Sontitwo'd

Ever found yourself lost in the desert...



Relentless

Come on Home

I saw her last the day I turned sixteen, she sang the sweetest song for me,
The most beautiful girl I’d ever see and she promised she’d always wait for me.

We weighed the anchor and set the sails, we slid into the murky blue,
Her song still ringing in my ear and the promise she made to wait for me.

And she sang about the times we’d have when I came back from sea,
The home we’d build, the love we’d make and the kids she’d bear for me,
It warmed my heart to think of her and know that I would soon be heading home,

In record time we’d made the Cape, and the wind blew steady cross our stern,
Just three months out we’d sighted land and harboured up with time to burn.

We filled the hold with foreign wares and fed our souls on foreign wine,
We told the stories from back home like the promise she made to wait for me.

And the captain said “it’s time now lads to set our sails again”
“Our ship is heavy with foreign gold, we go back wealthy men”
“They’ll line the shore to cheer us in, it won’t be long now lads before we’re home.”

But four weeks out we hit a storm like no one saw before,
A wall of water one hundred feet, another one hundred more,
We tried to flee, to no avail, the sky turned black, the sea began to boil.

And the wave came down like a sack of stones, it scattered men and broke through bones,
it ripped right through the rigging like a knife.
It rained down yards and blocks and line, as the sails tore free and the masts came down,
And those with breath to spare cried for their life.
She crashed on through the top of the wave, plummeted down towards a watery grave,
I was thrown so hard my tethering lashes snapped.
And the last thing that I ever saw of her, with her rudder flailing in the air,
As the wave cut her into fire wood like an axe.

For five days I was drifting free, a wretched sailor lost at sea,
I called on the gods to come for me, but if they heard my prayers they left me be.

By the sixth day I could bear no more and slipped beneath the murky blue,
I felt old Davey brush my skin, my fight was done, my time was through.

Then I heard a voice that came for me from an island far away,
The sweetest sound I ever heard, begging me to stay,
Guiding me back towards the light, singing “Darling, won’t you please come home”.

“My poor heart aches for you, and I will always wait for you, until you’re safely home.”

“My poor heart breaks for you, I will always wait for you, 
and I will be right here for you when you come back home.”

Come on Home

The Ballad of Bill Munny.

Life was cheap when I was younger, every kill made me stronger,
Death was easy, fear my only friend, 
Munny was the end,
And from the devil’s hand came whiskey as my nurse, 
Whiskey was my curse. 

Many a man tried their chances, with restless hands and furtive glances,
They called the shots but my bullets were the word,
I revelled in that curse.
No-one stood in my way, ‘cause you know what people would say?
The devil walked my way.

But it took the love of a good woman to teach me righteous living,
I threw away the bottle and the gun.
Built a cabin, cleared the land,
Two fine kids, one at each hand,
But then the smallpox came our way,
And took my love away.

Now crops are failing in the field, the swine are sick and the hens won’t yield,
Hungry mouths are slaving dawn to dusk,
These fields of swirling dust.
As I kneel beside your grave, I  promise you each day,
I’ll walk the righteous way.

But then he’s standing at my door, with polished guns and ringing spurs,
Talking about big dollars for revenge,
But those days had to end and I send him on his way,
Because I promise you each day,
I’ll keep the righteous way.

But as I gaze upon this dying farmstead, “A Righteous Retribution” he said,
His words are vermin crawling round my brain.
This one last job could save our children,
before this place finally kills them,
And yes, I know exactly what you would say,
But you’re not here today.

And so I’m on the hunt again, with whiskey breath and pounding veins,
Guns still smoking in my aged hands,
He pleads with me about ‘deserves’, 
Well I never really understood that word,
Anyway, you heard what people say,
Well, the devil still walks my way.


The Ballad of Bill Munny (WIP)

Nothing Happens (By the Sea)

Nothing happening by the sea, she’s waiting there so patiently
Cigarette held loosely in her hand, ash falls like snow upon the sand.

The big wheel doesn’t turn today, they shut it down too soon they say
The creaking of a rusted chain and faded paint is peeling once again.

If nothing happens by the sea, why’s it calling out to me?
It’s where my soul yearns to be, my heart belongs to the sea.

The coble fleet has long since gone, since the tunny all moved on
The ghosts of ancient fishermen can finally sleep ‘neath silent harbour walls.

She lights another cigarette, a town like this just can’t forget
Four billion shooting stars are tossed like grains of sand in every tumbling wave.

If nothing happens by the sea, why’s it calling out to me?
It’s where my soul yearns to be, my heart belongs to the sea.
And when the angels come for me, they’ll carry me back to the sea,
It’s where I’ll spend eternity.

They’ve boarded up the old café, lines and nets all put away
Her footprints disappear into the sand like mist upon the rising breeze.

An empty beach an empty sky, but something there catches my eye
A final wisp of smoke curls off a cigarette that’s dropped upon the sand

If nothing happens by the sea, why’s it calling out to me
It’s where my soul yearns to be, my heart belongs beside the sea.
So when the reaper’s been for me, carry me back to the sea,
A Viking burial for me.

by the sea (mix test)

Paper Angel

Like a paper angel crumpled on the floor, 
Empty and discarded, numb to the core,
Rise, darling rise, spread your wings and lift your head to the sky,
Come on rise, darling rise, for tomorrow there’ll be a crack of light open up in leaden skies.

I wish that this was simple, then I’d know what to say,
I’d lift you up in my arms and I’d soothe your pain away,
So rise, darling rise, spread your wings and lift your head to the sky,
Come on rise, darling rise, for tomorrow there’ll be a crack of light open up in leaden skies.

My poor broken angel, I’ll love you to the end,
And I’ll always be here for you as your lover or your friend,
But I know that we can make it so let me see you rise;

Darling rise, lift your head up and let me see deep into your eyes,
Come on rise, darling rise, and tomorrow a brand new star will surely start to shine,
So come on rise, darling rise, spread your wings, how I long to see you fly,
Rise, darling rise, and tomorrow there will be a crack of light open up in leaden skies.

JimWix