Iron & Wine

[fox69]

"Singers And The Endless Song"

"Singers And The Endless Song"


When we all ran back into the briars
We told our children about the foreign shore
When we threw our boots into the fire
We told them all about the tug of war

Gonna tell them about the seed and the shovel
About the prison and the promised land
Gonna tell them about the dream of the devil
About the hurting and the healing hand, that hand

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song

When we held our words up in the mirror
We told our children how to hold their tongues
When we held our heads beneath the river
We told them all about the iron lung

Gonna tell them about the sins of the father
About the junkie and the jubilee
Gonna tell them about the roots in the water
About the killing in the quiet line of trees

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song

All our morning kisses in the covers
And told our children what 'worthy' means
And then you wrapped your arms around another
And told them what was worth a pile of beans

Gonna tell them about the call of the ocean
About the singers and the endless song
Gonna tell them about the body and the motion
And how the music never lasts too long, too long

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the low lit alley and the wedding bed
About the first born sucker and the spider's web

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the mind and the muscle and the weary mile
About the heart and the hustle and the empty sky

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the tangled up truth in the perfect teeth
About the pilgrim and the picking through the chaff and wheat

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the butterfly kiss and the call for blood
About the pig and the preacher and the holy mud

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the breeze in the summer and the nose will know
About the sleep through the winter when the cold wind blows

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the lame duck lion and the thorny crown
About the proud punk mule and the heavy plow

Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song
About the sunburned belly and the mother's moon
About the end of the music coming way too soon

 

[fox69]

"Sinning Hands"

"Sinning Hands"


Midnight, and her eyes
Hide like kittens, new and wet
Mine are sinning hands
On her lying on my bed

The river still may rise
Wild and water take us both
Mine are sinning hands
Take our bodies, take our clothes

Bloodless moonlight, may my lady
Give her lovely skin and bones

Midnight, and my bride
Treads in distant water now
Mine are sinning hands
And my teeth have fallen out

The river still may rise
Though it took more than it gave
Mine are sinning hands
On a broken windowpane

Bloodless moonlight, like my lady
Gave me only skin and bones

 

[fox69]

"Sixteen, Maybe Less"

"Sixteen, Maybe Less"


Beyond the ridge to the left, you asked me what I want
Between the trees and cicadas singing around the pond
"I spent an hour with you, should I want anything else?"
One grinning wink like the neon on a liquor store
We were sixteen, maybe less, maybe a little more
I walked home smiling, I finally had a story to tell
And though an autumn time lullaby
Sang our newborn love to sleep
My brother told me he saw you there
In the woods one Christmas Eve, waiting
I met my wife at a party, when I drank too much
My son is married and tells me we don't talk enough
Call it predictable, yesterday my dream was of you
Beyond the ridge to the west, the sun had left the sky
Between the trees and the pond, you put your hand in mine
Said, "Time has bridled us both, but I remember you too"
And though an autumn time lullaby
Sang our newborn love to sleep
I dreamt I traveled and found you there
In the woods one Christmas Eve, waiting

 

[fox69]

"Slow Black River"

"Slow Black River"


Lost my watch, watch and chain
But time's not lost
This time we walk together
Beside the slow black river

Water-walking over mud
You whisper something
Something good in my ear
So I stop so I can hear

Darling, I'm the one to blame
I threw your watch
And chain to where I don't know
Inside the tall grass meadow

You'll forget, forget in time
Remember this:
Your hand in mine forever
Beside the slow black river

Lost my watch, watch and chain
To her today
But time it has no meaning
When her and me are walking

Darling, I'm the one to blame
I love you still
And timeless now forever
Together by the river

 

[fox69]

"Sodom, South Georgia"

"Sodom, South Georgia"


Papa died smiling
Wide as the ring of a bell
Gone all star white
Small as a wish in a well
And Sodom, South Georgia
Woke like a tree full of bees
Buried in Christmas
Bows and a blanket of weeds
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, "God is good"
White tongues hang out, "God is good"
Papa died while my
Girl Lady Edith was born
Both heads fell like
Eyes on a crack in the door
And Sodom, South Georgia
Slept on an acre of bones
Slept through Christmas
Slept like a bucket of snow
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, "God is good"
White tongues hang out, "God is good"

 

[fox69]

"Soft Place To Land"
(with Jesca Hoop)

"Soft Place To Land"
(with Jesca Hoop)



I know you're out there
Out in that weather
It's rainin' sideways
A hard rain
Keepin' your head down
Buried in your collar
You press into the head wind
Cause there's work to be done
If she don't cling to you
If she don't tend to you
I'll give you respite from your worries
And the wind that's blowin' through
If you're looking for a soft place to land
The calm of a steady hand
An unconditional friend
If you need to take a moment to catch your breath
Come in before you catch your death
You don't have to pass a test to come home
You're faithful pauly
Who's legs have broken
Now leaves you stranded in a high plane
Your gunshot echos
Your heart despairin'
You pack up all you can carry
Cause there's work to be done
If she don't pray to you
And run her fingers through
How about I'll always leave the light on
She don't bend to you
And she don't bow down too
And put her shoulder to the burden
That is weighing down on you
If you're looking for a soft place to land
The calm of a steady hand
An unconditional friend
If you need to take a moment to catch your breath
Come in before you catch your death
You don't have to pass a test to come...
If you're looking for a soft place to land
The calm of a steady hand
An unconditional friend
If you need to take a moment to catch your breath
Come in before you catch your death
You don't have to pass a test to come...
Soft place to land...soft place to land...

