Lyrics: Broken teeth, a shattered jaw Ten to one, behold my God Wicked sons of Heaven’s loss Raise your own inverted cross Kings of earth, iron first Serve the sacred you dismissed Stand before your final day Choke on every line you pray Raise your glass to death Not one second left Wake the lifeless, die to fight this Stand beside me, storm the gates of Hell Wake the lifeless, die to fight this Stand beside me, storm the gates of Hell Storm the gates of Hell Storm the gates of Hell Coward’s heart, a serpent’s tongue Stand to face what you’ve outrun Fear of death, fear of pain Bound to all you took in vain No more lies, no regrets Sever ties and hollow debt Open eyes, live to learn Or watch your blessed temple burn Raise your glass to death Not one second left Wake the lifeless, die to fight this Stand beside me, storm the gates of Hell Wake the lifeless, die to fight this Stand beside me, storm the gates of Hell Storm the gates of Hell Storm the gates of Hell Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all Hell hath no fury at all (Hell hath no fury at all) Hell hath no fury at all (Hell hath no fury at all) Hell hath no fury at all
English lyrics (stanza 1) [TLH 260]: O Lord, look down from heav'n, behold, And let Thy pity waken; How few are we within Thy fold, Thy saints by men forsaken! True faith seems quenched on ev'ry hand, Men suffer not Thy Word to stand; Dark times have us o'ertaken.
German lyrics (stanza 1): Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh' darein Und lass' dich des erbarmen, Wie wenig sind der Heil'gen dein, Verlassen sind wir Armen: Dein Wort man laesst nicht haben wahr, Der Glaub' ist auch verloschen gar Bei allen Menschenkindern.
Lyrics: A child in sweet duplicity For innocence? Or slavery to nature And the bents that haunt him straight out of the womb? He doesn't have to learn the things unseemly that his instinct brings To carry like a burden from the cradle to the tomb You'll never have to teach him how to lie If we are born in innocence, well, don't you wonder why? For selfishness already dwells inside The birthright of Adam, the curse of the old man Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying Behold! The loving family man Who tries to do the best he can And loves his wife and children even more than his own life But just like that, a wandering eye leads to a suffocating lie And selfishness and deep betrayal cuts them like a knife If mankind doesn't have a sinful drive Then tell me why he'd wreck his life to get some on the side? The warring of two natures deep inside Starving the new keeps the old man alive Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying Soul-sickness nailed to a cross Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying [background:] (Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying) Humankind in innocence, a lie so thinly veiled Man born without soul-sickness: this is the fairytale (Whoa...hide in the fairytale) Day and night Jekyll and Hyde in the fairytale This is much more frightening Darkness and light Feed the new man and tear the veil See the old man dying
Lyrics: I've been working for my whole life to get to the other side And try to achieve true righteousness All the scourges and whips I cracked The flesh I ripped off my back It only led me to emptiness Here I am, a broken man who's done all that a man could do And found that it's only filthy rags Monasteries, religious schools, indulgences, laws and rules It all added up to nothing and darkness and death Vanity, heartache, and emptiness Efforts all fading away The flesh and defeat that it brings ‘Till You guide me and show me things That my eyes have never seen before As I burst forth from the belly of the beast Never fight it anymore For the burden on my life has been released Nail it to the door Nailed these ninety-five things I've learned They'll say that I must be burned For God has no place for heretics All the things that they try to sell It's trickery straight from Hell To turn it into a den of thieves See these madmen peddling the wares of dead men's souls Collecting on a debt already paid so long ago There's fire in my spirit, and fire in their eyes For now they'll want to burn me alive Yet freedom rings Unworthiness is all I bring The blood of Christ is all I claim This grace revealed everything That my eyes have never seen before As I burst forth from the belly of the beast Never fight it anymore For the burden on my life has been released Nail it to the door
Lyrics: Well, speak of the devil He's no friend of mine To turn from him is what we've got in mind Just a liar and a thief The Word tells us so We like to let him know Where he can go To hell with the devil To hell with the devil When things are going wrong You know who to blame He will always live up to his name He's never been the answer There's a better Way We are here to rock you And to say To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil To hell with the devil Devil Devil
