Bridge And Tunnel

(album: The Will To Live - 2022)

Meet me beneath the bridge, my darling
There I make my lair
Cleaner homes they may await me
Though I know not where

My only home is nowhere any noble man would dare
To lay his head for fear of finding snakes swivelling in his hair
I made this place into a sacred sanctuary, where I
Hide from eyes of spiteful judgment, lying vipers in disguise

But nothing can they take from me, for nothing do I own
Nothing do I give them freely, nothing that they've known
Nothing's what I carry, as I drag my bag of bones
Nothing's what I have, my darling, that and that alone

Nought have I to offer, but my body for to bear
Any burden placed upon you, any hurt, we two will share
And whatever meager fleeting joy or fortune I should meet
I will gravely lay completely at the feet of my great queen

Though I could give my labor to no master, nor no cause
And before betraying one neighbor I would disobey eight laws
I'll break nine rules before I take one order from one fool
And so across the water, I was chased straight out of school
Ha

Should I meet beneath the bridge, my love?
What shall I wear?
What garment for to shield me from the horror that I find there?
What cloak to cover up my hollow soul?
What brooch of coal will keep me out of reach of demons
Keen to eat me whole?
There once were woods where one could dream, unseen by eyes of man
And one could find amazing sleep there once, now no one can
The trees were made from the mountain's pain
The caves collapsed and broke
And now no periled fox or deer can break from being this small
So, nothing would drink deeply from an opening in their boughs
Where once there'd been no opening, once before the fangs were shown
Our forest was a fearful place here, frightening, but fair
And we began the noble feasts of those who travelled there