Blues Funeral
copyright 2004 Beggar's Banquet

the gravedigger’s song

with piranha teeth i’ve been dreaming of you
and the taste of your love so sweet
honest it’s true
through my heart flows sleep
and a dog heavy rain
where the gravedigger’s song is sung you’ve been torturing me

tout est noir mon amour
tout est blanc
je t’aime mon amour
comme j’aime la nuit

love is the medicine good?
is the crow flying eight miles high
over wire and wood?
shovel down six feet
with a head heavy pain
the magnolia blooms so sweet and it fades just the same

to the stars my love
to the sea
to the wheels my love
until they roll all over me

oh love i’ve been thinking of you
with razor wire teeth so sharp
honest it’s true
in my blood flows sleep
and a dog heavy rain
the magnolia blooms so sweet only torturing me

to the stars my love
to the sea
to the wheels my love
until they roll all over me

bleeding muddy water

lord now the rain done come

muddy water
rising up
you know i feel you
in my iron lung
muddy water
celestial flood
you know i feel you
in my iron lung

oh baby don’t it feel so bad
muddy water
drowning in the rain
now the rain done come

muddy water
pillar to post
how do i bleed you?
just like a ghost
muddy water
heaven’s son
you are the bullet
you are the gun

oh baby don’t it feel so bad
muddy water
drowning in the rain
now the rain done come

muddy water
be my grave
you are the master
i’ve been the slave
muddy water
come rising up
you know i feel you
in my iron lung

gray goes black

don’t you turn off my radio
please don’t turn off my radio
not with the rope still swinging
while eternity’s mouth is singing

so insect i’m in amber
days go by please don’t forget
uneven, so enamored
days go by remember that

gray goes black

can’t you hear my radio?
don’t you hear my radio?
not with the beast still sleeping
while eternity’s eyes are weeping

so insect i’m in amber
days go by please don’t forget
uneven, so enamored
days go by remember that

gray goes black

into the blood we sink and burn
gray goes black

st louis elegy

i look at the sky
i see an airplane as it flies
is this the way they said jesus came?
gone through st louis
gone straightaway
and i hear the winter will cut you quick
if tears were liquor i’d have drunk myself sick

woman are you home?
a house of cards, a frame of bones
here i am earthly bound
said hallelujah i’m going down
and the river jordan is deep and wide
i think i see forever across on the other side

i look at the sky
i see a nightbird as it flies
over the old bent cherry trees
shivering in a row
down here the winter will cut you quick
these tears are liquor and I’ve drunk myself sick

and the dead of winter will cut you quick
these tears are liquor and i’ve drunk myself sick

riot in my house

there’s a riot in my house
chaos is blossoming
run and hide little mouse
go on and get yourself together
when burn outs by the score
strung out in metal cages
see technicolor pour
from every laceration
i realize that i’m slowly coming down with you

angels fill my room
with what i’ve scant belief in
when death’s metal broom
comes sweeping through the evening
get up off the floor
there’s hot smoking radiation
from window to the door
in ultra violent hesitation
i realize that i’m slowly coming down with you

battle lines appear
within the broken mirrors
yet the dogs have no fear
fighting in the dark grey shadows
hear the coughing sound
mama bring my medication
no harmony is found
while performing levitation
i realize that i’m slowly coming down with you

there’s a riot in my house
chaos is blossoming
run and hide little mouse
go on and get yourself together
from window to the door
there’s cold choking strangulation
see technicolor pour
from every amputation
and realize that i’m slowly coming down with you

ode to sad disco

the sun’s tolling bell
subterranean eyes
a thousand to one
the factory line
stars outside the window flicker and shine
the hollow headed morning isn’t blind
a mountain of nails burn in your hands
here i give all i am

gloria
i get down on my knees
further from my own

a tower of stones
sympathy’s shade
ride a white horse
the drowned on parade
a diamond headed serpent climbs a vine
see all the lonely children lose their minds
a mountain of dust burns in your mouth
here there’s no north, just south

gloria
i get down on my knees
further from my own

thirst swollen tongue
an arcadian twist
the sleepwalk is done
yet the notion persists
cars outside the window careening by
the hollow headed morning is unkind
gloria
i get down on my knees
further from my own
under a cliff
darkness denied
here i have seen the light

here i have seen the light

phantasmagoria blues

i have given to you jane
a torn and tattered love
but do you hear the tolling bells
that ring down from above?
thought i’d rule like charlemagne
but i’ve become corrupt
now i crawl the promenade
to fill my empty cup