Lyrics: No inception, not a sound Break or fault line in the ground When the devil come Idle hands in quiet peace Waiting for my soul to sleep When the devil come Pure deception painted clean Vacant flesh in lucid dream When the devil come When the devil come Let my spirit breathe When the devil come Lay me at your feet Come to me in shallow waters Hold me underneath When the devil come All my world is painted lust Every need there ever was When the devil come I will fold in seconds flat Throw my heart into the black When the devil come When the devil come Let my spirit breathe When the devil come Lay me at your feet Come to me in shallow waters Hold me underneath When the devil come When the devil come Let my spirit breathe When the devil come Lay me at your feet Come to me in shallow waters Hold me underneath When the devil come No inception, not a sound Break or fault line in the ground When the devil come
Lyrics: The Angel of Death came to David's room The Angel of Death came to David's room The Angel of Death came to David's room He said, "Friend, it's time to go"' [David] "Angel, no, I think you've come too soon Angel, no, I think you've come too soon Angel, no, I think you've come too soon It's not my time to go" [Angel] "Sorry friend, now put your hand in mine I'm sorry friend, now put your hand in mine" [David] "But good angel, don't I get a warning sign Before it's my time to go?" [Angel] "Come now David, where's your grandma gone? Come now David, where's your grandpa gone? Come now David, where's your grandma gone? Their time came to go" [David] "But I slew Goliath with the sling and stone I slew Goliath with the sling and stone I slew Goliath with the sling and stone It's not my time to go" [Angel] "He'll be waiting for you when we get back home He'll be waiting for you when we get back home He'll be waiting for you when we get back home It's time, it's time to go "Come now David, where's your momma gone? Come now David, where've your uncles gone? Come now David, where've your aunts all gone? Their time came to go" [David] "Can I tell Solomon the things I've learned? Can I tell Solomon the things I've learned?" [Angel] "I'm sorry, friend, that's none of my concern It's time, it's time to go "Come now David where's Uriah gone? Stranded on the battlefield The troops withdrawn Come now David, where's Uriah gone? His time came to go "Come now David, where's Bathsheba gone? And where've your binoculars and rooftop gone? The unexpected baby from the bath night gone? Their time came to go "Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going? Come now David, where is everybody going?"
Lyrics: Half-mast land grants homesteading laws Past Dodge Summit toward Athabasca Falls Practicing our Avocets and Gnatcatcher calls [Owl] I laid down our guns where the soldierfish swam And slept inside the shoe of the world's tallest man And I saw Charlotte Corday with the knife in her hand (It was nothing new) I've perched on Steele Dakota's sandhill crane I flew among the Paiute before the Mormon rain I was in Virginia City for the stringing up of Clubfoot Lane (But I've never seen anything like You) All untied, by and by! But I'd pour the matrimony wine All untied, by and by! So if you're ever so inclined (So if you're ever so inclined) (So if you're ever so inclined) Low in a lodgepole branch nearby A lovesick Barnyard, an amorous eye [Walrus] What unprecedented gift does this afternoon provide? What from the air now calls to water on the land? What from my seclusion does this charlatan demand? What to do now with my best-laid eremetic plans? [Owl] I've been to the Arfaks where the Sicklebills fly Seen Tangier's acrobatics nine stories high I was there at Appomattox back in '65 When the General arrived But I've never been in this room before! [Walrus] (Aside) All untied, by and by! That same old dream's trapped in my mind All untied, by and by! I'm bound in ropes and on the firing line All untied, by and by! Well I wake up disappointed every time I wake up disappointed every time! Oh, I wake up disappointed every time! If the weather ever withers up your vine Jacob knows a ladder you can climb If that old thorn is still buried in your side Jacob knows a ladder you can climb [Owl] Well if your Pacific rivers all run dry Their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky And if the pleasures of your heavens ever end That very ladder just as well descends If the weather ever withers up your vine Jacob knows a ladder you can climb If that old thorn is still buried in your side Jacob knows a ladder you can climb And if your Pacific rivers all run dry Their clouds will fill my loud corrupted sky And if the pleasures of your heavens ever end...
