The kettle burned ′cause I left it too long And we were kissing with the radio on The cat was choking on a rattlesnake bone The town had gathered ′round the soldier boy carried home, carried home
The sick kids ate a bowl of red clay And every summer day was ending in rain The late judge teetered in a jon boat The town had gathered ′round the soldier boy carried home, carried home
The broken window and the pretty blue sky And cold water for my swollen black eye We shook some money from your mother′s old clothes When all had gathered ′round the soldier boy carried home, carried home
Talk of yesterday And she will show her brothers Photographed in callous clothes Say tommorow And she′ll say, "Come find me on a beach And there will be no moon." But say today And she will kiss your face And maybe forget
Talk of yesterday Like bargain shoe strings She will kick the car and find her friends Say tommorow And then she′ll describe Some old communion cups and someone′s coat But say today And she may look your way And lead you home
Homeward, the new road meanders Washed out, the old road asks, ′What did I bring?′ Flowers, a verse about springtime Perchance, in the tree line, she′s waiting for me
Homeward, these shoes worn to paper Thin as the reason I left here so young Homeward, and what if I see her There in the doorway I walked away from?
White house asleep on the hillside Firm as a habit I struggle to shed Homeward with heaven above me Old road behind me, door up a head
Black dog bit through the keeper’s chain Small and angry when the Devil came Sold my soul like a pocket knife There was no moon, there’ll be no milk as sweet
Tomcat curled on a rabbit cage Brittle fingers in the potter’s clay Sold my soul and I laid her down There was no moon, there’ll be no milk as sweet
Blue bird laughs on a fallen tree Sunset burns on a quiet sea Sold my soul and they ran me down There was no moon, there’ll be no milk as sweet
I am thinking it′s a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images And when we kiss they′re perfectly aligned And I have to speculate That God Himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay And true it may seem like a stretch But it′s thoughts like this that catch My troubled head when you′re away When I am missing you to death When you are out there on the road For several weeks of shows And when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home
They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now" they′ll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now" but we′ll stay
I′ve tried my best to leave This all on your machine But the persistent beat It sounded thin upon listening And that frankly will not fly You′ll hear the shrillest highs And lowest lows with the windows down When this is guiding you home
They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now" they′ll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now" but we′ll stay
Oh, I′ve just come from the land of the sun From a war that must be won in the name of truth With our soldiers so brave your freedom we will save With our rifles and grenades and some help from God
I want to see my family My wife and child are waiting for me I′ve got to go home I′ve been so alone, you see
You just can′t believe the joy I did receive When I finally got my leave and I was going home Oh, I flew through the sky, my convictions could not lie For my country I would die, and I will see it soon
When I walked through the door my wife she lay upon the floor And with tears her eyes did soar, I did not know why Then I looked into her hand and I saw the telegram Said that I was a brave, brave man, but that I was dead
Call your boys now that the table′s set and shining No one′s seen any of them in many days Call your boys they shut a buzzard on a Chrysler And you still taste all that you swallowed before grace
And you′ll forgive even the time they burned the hen house And ran from you ran to the hills with burning hands
Setting sun framed in the doorway right behind you Several chores, surely some lessons left to tell Setting sun was in the hills and now before you Set your boys each with their shining silverware
They′ll bury you under the wood beside the carport They′ll bury you some neon stop along the way
Radio fuzz on the fence post by the pasture Long ago Liza and you would dance all day Now you lay buried, the stern and sacred father And sacred earth under the billboard in the rain
For one last toast here′s to the brave who went before us Who died in vain, died in a movie for a dream
“There’s no way to temper your thirst With lasting impressions or pictures of home There’s no way to grow that don’t hurt” She growled from the station then hung up the phone
There’s no sacred vision like her No eye-crushing mountain or jewelry to wear There’s no granted wish I prefer Then she to be with me, for us to be there
“I’d rather to be all alone Forgiveness is fickle when trust is a chore It’s not every sin that’s atoned” I heard her speak softly then heard her no more
