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lyrics

I always tried to heed the advice
My old weary grandmother said
The day you decide to give one man your life
Is a day you will always regret
But I was still young and just green in this world
When his family came to my town
And like god in the sky bound our hands in his mind
I knew it was fate I had found

He was tall pale just as plain as can be
With a terrible look in his eye
He told me my voice was more beautiful than
Any sad siren's lullaby
And in the spring all the sparrows would sing out their songs
In the name of our love
And when the rains fell on the home that we build
It felt just like blessings from above

But one night he kept me up waiting so long
I demanded to know where he'd been
He stumbled in his breath smelling of rye
And explained to me what he had seen
A sea-faring vessel with seventy men
All a-joined in a laboring song
And he kissed me goodbye and told me not to cry
For he'd come back to me before long

For seven seasons I swallowed my tears
That no prayer or penance could quell
I cursed his name and I called on the sirens
To drag his ship right down to hell
And when it was plain he'd forgotten my name
And had left me to languish on land
I put up my hood and walked out to the wood
With a sharp kitchen knife in my hand

Every muscle I cut from the bone
And I gave as a gift to the earth
My marrow I fed to the sparrows who swore
They'd remember my name in return
And both of my lungs I gave to the wind
To blow out a tempestuous breath
And both of my eyes I gave to the night
Now they shine from the firmament

Finally spirit flowed out of my form
And it came as a terrible flood
Every wave on the most distant shore
Bore the bright crimson stain of my blood
Up in the sky shone the bright golden eye
And it gazed down from high overhead
Upon the sight of the sea yawning wide enough
To swallow seventy men

Beloved grandmother know that I never took
None of your visions in vain
I am not one to go looking for love
Or to think I could outrun my fate
But in this world there is no way to turn
From the path we are destined to tread
And I have found that from birth we are bound
By a shimmering unbroken thread

credits

from Oh Creation, released April 2, 2021

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Esther Ann Gove Oakland, California

Esther Ann Gove is a songwriter in the dark country tradition of Townes Van Zandt. Her lyrical songs marry the gritty, surreal storytelling of the American folk revival with the brooding influence of doom. The result is a sparse yet immersive sound, with a weight that drags the listener down into their own depths, and a bold, shimmering voice to guide them through. ... more

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