Lyrics: There is a light I've seen beneath the end Nothing below can seem to hold it in Deep enough to feel your heart break To know I've gotta leave Just below the surface, waiting Close enough to breathe When I go to sleep Bury me three feet deep I'm not half as dead as they are Half as dead as you All of the weight Dead weight, to keep me there Still not enough No grey to fill the air Deep enough to feel your heart break To know I've gotta leave Just below the surface, waiting Close enough to breathe When I go to sleep Bury me three feet deep I'm not half as dead as they are Half as dead Half as dead as you Bury me three feet deep I'm not half as dead as they are Half as dead Half as dead as you All your convictions Still not enough to wake All your convictions Still not enough to wake When I go to sleep Bury me three feet deep I'm not half as dead as they are Half as dead Half as dead as you Bury me three feet deep I'm not half as dead as they are Half as dead Half as dead as you
Omg, the song that allready brought tears to my eyes, just got more depressing, slowed down also extends the amount of time im enduring a mental breakdown of doom. Thanks alot😢
Lyrics: Oh God, hold me now Oh Lord, hold me now There's no other man who could raise the dead So do what You can to anoint my head Oh God, where are you now? Oh Lord, say somehow The devil is hard on my face again The world is a hundred to one again Would the righteous still remain? Would my body stay the same? Oh God, hold me now Oh God, touch me now There's no other man who could save the dead There's no other garden to place our head Would the righteous still remain? Would my body stay the same? There's no other man who could raise the dead So do what You can to anoint my head Oh God, hold me now Oh Lord, touch me now
Lyrics: I have called you children, I have called you son What is there to answer if I'm the only one? Morning comes in Paradise, morning comes in light Still I must obey, still I must invite If there's anything to say If there's anything to do If there's any other way I'll do anything for you I was dressed embarrassment, I was dressed in wine If you had a part of me, will you take your time? Even if I come back, even if I die Is there some idea to replace my life? Like a father to impress Like a mother's mourning dress If we ever make a mess I'll do anything for you I have called you preacher, I have called you son If you have a father, or if you haven't one I'll do anything for you, I'll do anything for you I'll do anything for you, I'll do anything for you I did everything for you, I did everything for you I did everything for you, I did everything for you I did everything for you, I did everything for you I did everything for you, I did everything for you
Lyrics: We didn't sleep too late There was a fire in the yard All of the trees were in light They had no faces to show I saw a sign in the sky Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans I heard a voice in my mind "I will try, I will try, I will try I will try, I will try, I will try" We saw the dragon move down My father burned into coal My mother saw it from afar She took her purse to the bed I saw a sign in the sky Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns I heard a voice in my mind "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord" He said, "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord" He said, "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord" He will take you If you run He will chase you He will take you If you run He will chase you Because He is the Lord 'Cause He is the Lord 'Cause He is the Lord 'Cause He is the Lord 'Cause He is the Lord (Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans) 'Cause He is the Lord (Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans) 'Cause He is the Lord (Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans, seven swans)
Lyrics: Once in the backyard She was once like me She was once like me Twice when I killed them They were once at peace They were once like me Hold to your gun, man And put off all your peace And put off all the beast Paid a full of these, I wait for it But someone's once like me She was once like me I once was better I put off all my grief I put off all my grief And so I go to hell, I wait for it But someone's left me creased And someone's left me creased
Lyrics: Definitely not the things that I'm seeing Did I think I'd see so instantly I found a note in my grandfather's coat When I read it out loud I got cold He said, "I'm not complaining Yeah, I was just saying I'm a man, I'm a lost one you see Come down with me to a place We'll get clean and we'll meet with Him eventually" You mean everything I don't know much But a crutch is a crutch If it's holding you from moving on I don't know what to do Not anymore, not anymore I don't know what to do Not anymore, not anymore And you, well you mean everything You mean everything to nothing You mean everything to nothing You mean everything to nobody but Me You mean everything to nothing You mean everything to nobody but Me
Lyrics: I fought the Spirit with a sword in my side Cheat, wanted a way out, crack my rib, wait to die I think I know You the best when I sleep I think I know everything Me and my brothers, we have tongues sharp as knives I found a way out, make a noise, close your eyes I think I talk to You best when I sing I sing about almost everything Oh, God I need it So let me sing again Take me to the river And let me see again Oh my God Let me see again Oh my God Let me see again Let me see again Grace taught a debtor Daily I'm strained to be God how I feel it Fetter pride to your feet I'm gonna leave You the first chance I get I'm gonna leave You the first chance I get I'm gonna leave You the first chance I get I'm gonna leave You the first chance I... get And oh God, I need it Well I was wrong again Take me to the river And make me clean again Oh my God Make me clean again Oh my God Let me see again
Lyrics: Two, three, four I waited patiently for the Lord He inclined and heard my cry He brought me up out of the pit Out of the miry clay I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song? How long, how long, how long How long to sing this song? You set my feet upon a rock And made my footsteps firm Many will see Many will see and fear I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song I will sing, sing a new song How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song? How long, how long, how long How long to sing this song?
