Joanna Newsom Follow

Sadie

White coat

You carry me home

And bury this bone

And take this pinecone

Bury this bone

To gnaw on it later, gnawing on the telephone

And 'till then, we pray and suspend

The notion that these lives do never end

And all day long we talk about mercy

Lead me to water Lord, I sure am thirsty

Down in the ditch where I nearly served you

Up in the clouds where he almost heard you

And all that we built

And all that we breathed

And all that we spilt

Or pulled up like weeds

Is piled up in back

And it burns irrevocably

And we spoke up in turns

'Till the silence crept over me

And bless you

And I deeply do

No longer resolute

Oh, and I call to you

But the water go so cold

And you do lose

What you don't hold

This is an old song

These are old blues

And this is not my tune

But it's mine to use

And the seabirds

Where the fear once grew

Will flock with a fury

And they will bury

What'd come for you

And down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender

You and I, and a love so tender

Stretched-on the hoop where I stitch-this addage

"Bless our house and its heart so savage."

And all that I want

And all that I need

And all that I got

Is scattered like seed

And all that I knew

Is moving away from me

And all that I know

Is blowing like tumbleweed

And the mealy worms

In the brine will burn

In a salty pyre

Among the fauns and ferns

And the love we hold

And the love we spurn

Will never grow cold

Oh, only taciturn

And I'll tell you tomorrow

Oh Sadie, go on home now

And bless those who've sickened below

And bless us who have chosen so

And all that I got

And all that I need

I tie in a knot

And I lay at your feet

And I have not forgot

But a silence crept over me

So dig up your bone

Exhume your pinecone, Sadie