Iron & Wine

[fox69]

"Quarters In A Pocket"

"Quarters In A Pocket"


Like the setting sun, and more than anyone
You look warmer when you're sinkin' down
Find your favorite tree, and come sit next to me
I've a sheet that's softer than the ground

This time spent with you feels like charcoal sketches for a painting
That you won't let me see
But I've come to find that comfort comes like quarters in a pocket
I thought were lost to me

All your favorite clothes, and all the pain we know
Came from those you favor for a time
Take it off your chest, and throw your loneliness
In a surly river, cold and wild

This time spent with you feels like charcoal sketches for a painting
That you won't let me see
But I've come to find that comfort comes like quarters in a pocket
I thought were lost to me

Lie about your sign, and hang your worry line
On a missin' poster for a dog
Find a promise ring, and blind affinity
For a match the gypsy said was wrong

This time spent with you feels like charcoal sketches for a painting
That you won't let me see
But I've come to find that comfort comes like quarters in a pocket
Discovered accidentally

 

[fox69]

"Rabbit Will Run"

"Rabbit Will Run"


Last I saw mother she rose from a chair
When they caught me I'd just finished combing my hair
'Cause a rabbit will run, and the colt hasn't long with the mare
We've all learned the earth while we carried the throne
We dove under the rivers and under our clothes
Now I still have a prayer, as sure as my settling bones
Last I saw mother she covered my ears
When they caught me I offered the captain a beer
'Cause a rabbit will run, and the lion has nothing to fear
We bricked up the garden and oh, what it means
And we've all kissed a virgin as if she were clean
And I still have a prayer, despite all the colors I've seen
And judgment is just like a cup that we share
I'll jump over the wall and I'll wait for you there
Well past the weeds and our vision of things to come
We've all heard the rooster and all been denied
And we've seen through the haze and the spit in our eyes
And I still have a prayer, a well-weathered word to the wise
Last I saw mother she smelled like a rose
When they caught me the captain, he opened my nose
'Cause a rabbit will run, and the wind takes a bird where it blows
We all traded lovers and woke up alone
And we clapped for the king, though our fingers were cold
And I still have a prayer, 'cause I love what I cannot control
Once I saw mother, she acted surprised
When they caught me the captain, he cried like a child
'Cause a rabbit will run, and good dogs together go wild
We all live in grace at the end of the day
And we've armed all the children we thought we'd betrayed
And I still have a prayer, but too few occasions to pray
And judgment is just like a cup that we share
I'll jump over the wall and I wait for you there
Well past the weeds and our vision of things to come
And we've all found a reason for hiding the gun
And we've helped out a few if we've hurt anyone
And I still have a prayer and so be it, I've done what I've done
Last I saw mother, she blew me a kiss
When they caught me the cups caught the blood from my wrist
'Cause a rabbit will run, and a pig has to lay in its piss
We've all given half to the hand in our face
We've all taken a stone from the holiest place
And I still have a prayer, and I've furthered the world in my wake

 

[fox69]

"Radio War"

"Radio War"


Did the wine make her dream
Of the far distant spring
Or a bed full of hens
Or the ghost of a friend

All the while that she wept
She had a gun by her bed
And a letter he wrote
From a dry, foundered boat

And the train track will take
All the wounded ones home
And I'll be alone
Fare thee well Sara Jones

Now we lie on the floor
While the radio war
Finds its way through the air
Of the dead market square

And the beast never seen
Licks its red talons clean
Sara curses the cold
"No more snow, no more snow, no more snow"

 

[fox69]

"Red Dust"

"Red Dust"


Dust gets red, and red dust plays
On the wind near Daniel's place
Danny's sick and smaller boy
Rhythm lingers on and on
On and on, on and on

Dust gets dead the sun gone down
Danny's boy lies in the ground
Guitar on the dead boy's chest
Devil's granting a last request
Play on and on, on and on

 

[fox69]

"Resurrection Fern"

"Resurrection Fern"


In our days we will live
Like our ghosts will live...
Pitching glass at the cornfield crows
And folding clothes

Like stubborn boys across the road
We'll keep everything...
Grandma's gun and the black bear claw
That took her dog

When sister Laurie says, "Amen"
We won't hear anything...
The ten-car trains will take that word
That fledgling bird

And the fallen house across the way
It'll keep everything...
The baby's breath
Our bravery wasted and our shame

And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire
Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire
All the more a pair of underwater pearls
Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern

In our days we will say
What our ghosts will say...
We gave the world what it saw fit
And what'd we get?