Lyrics: All dark effects I'd long withstood Upon my room advanced The moving shade of Birnam Wood Disguised by broken branch I struck firm the hollow of your thigh Withheld My name, yet from determined hold I could not fly; Though every tendon came undone Would you take a bound-up Isaac's place? "Are you a God and shall your grace Grow weary of your saints?" Or prefer the father's dreadful fate? Are you a God, and shall your grace Grow weary of your saints? (Though every tendon came undone Safe in the arms of the Kingdom Come) Floodwater filled your formless birth A column cloud descends Were sorrow's measured by Your worth Our grief would have no end Yet may my heart in tune be found In four-shape notes from underground-- And can we not call it 'a nervous breakdown,' My nervous system breaking down? Would you take a bound-up Isaac's place? Are you a God, and shall your grace Grow weary of your saints? Steady is a knife held sure by faith Are you a God? And shall your grace Grow weary of your saints? Riding in a westbound railcar They'll dump you in the Highgate Graveyard They'll dump you in the Highgate Graveyard (Poison-in-the-teacup-graveyard, alpha-radiation-graveyard) Come untie your son Before the angel comes Come untie your son Come untie your son Come untie your son Come untie your son Come untie your son
Lyrics: Her not one motion or gesture could I forget The prettiest bag lady I ever met Pushing her cart in the rain Then gathering plastic and glass She watched the day pass Not hour by hour... but pain by pain And I was a basket filled with holes And she was the sand I tried to hold That ran out behind me As I swung at some invisible hand I stopped believing, You start to move (She was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine) I stopped my leaving and the better man bloomed (And you can pour us out and we won't mind) I was dead then alive She was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine You can pour us out, we won't mind A scratch around the mouth of the glass My life is no longer mine And if you're still looking for a blanket, sweetie I'm sorry, I'm no sort of fabric But if you need a tailor Then take your torn shirt And stumble up my stairs And mumble your pitiful prayers And in your tangled, knotted sleep Our midnight needles go to work Until all comfort and fear Flows in one river Down in the shop by the mirror Where you see yourself whole And it makes you shiver I stopped believing, You start to move (And she was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine) I stopped my leaving and the better man bloomed (And you can pour us out and we won't mind) I was dead then alive She was like wine turned to water then turned back to wine You can pour us out, we won't mind A scratch around the mouth of the glass Our lives are not our own Even the wind lay still Our essence was fire, and cold, and Movement, movement, oh If they ask you for the sign of the Father in you Tell 'em it's movement, movement, movement, oh! and repose
Lyrics: Why burn poor and lonely Under a bowl or under a lampshade Or on the shelf beside the bed Where at night you lay turning like a door on its hinges? First on your left side Then on your right side... Then your left side again Why burn poor and lonely? Tell all the stones we're gonna make a building We'll be cut into shape And set into place Or if you'd rather be a window I'll gladly be the frame Reflecting any kind words We'll let in all the blame And ruin our reputation all the same So never mind our plan making We'll start living Anyway, aren't you unbearably sad? Then why burn so poor and lonely? We'll be like torches! We'll be like torches! We'll be like torches... Oh! We'll be torches together... Torches together! We'll be like torches! We'll be like torches With whatever respect Our tattered dignity demands Torches together, hand in hand Why pluck one string What good is just one note? Oh, one string sounds fine, I guess, but We were once 'one note' We were lonely wheat Quietly ground into grain What light and momentary pain! So why the safe distance This curious look? Why tear out single pages When you can throw away the book? Why pluck one string When you can strum the guitar? Strum the guitar! Strum the guitar! Strum the guitar With no beginning, with no ending Take down the guitar and strum the guitar! Strum the guitar if you're afraid And I'm afraid and everyone's afraid and everyone knows it But we don't have to be afraid anymore You played the flute But no one was dancing You sang a sad song But none of us cried You played the flute But no one was dancing And you sang a sad song And none of us cried You played the flute But no one was dancing You sang a sad song But none of us cried You played the flute But no one was dancing And you sang a sad song You sang such a sad song
Lyrics: Winter solstice, the earth open wide With a heart crushed like footsteps in snow (fictitious persons disclaimers implied To all listening from rooftops below) It had rained and the air was like perfume outside As the sky changed We began when the ground was still dry Planting vineyards where vineyards don’t grow Shaping cypress with pitch on both sides For the nights when our trumpets won’t blow That regret still there circling like vultures inside As your face changed? They don’t stay inside (there but for Thy grace go I...) Through the eyes of machines, immaculate scenes That had already passed me by All the stars on the ground, Noah’s ark in the clouds Set sail in the flood of my mind The other animals drowned in blasphemous towns And asked as they passed me by: “was to do as I please a European disease?” Winter solstice, the earth had closed down So with breastplates of righteousness low Searched for streams in the caves underground Where the Baptists and bootleggers go And you smile but your vampire complexion still shows And your past shows It’s really all that shows (so often unrecognizably so) Through the eyes of machines, immaculate scenes That had already passed me by All the stars on the ground, Noah’s ark in the clouds But the thought in the back of my mind: “does my misery feed a metaphysical need That’s long since passed me by Neither reasoning why Nor offering reply?” Dear my newlywed wife You’re not the love of my life It had already passed me by--- Finally grasping the line Casting pearls before swine?
