[Verse 1]
              
From the top o

  
f the flight
            
Of the wide wh

  
ite stairs
            
Through the re

  
st of my life
            
Do you wait fo

  
r me there?
            
There's a bell

  
 in my ears
            
There's the wi

  
de white roar
            
Drop a bell do

  
wn the stairs
            
Hear it fall f

  
orever mor
            
Hear it fall f

  
orevermore

[Chorus] 
               
             
Drop a bell of

  
f of the dock
             
Blot it out in

  
 the sea
             
Drowning mute 

  
as a rock
             
sounding mutin

  
y

There's a ligh

t in the wings

, hits this sy

stem of string

s,
              
from the side 

              
while they swi


ng;
See the wires, the wires, the wires.

[Verse] 

And the articu

lation in our 

elbows and kne

es

Makes us buckl

e and we coupl

e in endless i

ncrease
As the audience admires

And the little

 white dove
Made with love, made with love

Made with glue

 and a glove a

nd some pliers

Swings a low s

ickle arc from

 its perch in 

the dark

Settle down, s

ettle down my 

desire

[Chorus]

And the moment

 I slept
             
I was swept up

          
 in a terrible

 tremor
             
Though no long

              
er bereft, how

    
 I shook
              
And i couldn't

   
 remember

And then the f

urthermost sha

ke

Drove a murder

ing stake in
             
And cleft me r

            
ight down thro

   
ugh my center

And I shouldn'

t say so
             
But I know tha

          
t it was then 

or never
             
Push me back i

  
nto a tree
             
Bind my button

  
s with salt
             
Fill my long e

  
ars with bees

Braying 'pleas

e, please, ple

ase,
              
Oh you ought n

  
ot!
No you ought not!'

And then the s

ystem of strin

gs tugs on the

 tip of my win

gs
              
Cut from cardb

              
oard and old m

 
agazines
Makes me warble and rise like a sparrow.

And in the pla

ce where I sto

od
There is a circle of wood
              
A quarter to w

           
hich you chop 

and you stack 

in your barrow

And it is terr

ibly good
To carry water and chop wood
              
Streaked with 

            
soot, heavy bo

oted and wild-

eyed

As I crash thr

ough the rafte

rs
And the ropes and the pulleys trail after
              
And the holies

              
t, holiest bel

            
fry burns sky 

high

[Verse]

And then a slo

w lip of fire
             
Moves across t

          
he prairie wit

h precision
              
While somewher

              
e with your pl

            
iers and glue
              
You make your 

                       
first incision
             
And in a momen

          
t of almost un

bearable visio

n
             
Doubled over w

            
ith the hunger

                   
 of lions

'Hold me close

', cooed the d

ove
             
Who was stuffe

              
d now with saw

            
dust and diamo

nds

[Chorus]
                                            
            
I wanted to sa

 
y 'why the lon

g face?'
            
Sparrow perch 

              
and play songs

           
 of long face
            
Burro buck and

         
 bray songs of

 long face
              
Sings 'i will 

            
swallow your s

            
adness and eat

 your cold cla

y

Just to lift y

our long face
             
And though it 

              
may be madness

    
, I will take 

to the grave

Your precious 

long face
             
& though our b

              
ones they may 

            
break & our so

uls separate

Why the long f

ace?
              
And though our

             
 bodies recoil

            
 from the grip

 of the soil

Why the long f

ace?

[Bridge]
             
In the trough 

                
of the waves
             
Which are pawi

                
ng like dogs
             
Pitch we, pale

              
-faced and gra

  
ve
             
As I write in 

                
my log.
             
Then I hear a 

              
noise from the

  
 hull
             
Seven days out

                
 to sea
             
And it is the 

                
damnable bell

And it tolls, 

I believe, tha

t it tolls
              
It tolls for m


e!
And it tolls for me!

And though my 

wrists and my 

waist
Seem so easy to break
              
Still my dear 


I would've wal

ked you to the

 edge of the w

ater

And they will 

recognize all 

the lines of y

our face
              
In the face of


 the daughter,

 of the daught

er, of my daug

hter

And darling we

 will be fine
But what was yours and mine

Appears to be 

a sandcastle t

hat the gibber

ing wave takes

But if it's al

l just the sam

e
Then say my name, say my name,

in the morning

 so that i kno

w when the wav

e breaks

[Chorus]

I wasn't born 

of a whistle
             
Or milked from

          
 a thistle at 

twilight

No, i was all 

horns and thor

ns
              
Sprung out ful

             
ly formed, kno

              
ck-kneed and u

              
pright
             
So enough of t

          
his terror we 

deserve to kno

w light
             
And grow everm

            
ore lighter an

   
d lighter

You would have

 seen me throu

gh
             
But I could no

  
t undo that de

sire

[Coda]
            
Oh-oh, oh-oh-o

 
h desire
            
Oh-oh, oh-oh-o

 
h desire
            
Oh-oh, oh-oh-o

 
h-oh-oh-oh des

ire
            
From the top o

  
f the flight
            
Of the wide wh

  
ite stairs
            
Through the re

  
st of my life
            
Do you wait fo

  
r me there?