?
won't you let your red heart show?
don't you let your red heart go cold
don't you let your red heart go cold
we were given so much and we let it go
we were given so much and we're getting old
we were promised so much but we let it go
we were promised so much and it's going i know
but you look so good when you're laughing you know
yeah you look so good when you let it show
honey you look so good when you're laughing
going to the mall
gonna spraypaint in my angry red scrawl
on the front steps in
"enter the temple and worship him"
then maybe i'll go right through
those big glass doors and do what i do
i need to buy a curtain
so the neighbours can't see in at what i do
cause everybody needs a secret
and everybody needs a sin
and we could all get richer that rich, man
if we wanted to market them
when you leave it's a maze
it's amazing i can find my way
when the streets twist and blend
i always end up at your doors again
i can't find my way home, can't find my way...
sooner or later you'll get what you're waiting for...
sooner or later we'll get what you're waiting for...
sooner or later we'll get what we're waiting for...
going to the mall
but i'm not gonna write a thing
it just costs too much when they call me on
how much i love to give out and give in
so kneel down to the god
that determines everything
kneel down to the lust
but often it happens you know
that the things you don’t trust are the ones you need
most
so it's cautiously into the dark
but you see before long that your eyes will adjust
and under the night you can hear
the full moon rise like a psalm in the air
and the air goes into your lungs
and around in your heart and on through your blood
it goes cautiously into the dark
and you see before long that we all have a part
and under your skin you can feel
that the fear that you feel is what will set you free
and under the night you can hear
the full moon rise like a psalm in the air
open arms
i was starved
white desert ground
i was dry
a hungry child
i lived my life dotted 'i's
knotted fingers toed the line
i lived my life dotted 'i's
these knotted fingers toed the line
then your open arms, your open arms, your open arms
i've been crying all of my life i guess
and all my smiles were just cringing and tired
now your sleeves are drying my eyes
i find these bleary sights are cuff polished and bright
i've been crying all of my life
when you got to the gates, what did they say? what did
they say?
they said, "what you trying to prove...you're gonna
give us away!
making those sounds down on the ground, thats no
place...
we tried to buy the time for you to give it up,
maybe stumble and fall under the weight..."
scottie, there comes a day, where we begin again,
we begin again, we begin again,
and you'll recognize it then, you'll recognize it then,
you can feel it in your face, you can feel it in your
step,
you can feel it in your veins, you'll recognize the end
and then begin again.
and then floating on your back, what did you see? what
did you see?
did you dive too deep? like you always did
and when you made your move, did the wolf move too? did
she breathe you in?
we tried to figure out if when your lungs filled up
with the memphis blue muck, did you still sing on? did
you still sing:
scottie, there comes a day, where we begin again,
we begin again, we begin again,
and you'll recognize it then, yeah, will i recognize
you then?
will i feel it in the face? could i see it in the step?
could i hear it in the veins?
could i communicate it then? could i communicate the
grace?
could i bring it in? could i bring it out?
only in my dreams, i'm just a selfish little kid, too
ready to receive,
more ready to give in, than to begin again.
this is nowhere good enough
this is nowhere close enough
this is nowhere pure enough
when i'm dying
promise compliance
and carry my body
up over the fence
and lie me on the moss
we'll hide my spirit from the gods
and when they come looking
we'll be lying in the park
i don't want wires
i know they're trying to bring me back
but no more plastic
i've had my piles of all that
i've been swathed in inventions
ever since i ventured to the light
and i'm leaving empty
with just my sacrifice
(cause you sacrifice
all of your life
and when you die
is that alright?
when you're bathed in light
and when your body bursts wide open
do you start to cry?
holy shit
what a relief
i pulled myself apart - couldn't breathe - tore my hair -
bit my skin
i thought of all the dark - all the ash - all the blood -
all the grief
i told myself look up - told myself look up and believe
and now this peace - like a blanket - enveloping me.
and holy shit
what a relief
the worst has come
and turned to leave
and holy shit
what a relief!
all that weight falling from me
are you a wolf,
warm in your pinstripes?
is your pen a bootknife,
drawing red and dollar green?
