"Blackout Blues" lyrics
Come into the day that is ending
Where desert birds circle the sky
Then sit on the burnt tree down by the dry river
And wait patiently for the dusk to turn into the dark
Into the dark
Into the dark
Where no lantern can follow
She said, "The black that I see is no colour
No. It comes for me more like a sound
And when I stare into the howl of its silence
I close my eyes and I pray for the crowd
'Cause in each living one there are many
In each living many there's one
But the black that I see's like the ink of God's pupil
It burns, baby, burns 'til it blacks out the sun
'Til it blacks out the sun."
He said
"Baby, let's look on the bright side
And come with me inside where it's warm
If you stand here too long and stare out at that blackness
That blackness might swallow you whole
Oh
Better the coward that's living
Better the coward that breathes
Better be safe now than sorry
I'll be all alone, if you leave
All alone, if you leave."
She turned with a hiss of fresh venom
And a look that flashed daggers and claws
Then ever so softly, she smiled as she spoke
"Oh, no, dear. I'm staying out here until dawn."
"Then let me go get my old rifle," he said
"And the bullets all locked in my drawer
I'll stand here beside and face all that may enter
I'll shoot every one of them dead 'til they fall
Shoot them dead 'til they fall!"
She laughed at the man stood beside her
Said, "darling. So sweet and so dumb
There's no killing weapon save music
That can dance with the shadows that come
Though I shudder at all the nights's whispers
Though I'm shaking from deep in my bones
I am sworn by the heartbeat inside me
I will see the night through 'til it's done
See it through 'til it's done."
Come, poets
Come, writers
Come, travelers
Come, tell of this idyllic land
Come, portray its promise of beauty
But don't forget that mark on your hand
Ah
You made it in finger-clenched terror
Survived by the dream you forgot
It's the mark of this country's black shadow
That breaks through the night like a shot!
Through the night like a shot!
Where desert birds circle the sky
Then sit on the burnt tree down by the dry river
And wait patiently for the dusk to turn into the dark
Into the dark
Into the dark
Where no lantern can follow
She said, "The black that I see is no colour
No. It comes for me more like a sound
And when I stare into the howl of its silence
I close my eyes and I pray for the crowd
'Cause in each living one there are many
In each living many there's one
But the black that I see's like the ink of God's pupil
It burns, baby, burns 'til it blacks out the sun
'Til it blacks out the sun."
He said
"Baby, let's look on the bright side
And come with me inside where it's warm
If you stand here too long and stare out at that blackness
That blackness might swallow you whole
Oh
Better the coward that's living
Better the coward that breathes
Better be safe now than sorry
I'll be all alone, if you leave
All alone, if you leave."
She turned with a hiss of fresh venom
And a look that flashed daggers and claws
Then ever so softly, she smiled as she spoke
"Oh, no, dear. I'm staying out here until dawn."
"Then let me go get my old rifle," he said
"And the bullets all locked in my drawer
I'll stand here beside and face all that may enter
I'll shoot every one of them dead 'til they fall
Shoot them dead 'til they fall!"
She laughed at the man stood beside her
Said, "darling. So sweet and so dumb
There's no killing weapon save music
That can dance with the shadows that come
Though I shudder at all the nights's whispers
Though I'm shaking from deep in my bones
I am sworn by the heartbeat inside me
I will see the night through 'til it's done
See it through 'til it's done."
Come, poets
Come, writers
Come, travelers
Come, tell of this idyllic land
Come, portray its promise of beauty
But don't forget that mark on your hand
Ah
You made it in finger-clenched terror
Survived by the dream you forgot
It's the mark of this country's black shadow
That breaks through the night like a shot!
Through the night like a shot!
