"1519" lyrics
(Live at The Showdown)
Check the canvas
Inspect the ropes and the rations
Draw the lines on the maps and
Tell stories of riches
And the glory that God gives
To those who fear Him
Hold the Bible
Against the blue sky of morning
Shout a prayer like a warning
Look the boys in the eyes and
Pretend they are grown men
And that nobody's dying
Watch the land fade
Black ink over a landscape
No lines but the lines that you make
The mind becomes a fragile thing
So far from our homes and king
Out on the ocean
Close your eyes now
Hold onto that easy sound
Of your woman in the morning
All naked and breathing
While you lay there dreaming
Of ways to stay
Catch the trade winds
Out past where any man has been
Create a God you can believe in
Twist the words until there is no sin
And the evil that is happening
Is out of your hands
Sixty five days
The boys now are wasting away
And you whisper them name by name
The misted kiss from a darkening wave
Wrap them up like newborn babes
Let them sink in the deep
From the top mast
A boy screaming land at last!
Eyes wild and cracked like glass
The voice of God in a man gone mad
Start a fire so we can't go back
And burn the ships down
On the white sand
Tell yourself you are God's own hand
The sharpened blade of a righteous faith
In the Garden without a name
In madness there is no shame
But what you make
Inspect the ropes and the rations
Draw the lines on the maps and
Tell stories of riches
And the glory that God gives
To those who fear Him
Hold the Bible
Against the blue sky of morning
Shout a prayer like a warning
Look the boys in the eyes and
Pretend they are grown men
And that nobody's dying
Watch the land fade
Black ink over a landscape
No lines but the lines that you make
The mind becomes a fragile thing
So far from our homes and king
Out on the ocean
Close your eyes now
Hold onto that easy sound
Of your woman in the morning
All naked and breathing
While you lay there dreaming
Of ways to stay
Catch the trade winds
Out past where any man has been
Create a God you can believe in
Twist the words until there is no sin
And the evil that is happening
Is out of your hands
Sixty five days
The boys now are wasting away
And you whisper them name by name
The misted kiss from a darkening wave
Wrap them up like newborn babes
Let them sink in the deep
From the top mast
A boy screaming land at last!
Eyes wild and cracked like glass
The voice of God in a man gone mad
Start a fire so we can't go back
And burn the ships down
On the white sand
Tell yourself you are God's own hand
The sharpened blade of a righteous faith
In the Garden without a name
In madness there is no shame
But what you make
