Widow City

The Fiery Furnaces Widow City歌詞
1.The Philadelphia Grand Jury

There ain't no more favors to ask
There ain't no petitions to pass
It's all in the hands, it's all in the hands
Of the Philadelphia Grand Jury now

More crooked sons of bitches
You can't ever have come across

Make sure that they notarized my will
Make sure Mom don't look at the noose
We already know there ain't no suspense
That the Philadelphia Grand Jury strings me up

More crooked sons of bitches
You can't ever have come across

More crooked sons of bitches
You can't ever have come across

Make sure that they notarized my will
Make sure Mom don't look at the noose
We already know there ain't no suspense
That the Philadelphia Grand Jury strings me up

More crooked sons of bitches
You can't ever have come across

More crooked sons of bitches
You can't ever have come across


2.Duplexes Of The Dead

I went on down unto the duplexes of the dead
Where the shades are drawn and the shadows shut
Unless you know the magic word
Seldom said but often heard
Bite your lip then spin around three times

On our honeymoon, my husband sat still
With a look in his eyes and a pen in his left hand
He wrote on the varnish the magic word
Seldom seen and never heard
He shushed me then slumped backwards dead asleep

I went grumpy sitting in the sun by the umbrella stand
Making every single unreasonable demand
I covered my head and went to the office pool
Dipped in reverent a re-soled mule
And asked the chlorine fumes if there something they wanted to
bring up


3.My Egyptian Grammar

I never thought it could have happened to me
I never thought it could have happened to me
But on the morning of my eldest daughter's second wedding
I blacked out
They said it was it was just stress
But I don't think so

I couldn't remember the 15 minutes before
A white-haired half-Samoan girl from Darwin
Gave me a ride, it seems
She let me the car in
But what it was she said
I couldn't say

Now, that clearly didn't happen
I consulted my Egyptian grammar
On page 3333 was the hieroglyph for motorcycle helmet
(I never thought it could have happened to me)
I combined this with a leatherback's shell, as I felt I was
instructed
(I never thought it could have happened to me)
I Xeroxed it and posted it down by the bike lock-ups at the
Oriental Institute
Maybe a netherworld entity would see it and pass it on to those
responsible
That kind of thing must happen sometimes

Now, that clearly didn't happen
I consulted my Egyptian grammar
On page 4428 was the hieroglyph for French canal boat
I met on the Midway someone channeling up a whatever-it-wasn't
There are 17 sections of cymbals in the orchestra of the
oversold, it said
'Your youth is lost, and doesn't it now seem
You can't make smoke, only steam?'

Now, that clearly didn't happen
I consulted my Egyptian grammar
On page 5566 was the hieroglyph for a blue jay


4.The Old Hag Is Sleeping

My baby's angry, he's always so angry
He smiles only when he can give me abuse
What's the use? What's the use?

The church bells are busted again
And at cakewalk class, I'm out of sync
I peek at Granddad's watch and take a drink

A linen being pawned on a eclipse
Pack the swatches in the pony-cart
Before the gate, he squints and is ready to start

My baby's angry, he's always so angry
At best, he ignores me and don't curse and stare
Despair, oh, despair

He gets pink roses sent by
The other woman now lives upstairs
You think, she thinks he really cares?

Well, I go and retire by nine
He's in the Kansas City Cabinet today
Pretend I'm asleep, I hear him say

The old hag is sleeping
Now old hag stay sleeping
If you never wake up
It's heaven as it were widower, widower

My baby's angry, he's always so angry
He smiles only when he can give me abuse
What's the use? What's the use?


5.Right By Conquest

If you wish to wait until dusk, I respect your policy
But by all means, my liege, lay siege, lay siege
Or whatever else you might wanna call it
We will only be restoring to the rifle from
Before the migrations of the people
You could put it or and I'd prefer, right by conquest

Are the defenses then to be let down tonight?
Yes, maybe, or not quite
Just a rickety old stockade I heard
Half diorama plaster and half a cup of water damaged sheet-rock
In which is interred, it's all that stands in your way
If stands is the right word, what will you do?

Carried off to decorate your bordello
The person who told me believes that the guard
Though formerly in the service of the Duchess of Kent
Is an Italian greyhound bitch that loves thieves
So you might sing

Well, Rebecca get your basket
Let's go down to the wood
You might not pick any berries
But you'll come back feeling good
Well, alright then

If you wish to wait until dusk, I respect your policy
But by all means, my liege, lay siege, lay siege
Or whatever else you might wanna call it
We will only be restoring to the rifle from
Before the migration of the people
You could put it or and I'd prefer, right by conquest

Are the defenses then to be let down tonight?
Yes, maybe, or not quite

Will you quench these blushes of mine by present practice?
Will you, being invited, crack this glass?
Here's poison and here's gold
Quick children, before you get old

Well, Rebecca get your basket
Let's go down to the wood
You might not pick any berries
But you'll come back feeling good

Well, Rebecca get your basket
Let's go down to the wood
You might not pick any berries
But you'll come back feeling good


6.Restorative Beer

She tells me â€~bout last night
And her hundred and third first date, she counted
She counted her pairs of pants again
'I've only got fifty three minus the ones I've got on'

I want a restorative beer
To take my mind off these tears
I want a restorative beer

Get the catalog free from Desert House
HG-3 Box 1-1-1-1-1-1 Albuquerque
Talked to my twenty five foot phone extension cord
About the needlepoint therapy blues and then I knew

I want a restorative beer
To take my mind off these tears
I want a restorative beer

I want a restorative beer
To take my mind off these tears
I want a restorative beer

Hey, Bill were you getting
A funny bass drum sound on that one?


