From the Swallows album In the Shadow of the Seven Stars (2020)
The Boneyard
Monday, February 23, 1891
East London Cemetery
Plaistow, London Borough of Newham
A coal sky
Frames her hollow face
Pale with sorrow
Bloodless, paper skin
Through sheets of rain
See her dancing
In the boneyard
To a sad lament
A bell tower
Composes eulogies
Keeping time
To all the dead hearts
At midnight’s stroke
A raven croaks
Another light grows dim
On the East End
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
On the hollow wind
A melody climbs and falls
Aria from the great divide
A chorus grows
Voice upon voice
A third, a nine
Haunted words
Form a ghostly rhyme
Nightingale
Lying spread eagle
Ripped from stem to stern
In the mud and rubble
A swell mob
Beats a pounding rhythm
In the cobbled streets
Near the convent halls
Through the Swallow Gardens
To the crown and seven
Seek oblivion
In a glass of gin
Feel the walls breathe
Hear them rasp and wheeze
Taste the pestilence
In the thick air
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
Calling out from the end of the world
Reach to you from the end of the world
© 2013 Crandall
Wrecking Ball
Saturday, September 29, 1888
Whitechapel High Street, East End, London
The word is on the street tonight, tonight, tonight
The dogs are at my feet tonight, tonight
It’s a meager thing to solve tonight, tonight, tonight
Let the world evolve tonight, tonight
The queen don’t know where the winds will blow
Through the gas lit streets where the ripper sows
Let the bridges burn and the towers fall
Give ‘em one more blow with a wrecking ball
Gonna start a fight tonight, tonight, tonight
Gonna set things right tonight, tonight
Gonna break some balls tonight, tonight, tonight
Kick the stooges in their stalls tonight
A pound of flesh for a pound of gold
Gonna raise my glass to the prophets of the coming age
Better take your bow at the Albert Hall
Gotta make your rounds through the victory ball
You’re gonna wanna grab a seat by the window, in the front row
Watch the sky burn bright in the glow of this burning rage
Let ‘em feel what they wanna feel
Let ‘em squeal if they wanna squeal
Watch the dogs as they lick the blood off this grisly stage
Gonna draw some blood tonight, tonight, tonight
Drag their entrails through the mud tonight, tonight
Gonna count to ten tonight, tonight, tonight
Let the piggies from their pens tonight, tonight
Gonna take my bow at the Albert Hall
Make one more round through the victory ball
‘Cause the queen don’t know where the winds will blow
Give it one last whack with a wrecking ball
No, the queen don’t know where the winds will blow
Give it one more whack with a wrecking ball
© 2013 Crandall
In the Shadow of the Seven Stars
Friday, February 13, 1891
Royal Mint Street, Whitechapel, London
Lamp smokes
Heart skips
Shoe falls
Locket slips
Cold eyes
Hard stare
Black night
Still air
Player on a deadly stage
Witness to a lustful rage
In the shadow of the seven stars
Last call of a nightingale
Sorrowful her plaintive wail
In the shadow of the seven stars
A body turns
A body stalls
A body lifts
A body falls
Seconds come
Seconds go
Sound fades
Movement slows
Player on a deadly stage
Witness to a lustful rage
In the shadow of the seven stars
Last call of a nightingale
Sorrowful her plaintive wail
In the shadow of the seven stars
Mortal fear
Shaking leaf
Cautious steps
Turn to flee
A quiet voice
A halting plea
Time to run
None must see
Player on a deadly stage
Witness to a lustful rage
In the shadow of the seven stars
Last call of a nightingale
Sorrowful her plaintive wail
In the shadow of the seven stars
Player on a deadly stage
Witness to a lustful rage
In the shadow of the seven stars
Last call of a nightingale
Sorrowful her plaintive wail
In the shadow of the seven stars
© 2013 Nordby, Crandall
Ultraviolet
Tuesday, March 3, 1891
Walworth, London Borough of Southwark
I know why you’re here
The meaning is all too clear
A willing mind to hear
Your demonic desires
I’m not filled with hate
An empty soul to take
To hang on a string as bait
When the behemoth calls
You sense my fear
That’s how you found me here
My weakness becomes your spear
The guilty will fall
The deal’s been made
It’s etched on your stony grave
Witness becomes the slave
To pay for it all
My eyes can see
The beauty in front of me
Bereft of divinity
Can’t deny you at all
We become the same
One mind in a ruthless game
For this I will surely hang
To pay for it all
Hear me out
Why won’t you hear me out?