Mr. Henry and the muscle man, yeah, with shoes on a night there was no road to stand Like a letter in a stolen purse, she was bored of her weight, she was bored of her words The daughter of a soldier told the fallen priest "That′s a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And reaching out to touch the steering wheel she said, "Leave me alone but just don′t leave me here, alright?" Aye, alr-i-ght
Mr. Henry and another guy gave her gold on a night that it fell from the sky And like a body when the buzzard came, she was bored of her look, she was bored of her name The daughter of a lawyer told the fallen priest "That′s a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And tapping at the air with her heel she said, "Leave me alone but just don′t leave me here, alright?" Aye, alr-i-ght
Mr. Henry was a dying man with a vice and a tongue that she didn′t understand Like the water when the sea got rough, she was bored with the breeze, she was bored of her luck The winner and the loser told the fallen priest "That′s a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And holding everything he made her steal she said, "Leave me alone but just don′t leave me here, alright?" Aye, alr-i-ght
I asked you a question I didn′t need you to reply Is it getting heavy? And then realize It′s getting heavy Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be
Is it overwhelming To use a crane to crush a fly? It′s a good time for Superman To lift the sun into the sky Cause it′s getting heavy Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be
Tell everybody Waiting for Superman That they should try to Hold on the best they can He hasn′t dropped them, forgot them or anything It′s just too heavy for Superman to lift
God made the automobile to pass all the pretty girls The smoke by the side of the road, the blues lovin′ boys in tow To drive to the end of the day and bow to a borrowed flag To ride all the brave and the blind, and men without men in mind
To pass all the things He made and then never bothered to name And no one will tell the truth, and no one will hide it from you Like birds around the grave
God made the automobile and I made a little boy To pass on the blissfully young, the snake with a forked tongue To praise on the wanting for time, and makes in the sleepless waves The fear of the Black and the Jew, and blood for the camera crew
And passes the things He made and then never bothered to name And no one can tell the truth, and no one can hide it from you Like birds around the grave
Sunday morning, my Rebecca sleeping in with me again There′s a kid outside the church kicking a can When the cedar branches twist she turns her collar to the wind The weather can close the world within its hand
And my mother says Rebecca is as stubborn as they come They both call to me with words I never knew There′s a bug inside the thimble, there′s a band-aid on her thumb And a pony in the river turning blue
They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" My Rebecca says she never wants a boy To be barefoot on the driveway as they wave and ride away Then to run inside and curse the open door
I once gave to my Rebecca a belated promise ring And she sold it to the waitress on a train I may find her by the phone but with a fashion magazine She may kiss me when her girlfriends leave again
They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" I think I could never love another girl To be free atop a tree stump and to look the other way While she shines my mother′s imitation pearls
Sunday evening my Rebecca′s lost a book she never read And the moon already fell into the sea Saw the statues of our fathers in the courthouse flower bed Now they blend with all the lightning-tattered trees
They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" My Rebecca said she knew I′d want a boy A dollar for my boardwalk red balloon, to float away She would earn a pocketful to buy me more
“Take me again," she said, thinking of him “To the pond with the swans and the swimming" Far from his room the familiar perfume How it left her aware she was naked
The lesson she learned when her memory serves Is to marvel with love at the sunset And walking away at the dark end of day She will measure and break like a habit
Oh, how the rain sounds as loud as a lover’s words And now and again she’s afraid when the sun returns
“Take me again,” she said, thinking of him “I don’t care for this careful behavior” A brush through her hair, children kissing upstairs Keeps her up with her want for her savior
The sun on the sand, on her knees and her hands As she begs for her fish from the water But turned them away, she’s a whip and a slave Given time she may find something better
Dreamless sleep will fall like a deep, poisoned well On the steeple birds and this red-light hotel
So lay your pistol down, Granny The company men never came to you But don’t unknit your brow, Granny The mice in the yard ate the potted plants you grew
Pour your bitter tea for our sweet, liquored host Perfect polished stones but this breeze beats you both
So lay your pistol down, Granny The duty of men never fell to you When you unknit your brow, Granny Your friends, they are jewels, twice as beautiful and few