Lyrics: Waiting on my obstacle Am I the last to bother? Hip bruised blue, your pre-sin tomb Grasping for the bottom Daddy's at the hospital The gator finally got him Face to face he tricks himself "It's better now than autumn" Car key, blondie, dog tag from the pound No one wants you like me, stick around It's so profound Waiting on your obstacle Wondering how you got her Boy, you best not throw it out The breath before the bottle Deep seed, bloody, dogma from the ground No one loves you like me, hear that sound It's all around In the light, you arrive, as the curtain closes Intertwined and attached to his soul There were not any sermons to speak There was goodbye and hello Where did you end when it was beginning? Finalized, an immaculate ghost There was only a moment to see There was laughter in the cold I don't want to lose control Fall like that again I don't want to lose my mark Burn it in my head Daddy's at the hospital The music finally got him Face to face he tells himself "It's better than without 'em" "It's better than without 'em" "It's better than without 'em" "It's better than without 'em"
Lyrics: [The Alien] The lights were low enough, you guessed You swapped your conscience with your father's medication Limped from Rome to Lawrenceville And on the way, wrote out a self-made declaration And when you got to Pleasant Hill You forced the traffic to erase your family demons And made a pact with you and God: "If You don't move I swear to You I'm gonna make Ya" Do you need me? Do you need me? Do you need me? Do you need me? When the first officer arrived It happened to be the high school bully of your brother When you finally recognized You felt some guilt that you had even let him touch you Can you hear me? What's your name? You could not speak, just laid amazed at all the damage As the high school's letting out All the kids're saying the same thing that they used to It's an alien It's an alien It's an alien It's an alien The lights were low enough you guessed Hospital food, there's never enough medication The doctor asked about your ears You said your mom said you were made from a revelation But Revelation never scares Your fear came from your drunken dad and a pair of scissors Were you just finally letting go? Or did you mean to take out all those people with you? "Didn't mean to Didn't mean to Didn't mean to Didn't mean to" Oh, I didn't mean to (Take the time to terrify the throne) Oh, I didn't mean to (You'll never let it go) No, I didn't mean to (Take the time to terrify the throne) Oh, I didn't mean to (They'll never let you go) Time is here to take your last amendments and believe them on your own Time is here to take you by the hand and leave you there alone (You won't ever know) Time has come to take the last commandment and to carve it in your stone (You won't ever know) Time has come to take you by the hand and leave you here alone [The Sunshine] I already know that I don't already know You are the sunlight I don't really care if you don't understand You are the moonlight And that's alright, alright with me Oh, that's alright I don't really mind if you don't really mind You are the sunshine You don't have to know if you don't want to know You are the moonlight Oh and that's alright, alright with me Oh that's alright, alright with me Oh that's alright, alright with me Oh that's alright, alright with me Oh that's alright, alright with me Oh that's alright Alright (I'm) alright (I'm) alright (I'm) alright (I'm) alright [The Grocery] "I don't know where I'm going but I'm going anyways" So you leave the apartment, grab the gun under the bed I want to reach above the paradox where nobody can see Want to hold a light to paradigm and strip it to its feet I want to feel the way my father felt, is it easier for me? I want to know if there's a Higher Love oblivious to me So you walk in the grocery and you, you unload several rounds "Don't you dare move a muscle," cardboard cutout ads I want to reach above the paradox where nobody can see Want to hold a light to paradigm and strip it to its feet I want to feel the way your father felt, was it easy for belief? I want to know if there's a Higher Love he saw that I can't see Looking back, it's obvious now, you believe Him or you don't So you load up your pistol and you, you press it to your lips And you squeeze on the trigger, all it does is clicks I want to reach above the para-blind where nobody could see Want to hold a light to paradise and see if I could sleep I want to feel the way our fathers felt when it swept them off their feet I want to know about that Higher Love you saw that can't be seen The only obvious equation, you believe it or you don't And I've been trying to find the right way to get out of here I've been trying to find the right way to get out of here This is the only Way to go This is the only Way
Lyrics: In a sweater poorly knit and an unsuspecting smile Little Moses drifts downstream in the Nile A fumbling reply, an awkward rigid laugh And I'm carried helpless by my floating basket raft Your flavor in my mind's back and forth between Sweeter than any wine, as bitter as mustard greens And it's light and dark as honeydew and pumpernickel bread The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead Go plow some other field, and try and forget my name We'll see what harvest yields, and, supposing I'd do the same I planted rows of peas, by the first week of July They should have come up to my knees But they were maybe ankle high Take the fingers from your flute to weave your colored yarns And boil down your fruit to preserves in mason jars And the books are overdue and the goats are underfed The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead You're a door-without-a-key, a field-without-a-fence You made a holy fool of me and I've thanked you ever since And if she comes circling back we'll end where we'd begun Like two pennies on the train track the train crushed into one But if I'm a crown without a king, if I'm a broken open seed If I come without a thing, then I come with all I need No boat out in the blue, no place to rest your head The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead I do not exist, I do not exist, I do not exist I do not exist, I do not exist, I do not exist I do not exist, I do not exist, I do not exist I do not exist, only You exist, I do not exist