7.Cabaret Of The Seven Devils

Disregard for how and where and with whom
You amuse yourself encourages bad behavior

The Duke, as was appropriate, held himself in high regard
And therefore considered himself in need of encouragement
He expected the people of Madrid render him this service
And as convenient setting for the achievement of this end
He established the Cabaret of the Seven Devils
This is what happened:

Sick and tired of what passed for diversion at the Carnival
Palace of Don Diego de Cordona
I'm sick and tired of what passed for diversion at the Carnival
Palace of Don Diego de Cordona
So-so-so lucky to have him there in the first place
And he certainly was in the First Place—
the Duke of Medina Sidonia, himself made up his own mind

When he must go back to the 'capital',
Which was soon, “And which I hate,”
He would take his exercise in the town.

The evening in question was a moonless Monday
The evening in question was a moonless Monday
And carrying his own purse
The evening in question was a moonless Monday
And carrying his own purse
And carrying his own purse

With only one valet (only one—but by far his best swordsman)
The Duke marched into the least auspicious tavern,
Tossed his silver bag at whom he assumed was the proprietor
And said, or barked, I mean,
“This establishment will now serve my purposes.
And I should like it to be known as the Cabaret of the Seven
Devils.”
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8.Pricked In The Heart

Listen, these are not drunken as you suppose
It might not be 3 o'clock in the morning like it seems
The little children will be prescient
And the young men will see shows
And the old men will dream dreams

I found a typescript double-spaced
Printed out on a daisy-wheel so all femme
In the former Treatise, dear friend Theophilus it was placed
Written by Lisa which was present at the doings of them

I gathered all the tokens of the passion
People waiting for the promise of a father
Where have you heard of me in the past?
John baptized with water, now with wine
But don't weep, he'll make sure
Pricked in the heart the Wednesday after last

In a cash and carry next to Mt. Olivet and all around
Megan, Mary, Lisa and Kenisha, gave it out
'Stick with me or you'll reap the reward of iniquity'
Cashed out, carry the possession of a plot of ground

Well, the vapor of smoke came up from the earth beneath
Outside the bodega called 'Beautiful'
When it was whom with Sue and Kenisha
Under a silver-leaf wreath
Called not to fit to sit, might as well
Come half out of your mother's womb

I gathered all the tokens of the passion
People waiting for the promise of a father
Where have you heard of me in the past?
John baptized with water, not with wine
But don't weep, he'll make sure
Pricked in the heart the Wednesday after last

A light shined in the lodge
And the chain slipped off her hands
So to speak, she packed up her things and sailed to Cyprus
Sending greetings from Felix
With a 'Please put Paul on misunderstands'

Me, she and her all went home, gave up the boast
And left Lisa to type us

I gathered all the tokens of the passion
People waiting for the promise of a father
Where have you heard of me in the past?
John baptized with water, not with wine
But don't weep, he'll make sure
Pricked in the heart the Wednesday after last


9.Widow City

Antioch agent wrote a letter per usual
Dated 'It's a hundred degrees perpetual'
Sent via the swift dromedary
Traversing her ways on the odd and even days
Said the lion has come up from his thicket
They've managed to void my lottery ticket

Drunk on wormwood, Widow City
Widow City's drunk on wormwood
Tomorrow night when the sun sets at nine
I might need tangle myself
With the degenerate plan of a strange little vine

And foxes on the mountain, girls
There're foxes on the mountain, girls
So negotiate the deserts and pits
You can't rely on your dimwits

Wag your head and clean your clocks
Ready for the rendezvous with the sticks and the stocks
Taught the wicked ones the ways
Said what was sent via the swift
Dromedary traversing on the odd and even days

Drunk on wormwood, Widow City
Widow City's drunk on wormwood
Tomorrow night when the sun sets at nine
I might need tangle myself
With the degenerate plan of a strange little vine

They've made my chain even heavier if you can imagine
They've made my chain even heavier if you can imagine

Drunk on wormwood, Widow City
Widow City's drunk on wormwood
Tomorrow night when the sun sets at nine
I might need tangle myself
With the degenerate plan of a strange little vine


10.Mandolin And Maracas

Tell me how many times did you touch her hand
Before you took her to the top of the UT Tower
Before you loaned her to your best friend
Before you dropped her again
And started to see a shrink

I saw her shrink away from the room
Giggle and whisper, march right up and tell me
She loves my hair
Well I cut it myself

A long time's passed, and I don't care where you've been
You bought me maracas when I wanted a mandolin

We put a ping-pong table together on the second date
Played doubles with your roommate and his daschund all night
15-love, 30-love, 40-love, ace
21, 19, Chinese grip
I stayed up framing photos of the '55 Brooklyn Dodgers

My tiny baby memory back to sleeping on the steps
On the welcome mat, the time you never came back
After Busch Light, Natural Light, Lone Star all night

A long time's passed, and I don't care where you've been
You bought me maracas when I wanted a mandolin

It hasn't been so long since I turned 21
You gave me your stepbrother's VCR 'cause you know I love movies
Please don't play them for no one
Please take me out for enchiladas on the lake again

Show me where you did it for the first time again
While we share a beer in the car
And you shush me when I try to sing along again
It's been so long since I turned 25
You dropped in for a second, but I didn't mind that you came
empty handed

A long time's passed, and I don't care where you've been
You bought me maracas when I wanted a mandolin

What about all the times you tried on your clothes, I had to say
what I thought
I think I'll tell you right now--let the shower run
And run and drink five cups of coffee and try to run

Show me the way 'til you find the photos
Way down all the way to your email and love songs
I'll read them forever and pound my fist out

A long time's passed, and I don't care where you've been
You bought me maracas when I wanted a mandolin