Iron & Wine Album

Run like a race for family
When you hear like you're alone
The rusty gears of morning
And faceless, busy phones
We gladly run in circles
But the shape we meant to make is gone

And love is a tired symphony
You hum when you're awake
And love is a crying baby
Mama warned you not to shake
And love's the best sensation
Hiding in the lion's mane

So I'll clear the road, the gravel
And the thornbush in your path
That burns a scented oil
That I'll drip into your bath
The water's there to warm you
And the earth is warmer when you laugh

And love is the scene I render
When you catch me wide awake
And love is the dream you enter
Though I shake and shake and shake you
And love is the best endeavor
Waiting in the lion's mane

Tell me, baby, tell me
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I've not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
Or places we used to go

I've a picture of you
On our favorite day
By the seaside
There's a bird stealing bread
That I brought
Out from under my nose

Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I've missed you lately
And the way we would speak
And all that we wouldn't say

Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?

Tell me, baby, tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I've been thinking lately
Of a night on the stoop
And all that we wouldn't say

If I see you again
On the street by the beach
In the evening
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under my nose?

Daddy's ghost behind you
Sleeping dog beside you
You're a poem of mystery
You're the prayer inside me

Spoken words like moonlight
You're the voice that i like

Needlework and seedlings
In the way you're walking
To me from the timbers
Faded from the winter

Time and all you gave
I was the jerk who preferred the sea
To tussling in the waves
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please

But now I see love
Tracked on the floor where you walked outside
Now I see love
Looking for you in this other girl's eyes

Time and all you took
Only my freedom to fuck the whole world
Promising not to look
Promising light on the sidewalk girls

But now I see love
There in your car where I said those things
Now I see love
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please

Time and all you gave
There on your cross that I never saw
Well beyond the waves
Dunking my head when I heard you call

But now I see love
There in the sea where you pinched my leg
Now I see love
There on your side of my empty bed

Crack of dawn, the rooster moans
Wake up boy, you're far from home
Serpentine, the tracks in flames
Longest path the devil laid
Led you straight aboard this rusty train

Lift your head because you can't sleep
Bite your lip because you can't eat
Darkest den the devil made
Jesus weeps but he's been paid
Not to ride inside this rusty train

Buzzard's breath, the rooster moans
Stow it boy, you're far from home
Stow your sorrow, stow your fear
What did you do to end up here?
End up on the devil's rusty train

Mother don't worry
I killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed
Mother don't worry
I've got some money I saved for the weekend
Mother, remember being so stern
With that girl who was with me?
Mother, remember the blink of an eye
When I breathed through your body?

So may the sunrise bring hope
Where it once was forgotten
Sons are like birds
Flying upward over the mountain

Mother, I made it up
From the bruise of a floor of this prison
Mother, I lost it
All of the fear of the Lord I was given
Mother forget me
Now that the creek drank the cradle you sang to
Mother forgive me
I sold your car for the shoes that I gave you

So may the sunrise bring hope
Where it once was forgotten
Sons are like birds
Flying upward over the mountain

Mother, don't worry
I've got a coat and some friends on the corner
Mother, don't worry
She's got a garden we're planting together
Mother, remember the night
That the dog had her pups in the pantry?
Blood on the floor and the fleas on their paws
And you cried 'til the morning

So may the sunrise bring hope
Where it once was forgotten
Sons are like birds
Flying upward over the mountain

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 rings
It will lay her burdens down

Just like the way 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 that southern anthem rings
She will buckle to the sound
When that southern anthem rings
It will lay her burdens down

Who left you so?

Striking a match for the keyhole
Dark as the evening laid
When he left you all alone

Turning to fade through the sawgrass
Tall as the only love
That you'll ever really know

Who left you so?

Grace is a gift for the fallen, dear
You're an angry blade and you're brave
But you're all alone

Turning a shade of an angel born
In a bramble ditch when the doors
Of heaven closed

Found your mittens behind a box of pictures
You would wear them before I brewed the tea
That's one memory I can easily conjure
A weary memory I can always see

Found your rosary broken into pieces
Every night, by the bed, you'd kiss the beads
Those are moments that I can always relive
Weary memories I can always see

Found a photo of you when we were married
Leaning back on a broken willow tree
That's one memory that I choose to carry
A weary memory I can always see

Lately she don't care
For a warmer breeze
Or shade around the base
Of the maple trees
Spring was on the mountain
We climbed upon
Stopped to see how high
And how far we'd gone

I said, "Love is waiting
And better days"
She smiled and placed a kiss
On my waiting face
Promise what you will
Something good for me
Time will take it all
And it will, you'll see

We found your name across the chapel door
Carved in cursive with a table fork
Muddy hymnals
And some bootmarks where you'd been

The shaking preacher told the captain's man
The righteous suffer in a fallen land
And pulled the shade
To keep the crowd from peeking in

We found your children by the tavern door
With wooden buttons and an apple core
Playing house
And telling everyone you'd drowned

The begging choir told the captain's man
We all assume the worst the best we can
And for a round or two
They'd gladly track you down

We found you sleeping by your lover's stone
A ream of paper and a telephone
A broken bow
Across a long lost violin

Your lover's angel told the captain's man
It never ends the way we had it planned
And kissed her palm
And placed it on your dreaming head

Come the evening of my days
The dark birds in the trees and in her garden
I think I’ll be there somewhere too
The yarrow by my head where I have fallen

And she will lick her thinner thumb
And ringless finger too, and douse a candle
And though she never gave a thing
The way she said my name, we’ll be together

When autumn comes, she’ll be there
Jasmine still in her hair
Her tea leaves dry by the sea

Many men behind her door
Have heard the bathtub run and longed to love her
And though she doesn’t wait for me
We never ask the time when we’re together

Is there a race involved?
You run and hide, you get two stars
Last night two fat skinheads whistled at her
But she sleeps it off
A whiskey scent on her kitten’s fur

And when it’s time to go
I’ll push her high as she wants to go
Red pants down, she’s pissing out by the car
And though she’ll never know
Carissa’s weird but I love her so