Lyrics: "I do not exist," We faithfully insist Sailing in our separate ships And from each tiny caravel-- Tiring of trying, there's a necessary dying Like the horseshoe crab in its proper seasons sheds its shell Such distance from our friends Like a scratch across a lens Made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood Our paper blew away before we'd left the bay So half-blind we wrote these songs on sheets of salty wood Caught me making eyes at the other boatmen's wives And heard me laughing louder at the jokes told by their daughters I'd set my course for land But you well understand It takes a steady hand to navigate adulterous waters The propeller's spinning blades held acquaintance with the waves As there's mistakes I've made no rowing could outrun The cloth low on the mast like to say I've got no past But I'm nonetheless the librarian and secretary's son With tarnish on my brass and mildew on my glass I'd never want someone so crass as to want someone like me But a few leagues off the shore, I bit a flashing lure And I assure you, it was not what I expected it to be! I still taste its kiss, that dull hook in my lip Is a memory as useless as a rod without a reel To an anchor ever-dropped, seasick-yet-still-docked Captain spotted napping with his first mate at the wheel Floating forgetfully along, with no need to be strong We keep our confessions long and when we pray we keep it short I drank a thimbleful of fire and I'm not ever coming back Oh, my God! "I do not exist," we faithfully insist While watching sink the heavy ship of everything we knew If ever You come near, I'll hold up high a mirror Lord, I could never show You anything as beautiful as You
English lyrics (rough translation): Come sweet death, come blessed rest! Come, lead me in peace, for I am tired of the world, come, I am waiting for you, come soon and lead me, close my eyes Come blessed rest! Come sweet death, come blessed rest! In heaven it is better, since all joys are much greater, therefore I am always ready for the farewell, I close my eyes. Come blessed rest! Come sweet death, come blessed rest! I want to see Jesus now And stand by the angels. It is henceforth complete therefore good night to the world, my eyes are already closed. Come blessed rest!
German lyrics: Komm, süßer Tod Komm süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh! Komm, führe mich in Friede, weil ich der Welt bin müde, komm, ich wart auf dich, komm bald und führe mich, drück mir die Augen zu Komm selge Ruh! Komm süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh! Im Himmel ist es besser, da alle Lust viel größer, drum bin ich jederzeit schon zum Valet bereit, ich schließ die Augen zu. Komm selge Ruh! Komm süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh! Ich will nun Jesum sehen Und bei den Engeln stehen. Es ist nunmehr vollbracht, drum Welt zu guter Nacht, mein Augen sind schon zu. Komm selge Ruh!
Lyrics: Don't waste your lips on words I've heard before Kiss my tired head. And each letter written wastes your hand, young man Come and lead me to your bed You gave me hope that I'd not lost her And then thought it rather strange to see me smile-- As I don't...I don't do too much smiling these days. She put on happiness like a loose dress Over pain I'll never know "So the peace you had, " she said, "I must confess, I'm glad to see it go." We're two white roses lying frozen just outside His door I've made you so happy and so sad, But which should I be more sorry for? Come kiss my face goodbye, That space below my eye and above my cheek Cause I'm faint and fading fast, and I see a darkness And I shall be released. I'll pass like a fever from this body, And softly slip into His hands I tried to love you and I failed, But I've another plan. How long, my Lord? How long to sing this song? And my Lord, how much more of this pretending to be strong? She'll stand before Your throne Dressed in beauty not her own All soft and small, You'll hear her call "You brought me here, now...now take me home."
Lyrics: Pharaoh song: Is there a balm in Gilead To heal the sin-sick soul And make the wounded whole? Thirty sons’ thirty towns’ Mournful sounds Formed beneath the sword and crown--- Caught up in the green screen clouds Firey rain: Brimstone came pouring down On the cities of the plain came down? On children of the same came down? But Mary, don’t cry Please don’t you cry Mary, please don’t you cry Bride adorned in garments of salvation, torn: A promise to an air sign Born on the cusp of Capricorn? Daughters of Jerusalem: Arouse, ye love! Sons overusing sounds like “love” with its permission or an emphatic absence thereof: Harvest past, summer’s end If we still are not saved Was I not sufficiently ashamed? Neither did I blush save to speak your name? Seraphim and Cherubim: serving Arab wine from Hebrew skins In whose anger you’ll find no sin: Now’s as dreadful a time as any to begin But Mary, don’t cry Please don’t you cry Mary, please don’t you cry
Lyrics: If God wills this time tomorrow, bound for Boise via plane (willful mispronunciation of my destination’s name) I’d like to write a sequel to “The State That I Am In” If God wills this time tomorrow in the early morning rain I’ll unpack the boots I borrowed and turn back the way I came I’d like to write a sequel to “The State That I Am In” And I’d like to call the song "New Wine, New Skins" “God’s will” or “come what fortune gives”-- or is this truly how you’d choose to live: managing the narrative? Come, unfastening android limbs in the moonlight through translucent skin Now we’ve both been there and back again, to the state that I’m no longer in with carbon fiber lips whereby came thought reflex personified Now a scorpion in the sky, harmless as a butterfly "You can pin and mount me likewise!" If you fail first, some warm, bright day I’ll unperform at your unmarked grave, and you can tell me what those eyes have seen but for now the Creek-don’t-rise routine with churning engine, fix my head up north in the Gold Fork riverbed from the misuse of intelligence and all I wish I’d said pours out new wine, new skins “God’s will” or “come what fortune gives”-- or is this truly how you’d choose to live? Is this truly how you’d choose to live?