Like stubborn boys with big green eyes
We'll see everything...
In the timid shade of the autumn leaves
And the buzzard's wing

And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire
Our tender bellies are wound around in baling wire
All the more a pair of underwater pearls
Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern

 

[fox69]

"Right For Sky"

"Right For Sky"


Know this house that I call home
The gentle milk was happy just to flow
No better tomcats took their licks in turn
Some branches fall to open arms
Some paradises are a bridge too far
God's in the treetop making mockingbirds
If I could choose, I would do things right
Teach my dreams to look me in the eye
Sing my heart out into my hands
Shine where light demands

When I lose my feet in my father's shoes
When I take your flesh with my false tooth
When I bend until I break in two
Call me a fool being great
In the leaves of the world
The leaves of the world

The wind blows all the wild away
This house was kind as every hiding place
Bones of a hardest offering to burn
That dog will bark, though no one's there
This man went mad breaking his easy chair
Sing me the softest heart I've ever heard
It's only right how this trail goes cold
Moonlight gliding through our empty clothes
Know I'm warm when a cloud rolls by
Rolling right for sky

When I lose my feet in my father's shoes
When I take your flesh with my false tooth
When I bend until I break in two
Call me a fool being great
In the leaves of the world
The leaves of the world

 

[fox69]

"Sacred Vision"

"Sacred Vision"


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

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

 

[fox69]

"Sailor To Siren"
(with Jesca Hoop)

"Sailor To Siren"
(with Jesca Hoop)



This tenderness comes as a surprise
Drinking where the riverbed was dry
Trees in the wind trembling with love

That morning light drew you out the door
Mama didn't need you anymore
She pointed in night but you saw the stars
Brace yourself and nestle into me
Bear it all like falling autumn leaves
You don't even know me that well

Now every blossom's ready to explode
Rooted in the cracks along the road
The world is a dream that we could freeze
While distant water shows me where to run
Papa let me know I'm not enough
Took out the life left me the hope
You sailor or the siren in the tide
Trust the tiny ocean and besides
You don't even know me that well

Your song is warm and coming through the wall
Hearts are only strangers after all
You don't even know me that well

 

[fox69]

"Serpent Charmer"

"Serpent Charmer"


There's a woman here with a broken record player
And a dusty compass off to map the country's new behavior
Strange words that we hold on back into the river
Brave boys in the empty coats of men
There's a kitchen timer, distractions and reminders
That the rolly-pollies started crawling cross your family's china
Strange words that we hold on back into the river
Dead dogs only want to live again
There's a serpent charmer, pair of shoes and wander
Speeding ticket, you're not leaving that last land of slaughter
Strange words that we hold on back into the river
Good girls come and kick you in the shin
There's a hopeful hunter with a hapless sense of wonder
And a million claw marks on the rock he hid his money under
Strange words that we hold on back into the river
And made men only want to live again

 

[fox69]

"Sing Song Bird"

"Sing Song Bird"


Give me your shoulder, I'm a sing song bird
My savior says that I'm the words
I map across a daylight blinding you
Chicken-boned and with a ten-cent bunk
Claimed Jesus spoke, though I was drunk
Untied my shoe and told me what to do
Warn the boys are about the dimmer rooms
That try to woo them all with their cheap perfume
Rooms like this, a pathway to the fall
Warn the girls about the dimmer stars
That try to woo them all with the cheap guitars
The morning fades the glitter on their song
Warn the boys are about the dimmer rooms
That try to woo them all with their cheap perfume
The sun don't sweat the souls that get the call
Warn the girls about the dimmer stars
That try to woo them all with the cheap guitars
Dear Lord, give me the strength to shade you all