(two colours for everything)
look how the teeth gnash
look how they smile
it's some kind of witchcraft
that keeps us laughing all the time
we did our jobs
so quick and calm
wasted no love
have i been drinking? my feet are kicking
like someone's pushing this institution down my throat
(and i'm going to choke!)
is this a living, this steady gunning?
it's got a rhythm, sure, a hemiola to my pulse
(a messy rush!)
we did our jobs
so quick and calm
wasted no blood
ambition, give me wings
ambition, break my legs
she swims inside my head
was planted in my skin
(and i can’t forgive!)
have i been driving? i see the lines bend
but i've not been steering and i keep on veering to the
right
(to those blissful lies!)
when did they reach me, while i was sleeping?
when did they rein me? interrogate my better sense
(with their fucking rent!)
and all my teachers, those dusty pilgrims
those plucky speakers are all just victims of a lie
(that they can't deny!)
we did our jobs
so quick and calm
bad luck just weaves through the city,
but it's keeping away from us
we move at a crawl through the traffic
and water street is humming along
with me and cecilia singing
and banging on the dashboard in time,
we sing the words on her father's gravestone
and he's there in the humid light...singing:
don't let the bastards grind you down
good luck's in town for the weekend
so we stumble around until dawn
daylight just melts through the narrows
and those morning birds are humming along
with me and cecilia singing
and stamping on the asphalt to prove
we are the children of strength and of vigor
we were born in the morning blue...singing:
don't let the bastards grind you down
when you're all, 'Jesus Murphy'
and 'Ave Maria'
and 'send me the courage'
and 'let me be delivered'
cause there's devils among us
there's devils living among us
some have not got their teeth up
and some are ashes and near-dust
and they're riding the freeways
and they're locking their front door at dusk
and they're raising their families
and they're raising their fingers at us
but this is a good town
this here is a heavy ancient thing
this is a new land
this here is a thing they'll never see
when they're all 'Jesus Murphy'
and 'Ave Maria'
and 'send me the courage'
and 'let me be delivered'
don't let the bastards grind you down
bad luck just weaves through the city
life is long
pulling right from wrong
legs like a rock
yet you're blown by the wind
when you walk
night time falls
so you walk on home
burning moon singing:
breathe it out, breathe it out
breathe it out's what you shout
as you run from the building
on home through the crowd
death is quick
slap of pigeon's wings
out of an alleyway
and into the light
on up into the light
Just feel them multiply
Like hungy flies in the sweet summer night
In the woods they were waiting, in a word they arrived
One doubt from your red mouth, and armies align
And once you say it you can't take it back
It was a beautiful home we had, built with our own two hands,
And the amber years we got left, gone in a single breath
They put their eyes to their rifles
There was a quick fist of light
And we were bricks in a pile
Cause once you say it you can't take it back
Oh once you say it you can' take it back
Feel them multiply
Like a hundred eyes aiming at the words in your breath
you bright sun
you darkest dirt
hardest paradox i ever learned
you're tireless
and i tire quick
it’s the easy death of reason within my chest
you bright sun
you darkest dirt
hardest cryer i ever heard
you cry out your orders
you cry out your pain
and every letter's followed like its sacrosanct
i'm at the mercy
of an idiot tyrant king
i jump high! talk loud! and listen? i'm always listening!
cause he built his throne from my bones and skin
i love, i hate, i hate to live this way
a dog, a slave, we do what our deity dictates
and i just want
someone to lean on
i just want someone
you're under another night
and you drank too much of that rye
you're riding your bike
and you're tearing a left at the lights
you can smell that the summer is done
and the winter hangs over us all
you'll go to work when the morning has come
but now there's nothing but stars
pull me out of my, pull me out of my body
and into the black
the one feeling you wanted, you want it,
is the one thing you're holding back
now no one could call you weak
you've been as stoic and strong as could be
but nothing is simple or straight
and you drank till they turned you away
there's so much to take in, so much to taste
even shadows and edges all explode in your face
but then remember a fall night
with the moon as big as your mind
becky, i keep having this dream
in the night where it seems i can fly
but only when no one's around
when the people appear i come plummeting down
jung, carl, tell me, what can that mean?
i swear i'm not scared, i'm just happy to be here
how can you tell me that these beautiful things
are holding me back before i even begin?
becky, i keep having this thought
that you don't even exist and i just made you up
cause it's a sin to be alone in your prime
on the grass with a stain on your pants from your bike
young carl, tell me, what can it mean?
i swear i'm not sad i'm just lucky to be here
how can you tell me that these beautiful things
are holding me back before i even begin...