Lyrics: On a bus ride into town I wondered, "Why am I going to town?" As I looked around At the billboards and the stores I thought, "Why do I look around?" I got up and bowed And I kissed the filthy ground And in the first dry spot I found I laid back down Without having to wonder Why I was laying down Before long I was too cold And so I took a bus back to the station I found a letter left by a pay phone With no return contact And it read like a horn blown By some sad angel: "Bunny, it was me It was me who let you down" It was the shyest attempt I'd ever seen at conversation If I didn't have You as my guide I'd still wander lost in Sinai Counting the plates of cars from out of state (How I could jump in their path as they hurry along!) Until you surround me You're pretty but you're all I can see Like a thick fog If there was no way into God I would never have laid in this grave of a body For so long St. Cyril's fair always came through The first week of September But it's already the 19th And there's no sign of it yet I have a hard time remembering The things I should remember And a hard time forgetting All the things I should forget Oh Christ, when you're ready to come back I think I'm ready for you to come back But if you want to stay wherever exactly it is you are That's okay too - It's really none of my business And if I didn't have You as my guide I'd still be wandering lost in Sinai Or down by the tracks Watching trains go by to remind me: There are places that aren't here I had a well but all the water left So I'll ask for your forgiveness With every breath If there was no way into God I would never have laid in this grave of a body So long, dear
Lyrics: I'll ring Your doorbell Until You let me in And I can no longer tell Where "You" end and "I" begin. Grape on the vine, grape on the vine, We've been alone a long time. Grape on the vine... why not be crushed to make wine? Pay no attention to me Dancing with my girl With every intention to be Failures in this world. Grape on the vine, grape on the vine, We've been alone a long time. Grape on the vine... why not be crushed to make wine? Six of my closest friends Will dig up the ground... All my accomplishments Gently lowered down. Grape on the vine, grape on the vine, We've been alone a long time. Grape on the vine... all is the same to the souls of those so much resigned. Grape on the vine, grape on the vine, We've been alone a long time. Grape on the vine, grape on the vine... The son of the widow You raised from the dead Where did his soul go When he died again?
Lyrics: Barren rocks and sand, our wooden sculpture hands Held like a timber hitch, held candles to the sun Both faint and fading fast, they walked on, windward, kept time with a pocketmouse Mouths kept mostly shut [Bear] Thought broke our silence like a bone [Fox] (half-moaned) "You've worn me like an albatross, I've only slowed you down You could've long traded in your braided crown, by now You could've found that Anabaptist girl you always used to go on about" [Bear] "As we rode in circles on our bicycles, we walked on balance beams As the audience cheered for us. We burned like fevers under carriage hats Hid behind Venetian masks in our human costumes We stood like statues once in shepherd's check, we'll both be decked in herringbone Wrapped border drab around already broken ironstone." [Bear] "But I've seen these cliffs before, St. Agnes brought her palm branch To the hospital, looked upward lest the charm had fled from my brother's breathing bed "And when he died I shut his dogtooth violet eyes: He looked just like me - climb on down and see They laid him on the rocks below, there'll be enough to fill your cup for days I'll stay up here and rest [aside] We'll fly in straight lines as from carronades We'll crash like tidal waves, decimate the islands As our hollowed lumber falls like water, ends where I start In that tattered rag shop back in Asbury Park. "Look how soon my hands won't move - but if you'll improve, we'll all improve Look how soon my arms won't move! Sixty feet and my feet won't move, but if you'll improve, we'll all improve Forty feet my legs won't move, as you improve we all improve Fill our den with acorn mast, I'll wake before the salmon pass Ten foot more and nothing moves."
