rock
blues
americana
Lyrics
'Funeral Afternoons'
Well, it was a year of three deaths
And two of 'em were heartbreakers
Oh one was expected but nothin' got fixed that winter
N' we seemed to live in each other's eyes
Searchin' for the next number
Bitter, that holdin' bay between two lives
The livin' and the slumber
Like usin' new ashtrays we soiled everything we touched
Used up all the space around us, workin' out the pains n' such
N' leanin' on livin' memories like a joyless crutch
A thing you couldn't touch
Takin' back the pieces a' happiness
And the bones of what was us
Somehow the days got counted and things were done
One by one, the flowers laid, church clothes pressed
And all of us lookin' on amazed
Like shiny rooks, made some parade
Things we didn't usually do, like drinkin' wine in the afternoon
Drinkin' ourselves red in the gloom n' doom
There was talk of a good man n' glasses raised in respect to all
Especially the long coffin
His length was tall, too tall, why I never knew he was that big
When he stood by me he was just Uncle Pete, round n' small
In death he grew to a mighty wall
It seemed a waste to fold him in a box
The biggest death in our street
Well good riddance to a bad year Mama said
Closin' the wardrobe on all that poshness hangin' off her ears
Things she'd rather never wear, earrings
Posh things round her head, flowers in her hands n' brooches
When there's people in the ground
N' we had cake for tea, n' went to bed without a sound
Him n' me, workin' soldiers of a family
On funeral afternoons, in pretty dresses like little butterflies
We caught the moon, in pink balloons n' combed out tresses
N' cried like adults n' ate off silver spoons
On sunny funeral afternoons
Yeah, we had some a' them
© Maria Daines/Paul Killington
2006