King or pawn, the coward the brave
Every child returns to the ground
Lay that young man down
Those whom faced the oncoming tide
Went in peace or took their own lives
Blessed survivors and those who have drown
Lay that young man down
Chorus:
Down in the swamp no god you will find
Down in the swamp no god you will find
Their whispers and cries shall echo through time
Down in the swamp no god you will find
All shall be judged the same
Fathers, mothers, the weak, and the strong
Turning seasons that pass over all
Every child returns to the ground
Lay that young man down
Chorus
RUSTY OLD CROSS
Where the angels come to breed
Dirty old crows in the gas lamp glow
Rusty old cross
Fevered out by the old canal
Looking for an angry fix
Songs and psalms and plenty of
Rusty old cross
Looking to the sky till your eyes go blind
But your pockets have been picked
Sold your skin for redemption
Rusty old cross
WOLF IN THE WHEAT
We all worship the wolf in the wheat
When the moon is new and the harvest sweet
Come clap your hands and stomp your feet
The moon is new and the harvest sweet
If you believe she’ll come to greet
We all worship the wolf in the wheat
Her beauty cannot be described
The goddess in the wheat shall hide
Seen on four legs, seen on two
Praise be saved if she favors you
Chorus:
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
We all worship the wolf in the wheat
When the moon is new and the harvest sweet
We all worship the wolf in the wheat
These the days of summer smell
The festivals of old shall tell
Of children dressed in fur and mask
To celebrate our hallowed past
Peace to me and also you
Peace to me and also you
Walk her footsteps know her peace
From birth to death she watches thee
Chorus
She is here
She is Here
She has arrived
Faith has been the strength of saints
Bless us common folks the same
The seasons yield to her demands
So shall we tend all her lands
To hope she comes now with the phase
Takes dark spirits far away
The moon that wax shall also wane
Becomes brighter with her name
Chorus
She is here let’s praise the day
We all worship the Wolf in the Wheat
RABBIT WILL STRAY
All I got was a wrinkled face
Smoke and words have tried to break me
but I never lost an edge of grace
I took possession as a jester’s servant
Could last the best with them
I paid my dues and I’ve gotten loose
Now I’m back to make a real difference
I’ve been called a Babylon doll
A pleaser and a teaser at best
Olive shine from deep blue eyes
Careful if you want me still
For a rabbit will stray though Lord, I wanted to stay
I never had the will
Sorry for the hurt it will probably get worse
Cry havoc and then take a pill
Wanted
TRIAL OF THE OWL
but no-one seems to care
the mountains crumble after thunders roar
We share a set of eyes
as the stars fall from the sky
breathe one last and let it end so switch
Chorus:
If I could see you now
The fires would die out
The trial of the owl
I’ll hold you close, embrace you tight
On this the end of days
It doesn’t matter who you are
I do not need your name
I suffer too along with you
Feel free and breathe your last
Call out to all the others
Join hands and become past
Chorus
I’ll hold you close, embrace you tight
On this the end of days
It doesn’t matter who you are
I do not need your name
I suffer, too, along with you
Be free than breathe your last
You I’ve never known
But I love you none the less
Chorus
POLLIWOG BAY
Stay away, stay away from Polliwog Bay
Midnight forever and forever you’ll stay
Your memories lost, but your soul will remain
Stay away, stay away from Polliwog Bay
I once had a lover so fragile, but true
Called me his rose and helped me to bloom
But one pitied night a siren she came
And took my poor love to Polliwog Bay
Chorus
I searched many years to find my sweet’s face
Found on the shore of Polliwog Bay
There in the arms of that siren he lay
Under the spell the one I would break
Chorus
I took up my razor and lightly I stepped
Dragged it across her sweet ivory neck
Baptized my lover in scarlet to save
His fragile soul from Polliwog Bay
“Oh what have you done? Oh what have you done?”
My lover called out to me
“I told you that day to stay far away
From this, my true love and me.”
Was he never mine? Was he never mine?
To the shore, to the shore now with haste.