and you’re free
you’re free again
one more time

now if you found a razorblade
and took it to your wrist
then i’d be here in my electric chair
because of this
all last night and night before
i stood on the pier and cried
but i don’t want to turn away
for fear of going blind

and you’re free
you’re free again
one more time

i have given to you jane
a bruised and beaten love
but do you see the cold white light
that shines down from above?
thought i’d rule like charlemagne
but i’ve become corrupt
now i’ll crawl the promenade
to fill my empty cup

and you’re free
you’re free again
one more time

quiver syndrome

i turned back towards the factory
with a rail running through my head
and the stain of a rust red romance
though my iron age rose is dead
will the lord hold me down ‘cause i’m wicked?
will the lord hold me down, to my shame?
will your love it get into me jesus?
now i heard you calling out my name

the moon don’t smile on saturday’s child
lying still in elysian fields
i don’t know what the doctor he did
now i’m all day long with my body in bed

plant the seeds of an ivory white lily
play the ghost of autumn’s lullabye
you know the way i came down to the city
snuffed the love light out of my eyes
i’m knocked back in the alley
with the sweat pouring off my hands
i can tear out a stitch ‘cause it’s aching
when i’m a shake, shake, shaking i can

the moon don’t smile on saturday’s child
lying still in elysian fields
i don’t hear what my mother she said
now i’m all day long with my body in bed

i turn back toward the factory
with a rail running through my head
and the stain of a rust red romance
though my iron age rose is dead
will the lord hold me down ‘cause i’m wicked?
will the lord hold me down, to my shame?
will your love it get into me jesus?
now i heard you calling out my name

the moon don’t smile on saturday’s child
lying still in elysian fields
i don’t know what the doctor he did
now i’m all day long with my body in bed

harborview hospital

i walked by harborview hospital
i heard the agnus dei
oh sister of mercy
i’ve been gone too long to say
and all around this place i was a sad disgrace

they’re singing, they’re singing
away up on the hill
they’re building, they’re building
a mystical union, beautiful and still
but down here in the dirt they’ll say it doesn’t hurt

the devil’s ascended
upon some crystal wings
in the citadel lightning
splits a cloud of butterflies and fiends
and with a vacant stare i’ll leave a flower there

they’re riding, they’re riding
a hellhound down the hill
they’re sinking, they’re sinking
into the ocean, beautiful and still
and yet it’s hard to leave in wealth or poverty

i walked by harborview hospital
and stopped at ninth and james
oh sister of mercy
i’ve been down too far to say
are they supposed to be as sick as you and me?

leviathan

after the deadlock and dazzle
as good as, or better than gold
i lay down my guns on the table
first scarlet, then blue growing cold

black light and smoke
making a joke
in the haze of a setting sun

leviathan waits in the water
skeletons hide in the trees
the hours crawl by like a spider
hangman is following me

at sorrow’s door
a century more
in the rays of a setting sun

after the deadlock and dazzle
glitters at night like it’s gold
you lay down your heart if you’re able
first scarlet, then blue growing cold

everyday a prayer
for what i never knew
but this is one i said for you

deep black vanishing train

yellow moon keep hanging there
and don’t you ever come down
tattered newspaper pages
are scattered across the ground

lost on a violent sea
gone for endless days
i have tried to free myself
but it’s been hard to break away

so long light, you’re bound to fall
now isn’t that a shame
casting shadows on the wall
too late to learn another game

transfixed by what isn’t seen
and what will never change
the times i’ve tried to free myself
it’s been hard to look away

it’s a deep black vanishing train
upon a very long track
standing on a sidewalk in the rain
hands behind my back

lost on a violent sea
day on endless day
i have finally freed myself
but it’s been hard to break away

tiny grain of truth

put the pictures upon the shelf
the ones i tore from magazines and paperbacks
i’m a keep my hurt inside now love
when it’s you i am following

what’s done is done is done now
what’s done is done is done now
what’s done is done is done now
what’s done is done

send down the firewalker
send down the neon priest
send down the junky doctor
send down the shadow king
down through the heart of the city at night
in black and white

roll out to a blues funeral
riding out in a long cortege
gone with the mariachi
gone with the butchermen
gone straight through the eye of a needle at night
in black and white

straight through the eye of a needle at night

i blurred the pictures and fooled myself
the ones that showed the terminal in negative
i’m a keep my hurt inside now love
and may you not uncover it

and blood is blood is blood now
and blood is blood is blood now
yes blood is blood is blood now
and blood is blood
straight through the eye of a needle at night
in black and white

send down the firewalker
send down the neon priest
send down the junky doctor
send down the shadow king
out through the heart of the city at night
in black and white