to pull me out of my, pull me out of my body
and into the black
the one feeling you wanted, you want it,
is the one thing you're holding back
pull me out of it, pull me out of it
and into the black-black-black
pull me out of it and into a fall night
It will come around
but everything is now
I know everything is right now
And the loneliness is a lot
the nothing weighs a ton
I mean the nothing weighs a fucking ton
That half of the bed
empty like a page
all the cursive claims you've yet to make
All the promising lines
bending like her spine
oh the whiteness that your pen could write
If you get these bandages off
you can stand, you can walk
leave these towels and gauze
you'll get up, you'll get out
into the sun
That's where we belong
we've been abed too long
all our weaknesses are growing strong
But the winter always ends
with water on your lips
the april rain comes swinging in
Get these bandages off
let me stand, let me walk
leave these towels and gauze
let me up, let me out
into the sun
Cause come she will
Oh come she will
She comes oh
she comes son
crows pitch on the lawn screeching a song
the inmates wake up and they're pulled to the bars
to pine their regrets and their rusting corvettes
and the tragedy they once had a part...in
they said "you ruined a life--you pissed on a prize"
it's still pulling your knuckles to your palm
(fucking conscience is siding with the wrong side)
you know the devil's not deep--no, no, he's brushing
your cheek
and hearing him breathe you remember a song
just another angel through the clouds and into the
ground
just another pilot through the clouds and into the
ground
just another child through the chrome sets out on his
birds shit on your car, you're scraping it off
do they know who you are? don't they know who you are?!
they sing "you ruined a life-- you pissed on a prize"
still pulling your knuckles to your tie
you carry on, hunched over your job
(start the engines i'm dying in the long line)
but you wanna get off and run away from it all
and run away from it all...
you plan your escape, at the end of the day, you plan
your escape
you take what you saved, and you get on a plane, yeah
you take what you saved
and you start fading away, as you're turning the page,
you start fading away
(just another angel through the clouds and into the
ground
just another pilot flying down
just another devil out of the dirt and back into the
earth)
(fucking conscience is siding with the wrong side
everyone around wants to give you their thanks
everyone around wants to give you their hands
we want to thank you so much! we want to thank you so
much!
may every breath you breathe be built on sacred things
and i don’t wish for this alone
these are twisted times when trust and truth collide
when a stranger’s love could make your heart explode
i want to give it all back! if i could give it all back
i'd send a thousand suns to warm your worthy lungs
and i don’t wish for this alone
everyone around wants to give you their hands
everyone around puts their hands on your back
and they say: we want to thank you so much! we want to
thank you so much!
cause all you did for them, you also did for us
what you’ve done is not yours alone
what you’ve done echoes on and on
The rain starts off and it wakes you up
You can't sleep with that racket on the roof
You get up slow but you can't get going
It seems this morning the lowness has won
Did you stop to see? Mediocrity and your self pity,
They were stealing a kiss, look at their lips, still shiny
Did you notice that happiness
Happens less the more often you stop to find where it's been hiding
You say, "It's not my fault that I get so low
There's a weight on my soul that just keeps pulling me down,
It's pulling me down, I swear it"
So come on by my house and unleash me your monsters
With you at the healm we'll go crashing around together
Don't mistake some initial hate for something more that cautionary
Cause baby this is love, I'll come down to hell to keep you company
Of all the days we've got we should be screaming out...
Of all the days we've got we should be singing...
What's to be done? One hundred and one
In a tent for twelve with fingers and elbows
In innocent ribs, we're minding our business
We're just minding our business instead of minding our minds
In times when the storms will ravage your clothes,
The sound and the colour could render you blind
And the throes of a nightmare can sing you to sleep
Then some foreign machine wakes you up at a mean hour
But heaven is there, under your hair,
It hides in the noon noise way up in the air
Like a bird on the breeze
Waiting for you and maybe me too
Whats there to do? One hundred and two
Are out on the doorstep and they're pushing the bolts back
They're wanting in, they're humming our hymn
Everybodys singing like beautiful birds...
In the trees, listen to it, it's easy man, you can do it too
Sing: I know what I want
I know what I need
Cause it's the simplest thing
Of all the nights we've got we should be stepping out...
Of all the nights we touch we should be swinging around from house to house
If I could cheer you up it would mean so much,
Clowns in love and laughing it off, laughing it off, laughing it off
You say, "its not my fault that I get so low
But to drown you too, that's a sick way to love, it's a sick way to love,