 

[fox69]

"Someday The Waves"

"Someday The Waves"


Waking before you
I've got a fever and a childish wish for snow
Seems like a long, long time
Since I spun you to this borrowed radio
You pick a place that's where I'll be
Time like your cheek has turned for me
Someday the waves will stop
Every aching old machine will feel no pain
Someday we both will walk
Where a baby made tomorrow is again
Waking before you
I'm like the lord who sees his love though we don't know
Seems like a long, long time
Since I've been above you seen and loved you so
You pick a place that's where I'll be
Time like your cheek has turned for me

 

[fox69]

"Song In Stone"

"Song In Stone"


Songbirds in the morning, had my head lost in the tall trees
I knew well, well I would say
Dreaming my dry weeds
Stray light finds its way to all of us
Say something green, it comes back
Sign light on my lips, let 'em kiss, dark leaves
Let the hands of the wrong prophets heal me all they should
Let the wine of the poison Jesus says tastes good
And all those trees lay down if you were a bird and fell into my arms
If I wrote your song in stone
If I wore your wings back home
Where the dreams in the backwater drown us far from home
Give this to the gray, it comes back gold
Birds of the morning, they may know
Know more than us, giving their hymns for life
Let the waves on the wrong water say what they will say
While the wind and the broken branches float me away
All tall tree lay down if you were the bird who fell into my arms
I could write your song in stone
I could wear your wings back home
Where the dreams in the backwater drown us far from home

 

[fox69]

"Southern Anthem"

"Southern Anthem"


Just like the way that you ran to wine
When they made the new milk turn
Jesus a friend in the better times
Let your mother's Bible burn
Freedom a fever you suffered through
And the dog drank from your cup
Frozen the river that baptized you
And the horse died standing up
But when a southern anthem rings
She will buckle to that sound
When that southern anthem sings
It will lay her burdens down
Just like the way that you lost your guns
When they cut the clothesline loose
Jesus a friend of the weaker ones
Said "I'm all they stole from you"
Freedom a thistle that withered dry
Still a baby in your hands
Frozen the ground refused to die
And the guitar rose again
But when a southern anthem rings
She will buckle to that sound
When that southern anthem sings
It will lay her burdens down

 

[fox69]

"Stranger Lay Beside Me"

"Stranger Lay Beside Me"


I was bad, I was good
Running wild through the woods
While the branches above me were burning
I was breathing the smoke
I was starting to choke
When a stranger lay beside me

I was lost, I was found
You were hanging around
Moving slowly but headed for glory
I was healed, I was hurt
I was sinning in church
When a stranger lay beside me

I was snuffed, I was stoked
There was love in us both
And a buzzard was circling the valley
I was chaff, I was wheat
I was bone, I was meat
When a stranger lay beside me

I was close, I was far
Feral cats in the car
And a crack in the roof that kept dripping
I was numb when I smiled
I was built and defiled
When a stranger lay beside me

And the moon rose again
And the snake shed its skin
Every hand in the city was shaking
We were kissed, we were clawed
Given just to be robbed
'Cause we needed the love we were making

I was present and gone
Said farewell and so long
Then came back 'cause the street was too empty
I was nursing a bruise
I thought for sure it was you
When a stranger lay beside me

I was strong, I was weak
All the hens were asleep
And the hawk's only kind cause he's hungry
I was sold, I was bought
I was promised a lot
When a stranger lay beside me

I was wrong, I was right
You were poised in the light
Both as evil as ever, and holy
I was bitten and chewed
Bound and gagged on the truth
When that stranger lay beside me

I was soft, I was hard
The sky heavy with stars
Never meant to surrender their meaning
I was love, I was hate
Stuffed and licking my plate
When a stranger lay beside me

I was chided and cheered
We were reeking with fear
That the world might return for it's mercy
I was mended and torn
I was killed and reborn
When a stranger lay beside me

And the moon rose again
And the snake shed it's skin
And the back of the city was breaking
We both took to it well
Blind and feeling ourselves
But we needed the love we were making

I was captured and free
The sun set through the trees
And time beat on the length of my body
I was taught, I was teased
In the nature of things
When a stranger lay beside me