Sabre And The Rose

(album: Easter Island - 1978)

Feet hit the ground; feet leaving town
Quicker than a bullet or a knife
Falling ain't no fun when you're on the run
Honey we was running for our life

When Stagger Lee had drunk his fill of moonlight
He turned his burning eyes upon my soul
"It's time, by God, to spend this night with someone else", he said.
"Squeeze a little pleasure from the gold" (love & glory, children)
We can take it easy when we're old.

He said, "We'll take us into town, lay our money down
I'll bring you to the sweetest thing that grows
Because the fairest ones in sight are blooming every night at a tavern
Called the Sabre and the Rose."

We swang into the saddle slick as breathing
And slapped 'em once for pleasure with the reins
The horses snorted frosty in the moonlight
Something dark was singing in my veins
Older than the voices in my brain.

He said, "This place you're gonna see is where they live and breathe
And sink down a little bit deeper every day
And sometimes at night, when the wind is running right,
You can hear it sucking thirty miles away"

Then the light was crimson and I found her,
All naked and eternal and insane
Sacred as the mysteries around her like a veil
Nothing but her prison was profane
All we had in common was our chains.

Ah-burn it down boys
Burn it to the ground, boys
Burn it on down

Feet hit the ground; feet leaving town
Quicker than a bullet or a knife

All the way she ran holding to my hand
Running for the river and our life
Sliding from the moonlight into shadows
Silent as the river as it flows
Swimming to the place they'll never find us
All we left behind us was our clothes
And the stories, children.

Sing about The Sabre and the Rose