The light you behold upon awakening
the eyes
Is not as brilliant as the light
from within
The explanation means you must
confront the lies
You were not born in original sin
Life is so sweet it tempts the angels
from heaven
So mean you'll probably have
to come back
So rich there's nothing else worth
holding onto
So old you'll pray to be released
Take back your Indian blanket
I don't think we ever wanted it anyway
The people ain't ever been the same ever since you brought it here
Ain't nothing more about it I can say
That spark which lit the eyes
Sheds lightly the body's disguise
A clock stops, the heart fails
Man at his gods foolishly rails
Fear not the graveyard nor the cold stone
For those that do perish alone
Closer you are than ever you've been
Just as it was, it will be again
Stars flame in the wintriest skies
It is there you will turn, if you are wise
Take back your Indian blanket
I don't think we ever wanted it anyway
The people ain't ever been the same,
ever since you brought it here
Ain't nothin' more about it I can say
The promised land is a
charnel house
The forest is filled with bones
Where did all the people go?
Who carved all these stones?
Let us sit on the ground and tell
tales of the death of kings
Lamentations for princes
What died in the mud and was
buried in the snow
A people's dream died there,
it was a beautiful dream
Take back your Indian blanket
I don't think we ever wanted it anyway
The people ain't never been the same,
ever since you brought it here
Ain't nothing more about it I can say
One picture I would draw if I could
You deeply sleeping
With your hands folded on the
pillow beside you
The warm room lit only by
the light inside you
And the flicker of a candle
lightly leaping
A lover lying next with his
arm around you
With you within all that
surrounds you
Your secrets safely keeping
Your secrets safely keeping
O, Mattie Ready, you wanted a song
But I can’t say much
I didn’t stay that long
Before we even started
I was already wrong
I would make things all right
Only I’m way too gone
Ah, but, hey, Mattie Ready,
I wrote you a song
Well, can’t you slow down some
You’re getting those tombstone eyes
Man, you better slow down some
You’re getting those tombstone eyes
And when it happens soon
Do you know anyone who’ll really be surprised
Not me nor you, not I and I
Can keep track of all these lies
You know if you ever get tired
You can always come back to bed
And I swear once more I won’t ask you anything there
About anything that’s been done or said
O, Mattie Ready, you wanted a song
But I can’t say much
I didn’t stay that long
Before we even started
I was already wrong
I would make things all right
Only I’m way too gone
Ah, but, hey, Mattie Ready, I wrote you a song
Well, I got your keys
But I guess I’m the one out of luck
Cause I think I just saw you
Climb into someone else’s truck
Well, I suppose you shouldn’t try it, sir
Sir, I guess you shouldn’t try it
Why do you stand so forlorn when all the others are gone
In the dark out here out of doors?
Well, I guess I could go back inside, I guess
But then I wouldn’t be a horse any more
Everyone asks me why
Everyone asks me why
Because in your eyes I see
The wind at play and the oceans rise
O, Mattie Ready, you wanted a song
But I can’t say much
I didn’t stay that long
Before we even started
I was already wrong
I would make things all right
Only I’m way too gone
Ah, but, hey, Mattie Ready, I wrote you a song
Well, in a while, how do you think
That you’ll paint this story?
With candlelight and incense and spells and poems and sighs
And all that kind of glory
Maybe something lower, vodka and felonies and pills and wrecks
A little more kind of whorey
A lot more glittery, less circumspect
Even downright tawdry
With me left alone among the dust
That will become of all of us
Blood on the pages of my books
Luck and death walk hand in hand
No one ever left me so shook
There are only two rhythms, I tried to tell you
The beating heart and a rolling train
Only two gifts I had to give you
A red, red rose and a bed inside the falling rain
Now again I’m just another person
I can never be
You and me and baby would make three
All I ever wanted, she said once that very first last night
Is for you to marry me
Come on, he said, as he bent down to pick her up off the floor
Let me carry thee
Let me carry thee
O, Mattie Ready, you wanted a song
But I can’t say much
I didn’t stay that long
Before we even started
I was already wrong
I would make things all right
Only I’m way too gone
Ah, but, hey, Mattie Ready, I wrote you a song