I can’t stand and fight
With whispers and moans
It’s all mixed up
It’s all mixed up
It’s all mixed up
© 2013 Crandall
Dead and Gone
Wednesday, February 25, 1891
White’s Row, Spitalfields, London
Thought I’d follow you to the dying lands
From the chapel to death’s door
Should have closed my mind when you hypnotized
Should have turned from you when you called
Ten steps under cold stone arches
A stifled scream
And now you’re dead and gone
Saw your sad blue eyes in the pale moonlight
Long locks and red‐stained lips
Should have sheltered you when they put you out
Should have come for you when you called
Blood mural in the Swallow Gardens
A flash of light
And now you’re dead and gone
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
The beast at the heart of it
You never had a stake in this
Piece of meat caught a vice grip
A wolf had to come for it
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
Now that I need you child
Now that I want you child
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
Dead and gone
© 2013 Crandall
Watertight
Monday, March 30, 1891
Aboard the SS Westernland, Atlantic Ocean
Jack, climb back in the hull
Stow the sails and oars
Battened down
Watertight
Unsinkable
Boat
Watch the pitch and roll
Turn the rudder slow
Throw the drogues
Anchor down
Unsinkable
Boat
Tell ‘em all night in
We’ll ride this out a hull
Morning comes
Chart our course
Unsinkable
Boat
Live another day
Despite the wind and rain
Change our tack
Sail on
Unsinkable
Boat
This watch is getting long
Oh, I’m seeing faces in the waves
Counting bodies in the stars
Slow moving, slow motion, slow moving tide
Still water, deep water, bone chilling dive
Jack, this header’s moving slow
Full and by we’ll go
Turn the sails
To the wind
Unsinkable
Boat
Let it go and haul
A westward lift is blowing
Pass the pipe
Down the grog
Let’s ride it on
Home
This watch is getting long
Oh, I’m seeing faces in the waves
Counting bodies in the stars
Slow moving, slow motion, slow moving tide
Still water, deep water, bone chilling dive
Time killing time killing
Sail the ocean blue
Time killing time killing
Under the new moon
Time killing time killing
Sail the ocean blue
Time killing time killing
Under the new moon
Jack, polish all the brass
Swab the decks and bridge
Cut the rigs
Tie the ropes
Unsinkable
Boat
Grab the holy stone
Scrub down to the bone
Man the yards
Watertight
Unsinkable
Boat
Lock the wheelhouse door
Let’s get this vessel moored
Clean the grave
Piss and spit
Unsinkable
Boat
Climb back in the hull
Stow the sails and oars
Battened down
Watertight
Unsinkable
Boat
© 2013 Crandall
Grace
Friday, April 24, 1891
Glenmore Hotel, Manhattan, New York City
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
Silence like a sickle
Reaps the coming dawn
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
I lie awake and listen
For rumors of your song
Oh, it’s better when you’re gone
Rejoice
Rejoice
Oh, I’ll recant if you’re found
Oh, I’ll recant if you’re found
The walls recall your presence
They shudder and they moan
Oh, I’ll recant when you’re found
Rejoice
Rejoice
Oh, when you’re buried and you’re gone
Oh, when you’re buried and you’re gone
They’ll steal the shroud and burn it
Before the poet’s write your song
Oh, when you’re buried and you’re gone
Rejoice
Rejoice
Rejoice
Rejoice
© 2013 Crandall
Bring Your Dead Back Home
Friday, May 1, 1891
Beacon Hill, Boston
Bring your dead back home
Bring your dead back
Kali, Allah, Santería
Bring your dead back
Say their names
I know your sadness
I know your pain
Bring your dead back home
I can make them real
I can make them
Kali, Allah, Jesu, Shiva
I can make them
Feel them near us
Floating beside us
Inside this room
I can make them real
Can you hear them speak?