Lyrics: Brighter days, whiter painted graves under Idaho sky Set to roadside attraction prayer traveling where the trains will Burning books, to Gainesville One turning, looks in semicircles, lies A little decency and time to kill Bluebird on a branch, unpromised land Dormouse sighs, the avalanche of sadness of untied strange commands As symbols on their hands, now stored on foreheads How concerned with unsubstantial terms and turns of circumstance Before the day is done My Prince is gonna come My Prince is gonna come Before the day is done Winged seraphs fly, bear the glad news with loud and joyful cry Boys with nothing left to lose Bridal shoes a birthright, child of the Ephraimites Not quite prepared to speak right Or sleep well, how well we sleep at night? Bluebird outside door mating rights secured Lambs with best attempts to keep themselves warm A toast to all we're meant for Brighter days, whiter painted graves under Idaho sky Where the voice changed the designs of a West Virginia highwayside Before the day is done My Prince is gonna come My Prince is gonna come Before the day is done Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of every little lamb, wonderworking power Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of wonderworking power, wonderworking power Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of every little lamb, wonderworking power Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of wonderworking power, wonderworking power Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of every little lamb, wonderworking power Fire and a flood There's power in the blood of wonderworking power, wonderworking power
Lyrics: Take my hand You know I'll be there If you can I'll cross the sky for your love For I have promised Oh, to be with you tonight And for the time that will come Take my hand You know I'll be there If you can I'll cross the sky for your love And I understand These winds and tides This change of times Won't drag you away Hold on, and hold on tightly Hold on, and don't let go of my love The storms will pass (the storm will pass) It won't be long now (it won't be long now) His love will last His love will last, forever Take my hand You know I'll be there If you can I'll cross the sky for your love Give you what I hold dear Hold on, hold on tightly Hold on, hold on tightly Rise up, rise up With wings like eagles You run, you run You run and not grow weary (take my hand) Hold on, and hold on tightly Hold on, hold on tightly To this love, (this love, this love) last forever To this love, (this love, this love) last forever Take my hand Take my hand
Lyrics: [Tomorrow] Won't you come back tomorrow? Won't you come back tomorrow? Won't you come back tomorrow? Can I sleep tonight? Outside, somebody's outside Somebody's knocking at the door There's a black car parked at the side of the road Don't go to the door Don't go to the door I'm going out I'm going outside mother I'm going out there Won't you be back tomorrow? Won't you be back tomorrow? Will you be back tomorrow? La la la la la Who broke the window? Who broke down the door? Who tore the curtain? And who was it for? Who heals the wounds? Who heals the scars? Open the door, open the door Won't you come back tomorrow? Won't you be back tomorrow? Will you be back tomorrow? Can I sleep tonight? 'Cause I want you I, I want you I really want you I, I want, I, I Want you to be back tomorrow I want you to be back tomorrow Will you be back tomorrow? La la la la la I want you to be back tomorrow I want you to be back tomorrow Will you be back tomorrow? Open up, open up, to the Lamb of God To the love of He Who made the blind to see He's coming back He's coming back Oh believe Him Jesus coming I'm gonna be there I'm gonna be there, mother I'm gonna be there, mother I'm going out there I'm going We're gonna be there We're gonna be there... [October] October And the trees are stripped bare Of all they wear What do I care? October And kingdoms rise And kingdoms fall But You go on And on...
Lyrics: Where I came from there were no hills at all The land was flat, the highways straight and wide My brother and I would drive for hours Like years instead of days Our faces as pale as the dirty snow Once I knew there was a love divine Then came a time I thought it knew me not Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not? Only the Lamb as white as snow And the water, it was icy As it washed over me And the moon shone above me Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon The road refuses strangers The land the seeds we sow Where might we find the Lamb as white as snow? As boys we would go hunting in the woods To sleep the night shooting out the stars Now the wolves are every passing stranger Every face we cannot know If only a heart could be as white as snow If only a heart could be as white as snow
Lyrics: Yesterday I spent asleep Woke up in my clothes in a dirty heap Spent the night tryna make a deadline Squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline I have your face here in an old Polaroid Tidying the children's clothes and toys You're smiling back at me, I took the photo from the fridge Can't remember what then we did Haven't been with a woman, it feels like for years Thought of you the whole time, your salty tears This shitty world sometimes produces a rose The scent of it lingers and then it just goes The worst of us are a long drawn out confession The best of us are geniuses of compression You say you're not going to leave the truth alone I'm here 'cause I don't want to go home Child drinking dirty water from the river bank Soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank I'm waiting on the waiter, he's taking a while to come Watching the sun go down on Lebanon Now I've got a head like a lit cigarette Unholy clouds reflecting in a minaret You're so high above me, higher than everyone Where are You in the Cedars of Lebanon? Choose your enemies carefully 'cause they will define you Make them interesting 'cause in some ways they will mind you They're not there in the beginning but when your story ends Gonna last with you longer than your friends