The love of the sea will come over me
The siren of Polliwog Bay
Chorus
LAST LETTER FROM QUEENSLAND
Never they’ll bury me there
Out past the the east gate, where there’s no life
That’s where you leave all your prayers
I’m writing to ask you, promise you’ll keep
Safe the one that I love
He shouldn’t be punished because of me
and all the things that I’ve done
Give him my boots, though tattered and worn
Give him my razor and more
Make sure he’s honest, raise him strong
But make sure he knows you were brave
Don’t let him know what I truly was
Don’t even tell him my name
Say I was moral, say I was kind
Yes, I beg you to lie
Give him my boots, though tattered and worn
Give him my razor and more
Say I was moral, say I was kind
Yes, I beg you to lie
BENEATH BOOT HILL
I will wait there for you
My wife and daughter too
Beneath Boot Hill
Where no flowers come to bloom
Winter comes too soon
Winds beneath their tomb
Dead flowers remain across their graves
I called to god but he didn’t answer
So when I meet him, I’ll make him suffer
Beneath Boot Hill
All men shall know their names
All men shall know my name
And I can’t wait for the day
to see that look upon his face
when I take his throne
Beneath Boot Hill
Where I’ll spend all my days
Till he knows my name
WE GET BY
What do I tell her then
We get by
Did it myself again
World keeps spinning still
Locked up all my fears
Hid them all for years
’til she wandered in
We get by
She says we’re gonna make it right
I'M A GOOD MAN
Flipping the dime
Before you count your problems
Better add up mine
Spent so many years living in the sun
But I ain’t seen a good day in far too long
Chorus:
I’m a good man
But I’m getting tired
I’m a good man
But not for a while
Single sided
Smoke in the breeze
Know your friends
From your enemies
Wandering eyes
Will always blink
Turn you to stone
Or the dog that’s beat
Chorus
Heavy hearted
I’ve looked back and cried
Heavy heart
Ya can’t count the reasons why
The unattainable
Beyond arms length
Worth every moment
As I try to reach
You feel so low
When you’re standing tall
But a willow never weeps
Before it falls
Chorus
Heavy hearted
I’ve looked back and cried
Heavy heart
Ya can’t count the reasons why
SEVEN BELLS
Before I die, it’s murky water
Seven bells, winter fell
Spent my days in murky water
You don’t need to know my name
All it brings is murky water
Shovel deep, dig that grave
I’ll remain in murky water
Chorus:
I don’t need a helping hand
I don’t need a cross to bear
I don’t want your empty prayers
I will never meet a god that’s fair
Summer, spring, precious things
Condemned them all to murky water
Slit my wrists, hanged my neck
Poisioned… yes, from murky water
You don’t need to know my name
All it brings is murky water
Shovel deep, dig that grave
I’ll remain in murky water
Chorus
THE BASTARD & THE BOG
“Follow me down into the bog and, uh, I’ll give you a career making move.”
He said “I seen your ugly face around the way. I knew that you and I would meet some day.”
And then I took him down into the bog, through the thicket and into the fog.
So there we were, just walking down the street: my eager hands, the sheriff, and me.
And I started to tell him about his little life. He looked at me with murder in his eyes.
I said “You had a pretty mistress at one time, and what you did to her was such a vicious crime.”
And in the bog when he asked me for the dead, I put that .44 against his fucking head.
I took him down into the bog
With guilty hands I left him in the bog
With bloody hands I left him in the…
So I went into the sheriff’s office the other day
And said, “Boy, do I got a story for you.”
SAVE NOT A SPARK
A land with no rain
Is all I’ve known since she’s gone
Rivers like tar
No children are born
And the Earth shall bear no fruit
If light comes again
I’d give all to her
And save not a spark for myself
BLACK RIBBONS
I begged for her love
But none would she give to me
Her hair lit like embers
To a sky without stars
Could tend to the night’s misery
A woman so fair
With auburn hair
That danced like an untamed beast
Wicked and wild
My desires were defiled
Like lost color on dead leaves
Chorus:
She wore fine dresses
And bells on her shoes
Hiding her face with a veil
She wore fine dresses
And bells on her shoes
Black ribbons hung from her hair
There was a boy
She fancied so much
All other men ceased to be
Shadows formed
Then disappeared
As I took his life without grief
There at the shore
I let him sink down
His eyes still starring at me
I made him a promise
Though I’m unsure
What caused such moral feelings
Chorus
When he was found
And placed in the ground
All comforts she passed onto me
But when I look in her eyes
And through love’s new guise
I still see him staring at me
Chorus
FLIGHTLESS BIRD
Hid me from the sun
Memories own tomorrow
Let me have just one
When did this sorrow begin?
Brethren keep me weaker
One more shot to wake
Gives me hollowed answers
Much more it will take
When did this sorrow begin?
Chorus:
Holding out for something
That could keep me through the night
A ravaged world like flightless birds
Will kick to pick and bite
Holding out for something
That could keep me through the night
Brethren keep me weaker
Scratching till there’s blood
Mamma take your young boy
Fix all that hes done
When did this sorrow begin?
Chorus
RESTLESS SOUL
Rest my head upon a stone
Many days that I’ve been walking
My body lies but still I roam
She’s been waiting a long cold winter
Colder more since I’ve been gone
And I’d hate to think she’d wait forever
I know not when I’ll be coming home
I hear a shot howl from a distance
My body tires my mind is weak
And I’m thinking of that dark haired woman
I lay my head, and go to sleep
Lord forgive me for cannot join you
No pleasures found in kingdoms untold
And her yearning’s too hard to turn my back on
Redemption’s clear, but I need none
Will she see me? Will she hear me?
Will she know that I’ve come home?
Will it pain her to feel me near her?
My body lies
My soul’s come home