Darling behave, though your boy is gone, or so we’ve heard I feel you would rise if it was a song who’d say these words Summer comes with its color all to take your breath away Winter turns all the summer’s love to grey
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Ah, ah, ah, ah
Darling behave, though the barnyard won’t say where he’s gone I feel you would sing if the orchard let on what went wrong Summer comes, yeah, as loud as hope and takes your breath away Winter takes what the summer had to say
He kissed her once as she leaned on the windowsill She′ll never love him but knows that her father will Her fallen fruit is all rotten in the middle But her breast never dries when he′s hungry
The money came and she died in her rocking chair The window wide and the rain in her braided hair A letter locked in the pattern of her knuckle Like a hymn to the house she was making
Blind and whistling just around the corner And there′s a wind that is whispering something Strong as hell but not hickory rooted
She kissed him once cause he gave her a cigarette And turned around but he waits like a turned down bed And summer left like her walking with another And a sound of a church bell ringing
The money came and he died like a butterfly A buried star in the haze of the city lights A gun went off and a mother dropped her baby On the blue feathered wing - we were lucky
Blind and whistling just around the corner And there′s a wind that is whispering something Strong as hell but not hickory rooted
There′s a woman hater with a broken record player And a dusty compass off to map the country′s new behavior Strange words and we all roll back into the river Brave boys in the empty coats of men
There′s a kitchen timer, distractions and reminders Rolly-pollies slowly crawling ′cross your family china Strange words and we all roll back into the river And dead dogs only want to live again
There′s a serpent charmer, pair of shoes and wander Speeding ticket you got leading that last lamb to slaughter Strange words and we all roll back into the river Good girls come and kick you in the shin
There′s a hopeful hunter with a helpless sense of wonder And a million claw marks on the rock he hid his money under Strange words and we all roll back into the river And made men only want to live again
I was a quick wet boy, diving too deep for coins All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere Have I found you Flightless bird, jealous, weeping or lost you, american mouth Big pill looming Now I′m a fat house cat Nursing my sore blunt tongue Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks Pissing on magazine photos Those fishing lures thrown in the cold And clean blood of Christ mountain stream Have I found you Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding or lost you, american mouth Big pill stuck going down
Please, remember me Happily By the rosebush laughing With bruises on my chin The time when We counted every black car passing Your house beneath the hill And up until Someone caught us in the kitchen With maps, a mountain range A piggy bank A vision too removed to mention But
Please, remember me Fondly I heard from someone you′re still pretty And then They went on to say That the pearly gates Had some eloquent graffiti Like "We′ll meet again" And "Fuck the man" And "Tell my mother not to worry" And angels with their great Handshakes Were always done in such a hurry And
Please, remember me At Halloween Making fools of all the neighbors Our faces painted white By midnight We′d forgotten one another And when the morning came I was ashamed Only now it seems so silly That season left the world And then returned And now you′re lit up by the city So
Please, remember me Mistakenly In the window of the tallest tower Calling passers-by But much too high To see the empty road at happy hour Gleam and resonate Just like the gates Around the holy kingdom With words like "Lost and found" And "Don′t look down" And "Someone save Temptation" And
Please, remember me As in the dream We had as rug-burn babies Among the fallen trees And fast asleep Aside the lions and the ladies That called you what you like And even might Give a gift for your behavior A fleeting chance to see A trapeze Swing as high as any savior But
Please, remember me My misery And how it lost me all I wanted Those dogs that love the rain And chasing trains The colored birds above their running In circles around the well And where it spells On the wall behind St. Peter So bright with cinder gray And spray paint "Who the hell can see forever?" And
Please, remember me Seldomly In the car behind the carnival My hand between your knees You turned from me And said, "The trapeze act was wonderful But never meant to last" The clown that passed Saw me just come up with anger When it filled with circus dogs The parking lot Had an element of danger So
Please, remember me Finally And all my uphill clawing My dear But if I make The pearly gates Do my best to make a drawing Of God and Lucifer A boy and girl An angel kissing on a sinner A monkey and a man A marching band All around the frightened trapeze swingers