Re: A thread for great song lyrics
Posted: Thu March 12, 2020 4:34 pm
by digster
Two recent ones from Josh Ritter:
"The Gospel of Mary"
"The Gospel of Mary"
- Spoiler: show
We left our home by dark of night
Joseph and my boy and I
When all the gunmen were asleep
We slipped into the forest
We left everything behind
Joseph and my boy and I
Took only what we had to keep
In the hopes they would not find us
We prayed our prayers, we broke our bread
With others who had even less
'Til finally all we had were dreams
And we hoped that they would fill us
We lived on roots and the bark of trees
Joseph and my boy and me
Drank the water from the stream
And hoped it would not kill us
A man offered a change of luck
All we had for a cargo truck
With fifty others in the back
They shut the door behind us
It got so hot we could not breathe
Joseph and my boy and me
When we arrived, the sky was black
That’s where I buried Joseph
The river stole away my shoes
The soles of both my feet were bruised
My boy lay silent in my arms
His dreams were deep and soundless
The day was long, the sun was high
A hammer on an anvil sky
By the wall I fell and cried
For death was all around us
He found me there where I had slipped
Put handcuffs tight around my wrists
Shackles tied around my legs
As if I could escape you
And since I could not hold my babe
You took my only boy away
And though I plead and though I beg
You won't say where he's gone to
I’m tired now, my eyes are dry
There's only me alone tonight
In a land I thought would be
Ours if we could make it
A land that welcomes strangers in
A land that beckoned like a friend
If I had the chance again
I'd rather die than take it
The holy family got away
A simpler time, a simpler place
And Egypt stretched out its great hand
To welcome them with mercy
Now Joseph's dead out on the road
My boy is gone and I don't know
Where he is or where I am
With every breath, it hurts me
And you who watched from your great gates
Watched us as we met our fates
Then took our pride and stole our babes
You will one day die of something
But as you rest your weary head
Your family close around your bed
May your thoughts all fly instead
To the ones who you gave nothing
The naked one, the starving child
Who crawled the final brutal miles
Through blood and filth and rock and wild
In the hopes of only living
May the pain within you dwell
And may it follow you to hell
All alone in a tiny cell
Forever unforgiven
- Spoiler: show
Good evening, may we say again
How pleased we are that you've come in
The day was long, your bed was soft
Still there’s some names we're crossing off
It says here by your file you
Have been so loyal, brave, and true
We need not fret, you need not fear
And so we come to why you're here
The torch committee now confirms
The truth of rumors lately heard
That there come monsters in our midst
Well-disguised and carefully hid
Anywhere and anyone
The root of every evil done
But you will help us root them out
The torch committee has no doubt
We see your hands and legs are tied
In clearest breach of by-law five
And left here in this little room
In clearest breach of by-law two
And though you know that we take pains
The process of the law remains
All technicalities aside
You’ll see our hands are also tied
For us, the job brings only pain
To see you naked in these chains
To see you naked where you stand
Where so many others have
Imagine how it feels each day
To send so many men a way
But see we've got a job and we
Must dot each "i" and cross each "t"
Something's horribly amiss
How else could you be on our list
Still we all know directive twelve
All those so named must prove themselves
To hungry mob and angry crowd
Young men making families proud
By means not meant for light of day
We wish there was a softer way
Wait, suppose that we untie
Your hands to sign upon this line
To pledge that you have always been
A patriot and citizen
Please ignore the legalese
Lawyers, am I right? Now see
Why we're so happy that you came
Appendix three, a list of names
Pardon us but we can't help
But laugh, if you could see yourself
Relax, it's always strange to see
The names on each appendix three
Brothers, fathers, sons, and wives
The ones with whom you've shared your life
Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends
Patriots and citizens
Children playing in the street
Strangers whom you chance to meet
The god to whom you chance to pray
The girl with whom you choose to stay
We know the monsters, know their names
By which they go and which they've changed
And every whisper that we’ve heard
We’ve read their poison, every word
How we wish that we could say
That each of them will walk away
But sadly it's the awful truth
It’s them or us, it's them or you
So put your finger to the names
The only cure for fear is blame
In doing so, you're doing good
There's many called who never would
Who stuck by what they thought was right
Who disappeared by dark of night
Who disappeared into the breeze
Left no family left to grieve
There, now see, that wasn’t bad
As you leave, you can be glad
That you have done your little part
To fight the monsters in the dark
But have a care, the night is cold
Take a torch before you go
And we will keep you safe and warm
That's what the torch committee is for
to all things josh ritter