Fade Away

Church bells ringing, calling the damned
In all the towns where I was born
Green screens measure my days in little gold bands
It's April, but there's a frost every morning
Over all the miles where I'll never go
And I thought I heard my children crying
But it was just a sighing
On the wind
And I thought I heard the old ones calling 
Me home again
And I lie here on this bed of nails and I fade away

 Last night they came and took 
   my friend away
To that cold dark room on 
   down the hall
But me they just leave stay and stay
It's April but I wither like the 
   leaves in fall
With none of the splendor of 
   their dying
And I thought I heard some 
   whispering
Just like a lover in the night
And I thought I heard a guitar playing
And a harmonica blowing
And a black train rolling 
On out of sight
And I cross this bridge of sighs and I fade away

Memories pass like the hours, 
  as welcome they are as ghosts
As useful as all my mother's prayers
Like sentries chained to their posts
It's April, but the rain just doesn't care
And they're holding spring hostage
And I dreamed I was an orphan
All alone
And by myself
And I dreamed I was a
    childless mother
Sleepwalking in the street
The bastard of wealth
And I ride from this valley of fear
    and I fade away

The pipes they cough and
    they murmur, my blood 
    bubbles and broods
Sugar drips into my veins
The traveller's trapped in dark latitudes
It's April, but the trees are as bare
   as my skin
And the birds treat one another 
   like strangers
And I thought I saw an angel
Dancing over me
With a scimitar and a stone
And I pictured a ruined cottage
A cat scrabbling in the embers
A young girl crying, far from home
And I leave this vale of sorrow and I fade away

Friends come and go, like they have
    all my life
My husband sits helplessly by
He needed a mistress and 
   never a wife
It's April, but the cold tears
   like a razor
Through all the mortals tramping
   these streets
And I thought I heard the 
   young men mustering
Still marching
Off to war
And I thought I saw wheatfields
    burning
Floodtides rolling
A shooting star
And I ford this river of tears and I fade away

People change faces, and morning
   comes like a curse
Hissed from some serpent's throat
I reach out and ring for the nurse
It's April, but the sun is ashamed
And there's snow on the dirty gray hills
And I thought I heard my
    children crying
But it was just the lying
Of the wind
And I dreamed I could count the stars
But then I woke up
Here again
And I hang from this wooden cross and I fade away