Can you hear them,
Jesu, Shiva, Vishnu, Satan?
Can you hear them?
Ever closer
Whispering your name
Wanting to be seen
Can you hear them speak?
Can you see this light?
Can you see this,
Kali, Allah, Santería?
Can you see this
Reaching to us?
I feel their sadness
I feel their pain
Can you see this light?
© 2013 Kerr
Ten Miles Down
Monday, May 18, 1891
Buffalo Gap, South Dakota
Ten miles
Beyond the last homestead
Ten miles down
Where the bullrush grows
And the blackbirds nest
Strange lights pulsing
Dark things prowling
As the pale lamps flicker
Ten miles down
You’ll find the river bends
Ten miles down
Swift waters flow
Past a great oak stand
Old limbs withered
Dead eyes watching
As the gnarled hands twist and turn
Something’s calling me
Away from this life
The dead have followed me
Miles and miles from home
I’ll wait all night
‘Til the spirits pass
Stand watch ‘til the light
Beats the shadows back
Rise high sun fire
Bright light
Push these voices out of my head
Something’s calling me
Away from this life
The dead have followed me
Miles and miles from home
Something’s calling me
Away from this life
The host that’s watching me
Wants to swallow me up whole
© 2013 Crandall
Smoke of Sage
Friday, May 29, 1891
Pine Ridge, Great Sioux Nation
Set the pole
Bring the hide
Light the fire
Watch the sky
Bring the elder
Bring the pipe
Bring the paint
Bring the knife
Grab the man
Hold him down
Make a clearing
Gather ‘round
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Start the song
Drum and sing
Bison horn
Eagle wing
Shake the rattle
Dip the pot
Cut the skin
Tie the knot
Tie the rope
To the pole
Stick and rock
Skull and bone
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Lift the man
From the ground
Start the dance
Walk around
Tighten rope
Tearing skin
Back around
The pole again
Thunder god
Burning Sky
Spirit vision
Eagle eye
Thunder god
Burning sky
Spirit vision
Eagle eye
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
Smoke of sage
© 2013 Kerr
Gravediggers
Friday, June 26, 1891
Tesla Experimental Station, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Vision of the London Necropolis Railway and Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, England
High, low, everywhere that I go
Run but I can’t slow it down
Feel it all around
Both near and in the distance
Heartbeat pulsing through the ground
Feel it all around
Outflanking my resistance
Run but I can’t slow it down
Tick-tock can’t escape the big clock
Air is filled with the sound
Hear it all around
The clicking and clacking
Groans of coils tightly wound
Hear it all around
The ringing and clanging
Air is filled with the sound
I feel the engine slowing
As we pull into the station
Come to bury my body
Shovel my soul down to hell
Clip-clop no one let a word drop
Laying my body in the ground
Feel them all around
Shoveling in silence
No one dares to make a sound
Feel them all around
Covering the violence
No one dares to make a sound
I feel the engine slowing
As we pull into the station
Come to bury my body
Shovel my soul down to hell
I hear the chorus growing
Can you hear them all rejoicing?
They’re calling me to join them
To add my voice to the sound
© 2014 Crandall
Round About Me
Thursday, August 13, 1891
St. Francis Hotel
The Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California
Over the mountains
Over the sea
Calling my name
Following me
Long have I traveled
Long have I run
Your voice around me
This journey is done
Now I hear you
Round about me
All of the darkness
All of the gloom
Now you appear
Here in this room
Floating beside me
You hold out your hand
I see you need me
I understand
Now I see you
Round about me
Over the Mountains
Over the sea
I saw you dying
Calling for me
Balancing carefully
Hand on the wall
Pull the rope tightly
Slowly I fall
Now I hear you
Now I see you
Now I feel you
Now I want you
Round about me
Round about me
Round about me
Round about me
© 2013 Kerr