this church

This church is stone,

so full of empty

that to kneel

is hard as bone.

Inside this church 

a cold air rushes
through from arch

to arch to arch.

This church was built

of weight and stone,

of stone on stone

and space between.

Now all the weight

is lifted off.
Watch each stone shift
and float away.

migrant blues

the country we grew up in

does not exist anymore

the country we grew up in

does not exist anymore

the home that we were born in - 

had strange men kicking at the door

we have seen the people vanish

we have seen the people die

we have seen the people vanish

we have seen the people die

we have nothing left to stay for

and the tide is rolling high  

one more for the boat, sir

one more for the sea,

one more for the boat, sir

one more for the sea,

one more for the wind, sir

one more 

for life 

in a new country

is there room for my child, sir?

is there room enough for me?

is there room for my child, sir?

is there room enough for me?

one more for the wind, sir

one more 

for life 

in a new country

Hold on to your children

Hold on to your skin

Hold on to your children

Hold on to your skin

For a fistful of money

Somebody will always take you in

We may die on the water

We may die in the dark

We may die on the water

We may die in the dark

Our graves may be the open sea

Or a truck in an empty car park

crawling blues

[[ this could be the myth of Robert Johnson's death -- see the notes at the bottom ]]

[Verse 1]
Take another man's wife
But leave his liquor on the shelf
Take another man's wife
But leave his liquor on the shelf
If he offers you a whisky
You best open that bottle yourself

[Verse 2]
Tip your hat to the stranger
Tip your hat to the foe
Tip your hat to the stranger
Tip your hat to the foe
Check the shape of his skull
See where those horns might grow

[Chorus]
Seen a grown man crawl
Craw-ling / on his / hands and / knees
Seen a grown man crawl
Craw-ling / on his / hands and / knees
He barked like a dog
And he died, he died like a disease/

[Verse 3]
Pour a sweet one for your baby
Pour a strong one for your host
Pour a sweet one for your baby
Pour a strong one for your host
Pour yourself a long, cool water
Or you may travel home a ghost

[all sorts of silly guitar things go here]

[Chorus]

[Verse 1]

[Coda]
Corn whisky make a man forget his own name
Corn whisky make a man forget his own shame
Corn whisky make a man forget the lies you tell
Corn whisky make a man forget he's in hell
etc.

[[ horned = devil + cuckold ]]

[[ Bring your own bottle, pour one out for your girl and your host -- trust neither ]]

[[

The song finishes with a stomping song about drinking whisky. Because why not?

There's a story (and I mean story) about how Robert Johnson died from drinking poisoned corn whisky given him by the husband of a woman he'd been flirting with:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Robert_Johnson

Recollection survives that Johnson died after drinking whiskey poisoned with strychnine, allegedly given to him by the jealous husband of a lover. Fellow blues singer Sonny Boy Williamson II claimed to have been present the night of Johnson's poisoning. Williamson said that Johnson crawled on his hands and knees "howling and barking like a dog," later dying in Williamson's arms. Another, perhaps more credible, report was given by Johnson's temporary musical partner, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, who had teamed up with Johnson for a regular "gig" at the Three Forks juke joint near Greenwood, Mississipi. According to Edwards, the man who ran the juke joint became convinced that his wife had become involved with Johnson and determined to get rid of him. Johnson temporarily recovered from the initial poisoning, but soon died, on August 16, 1938, in Greenwood.

Could be true, could be totally made up. Everything is a story.

]] 

How far apart

Did you see that flash?

Was it just the lightning?

Or are the bombs

coming down again?

Did you hear that sound?

Was it only thunder?

Or are the guns 

coming round again?

Can you count the seconds

between the flash and the thunder?

And wonder

how far away?

And wonder

what comes today?

How far apart are

the flash and the thunder? 

How far apart are

the flesh and the wonder? [[ the body and the mind, the base instincts and the higher instincts and reasoning ]]

Dracula's Castle

[[ dance song -- or vampires going out for the night ]]

I fix my face

I fix my lips

just one last time

Before I step

into the night

to find my crime

Poor little you

What can you do?

You cannot see

what this world is coming to

I fix my eyes 

upon your eyes

I say your name

to hypnotize...

poor little you 

What can you do?

You do not know

the trap you've come into   

I fix my face

I fix my lips

upon your flesh

grandfather never

grandfather never [[ as if that's his name ]]

quite back from the war 

went to the corner store

never came back again [[ vanished again ]]

found him out gibbering 

under a bush

gave him high voltage

to lay him out low

grandfather never

sees machines coming

knows where he's been

there's a village back there

the other side

[[ I sometimes write about boundaries, membranes, layers
I also sneak alternate readings into it. In this case, someone is walking on water and talking about life on the other side, crossing to the other side, and looking down through the ice to life on the other side.
 ]]

I remember the snow

I remember the cold

We would watch our words 

each turn to cloud 

In the middle of the winter

we would walk to the river

hold hands [[ there would be a musical pause here, a shift... and then they step off ]] 

and step off this earth

and walk across this river

step off solid earth 

and walk to the other side

we would brush clear the ice

to watch the world float under

we would clear the smooth ice

to watch a reflection of sky 

and watch the fish swim

there was life on the other side

This highway

1st gear:
This highway snakes
through dark and day
before heading to town.

Look in its eyes,
you forget your way,
where you were going.

2nd gear:

Some towns, this highway
runs right through and cuts them in half.

Some towns, this highway
abandons and leaves them to wither.

How would you rather die?
Split down the middle?
Or missed all together?

3rd gear:
This town, the highway
just rolled over smooth.

This town isn't even
a sign in the wilderness anymore.

This town, the highway
punched a hole through and let out all the air.

4th gear:

This town, it tunnels under
This town, it wraps around
It squeezes the last living breath right out of this town

2nd gear:

Some towns...

1st gear:

This highway snakes...

[[ instrumental up to... ]]

5th gear:

Check your mirror:
the highway you follow
follows you.

[[ New highways kill a town two ways -- they run right through it and take everything away, or they go around it so no one ever bothers driving through that town anymore. Either way, the town dies. ]]