Surly and Disheveled

The pillars of the world were shaking like the legs of a drunk,hot winds ripped all the hats off all the ladies downtown that day,then they caught us, ran us ragged, beat us bloody, put us in a dirty cage,now we’re screaming bloody murder, we are starving, won’t see the ocean side again,now we’re screaming bloody murder, we are starving, won’t see the ocean side again!

Continents and mountain ranges, boats out in the harbor, rivers clouds and cities all aflamethe sun went out the sky went red the horses our dancing in their skinsthe taste of ash and sulfur on our lipsWhere is my boy, where is my son. I seem to have lost him in the crowd,he was holding to my hand just a moment agoI know he cannot find his way he is so small he is so lean he looks likea scrap of paper on a branch.I am flesh and you are pale, I am sleeping you are dead,we’re all playing cards as the ship goes downWe’re living as if we are not, hanging from a precipice,shuddering and lurching off the edgeBut someday this will all be gone, as fast a match can be struck,take warning for the veil is very thinThe signs aren’t difficult to read: we tread so heavy on the groundsomeday the ground it may give way.

I see you gilded gentlemen, I wish I’d set a torch to you while I stillhad the freedom of my legs. I do not trust you with my life,I do not trust you with my past I do not trust your hands upon the world.But now I’m sunken in the ground, all my strength to move is gone andscreaming is the last recourse that I have, you’ve left us with a barrenearth, we know we are the aching land,a scorching waste with all the life of coal.

Blackbird Raum - Coal