1. |
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I sing of endless blood-soaked earth
Bodies crumbling in the dust
Men turned animal with rage
Consumed by violence and lust
Stretching back as far as time
Long before the reign of Rome
I sing tonight and every day
For those who never made it home
All of them were bone
All of them were blood
All of them were flesh
That somebody loved
A mother weeping for her son
A father begging for his boy
A wife collapsing at the news
A child playing with his toys
A friend fallen in the field
The body burned, the grief goes on
So many souls without a voice
So many ghosts that can’t move on
All of them were bone
All of them were blood
All of them were flesh
That somebody loved
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2. |
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I’m before you on my knees
Kissing the hands of my grief
My son was cut down in the fighting
And your hands took him from me
He was strong as a lion
With a full head of hair
Now it’s caked with dust and rottin’
But I still see him everywhere
If he had listened to my warnings
Maybe he’d still be at my side
He knew the risks but fought for glory
And when he fell part of me died
I don’t have much more to give
To a world that’s bled me dry
I don’t have much life to live
Or many tears left to cry
So think of someone who you love
Who might someday be like me
Grant mercy to my son’s body
And put it in my hands of grief
Put it in my hands of grief
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3. |
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I’ll burn your body ‘til it’s gone
I’ll burn your body ‘til it’s gone
The flames will take the flesh but leave us with your song
I’ll burn your body ‘til it’s gone
I’ll sing your melody so clear
I’ll sing your melody so clear
There was no one in the world I held so dear
I’ll sing your melody so clear
I’ll hear your voice in every dream
I’ll hear your voice in every dream
When I wake I know you’ll disappear like steam
I’ll hear your voice in every dream
Don’t you be afraid my friend
Don’t you be afraid my friend
Once I’m dead they’ll burn me too and we’ll be together again
Don’t you be afraid my friend
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4. |
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Like a farmer in autumn, harvesting wheat
So blinded by rage I can barely see
Leaving the bodies as feasts for the flies
Quietly humming my war lullaby
My enemy strikes, I pull him apart
In the heat of the kill I might eat his heart
If he begs for mercy I won’t hear his cry
The air is so thick with my war lullaby
Oh how the Angel of Blood sings “Hallelujah!”
Oh how it feels to put my sword right through ya
The guts comes tumbling out, your brains fly through your mouth
And the rivers run red with our humanity
I meet the man who gutted my love
His mother and father watch from above
We circle each other, both after a prize
Til I cut him down with my war lullaby
Around and around I drag his shell
His body’s on earth but his soul is in hell
This is my prayer: may the dogs eat his eyes
But leave his ears to hear the war lullaby
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5. |
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My love, my love, my love
Your sun has set
For as long as I remain
I will not forget
The words, the words, the words
You spoke before you left
They are branded in my heart
They echo in my chest
You said…
“This is how it’s been
And this is how it will be
Men have always left to fight
In the name of glory”
Our son, our son, our son
Will never feel your light
He has your hair and eyes
May he also have your might
I fear, I fear, I fear
Without you at our gates
Our lives will disappear
Our names will fade away
This is how it’s been
And this is how it will be
This is why men leave to fight
For everlasting glory
This is why men leave to fight...
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6. |
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I was just a girl on the day
They burned our lives and took me away
The man who killed my father said
“Go and wait for me in bed”
You know the face that launched the ships
But do you know the slave with trembling lips?
It was my fate to be something worse
Halfway between a blessing and a curse
I am a woman of the war
I have a song as strong as yours
I won’t be silent anymore
I am a woman of the war
Back and forth I go before the crowd
I weave my sorrow like a shroud
One man takes, another steals
But it’s all the same to me
I am a woman of the war
I have a song as strong as yours
I won’t be silent anymore
I am a woman of the war
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7. |
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You were my brother in this war
You were my heart and so much more
We fought and ran and drank and breathed
This heavy air you’ll never leave
When I heard that you were dead
I poured this dirt upon my head
And lay in ruin on the earth
And wondered what my life is worth
I’ve got grief as deep as the love that we shared
I’ve got pain as dark as the night
When you fell in the dust, I fell with you
Now I can’t tell wrong from right
I can’t tell wrong from right
Blood will never make us whole
But I’ll fight until its rivers flow
And soak the ground that made you a ghost
And kill the man who took your soul
I’ve got grief as deep as the love that we shared
I’ve got pain as dark as the night
When you fell in the dust, I fell with you
Now I can’t tell wrong from right
I can’t tell wrong from right
I can’t tell wrong from right
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8. |
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I’m standing in the blood-soaked air
Crying tears I didn’t know were there
While kings who stand as tall as trees
Are crushed by endless waves of grief
A man with glory in his name
Fell upon this ancient plain
Next to thousands of his kin
Who dreamt of going home again
All of them were bone
All of them were blood
All of them were flesh
Lying in the mud
I wish that I could run for days
Far away from this desperate haze
Of sorrow, pain and tragedy
A world consumed by agony
I’m crying tears I didn’t know I could
While they make my image out of wood
Gates will open, gates will fall
They’ll throw the children from the walls
All of them are bone
All of them are blood
All of them are flesh
Lying in the mud
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9. |
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What kind of love is deeper than the sea
Stronger than the iron of a shield
Born in the heart, brighter than the sun
So certain that it will never yield
What kind of love goes higher than the sky
Somewhere out beyond the broken blue
Underneath my skin, darker than the night
That’s my love for you
I will gladly wear your sorrow
Like armor clasped around my chest
I will lead your troops to battle
As surely as the sun sets in the west
What kind of love is older than the earth
Sweeter than the promises of youth
Falling in my tears, dripping in my sweat
That’s my love for you
I will listen to your heartbeat
In the silences you make
I don’t need to hear you tell me
What you can give, I will take
What kind of love will shine after I’m gone
Longer than the days are true
Coursing in my veins, flowing in my blood
That’s my love for you
That’s my love for you
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10. |
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My love, my love, my love
Don’t you be afraid
I’ll be home before you know
Everything will be okay
My son, my son, my son
I hate to say goodbye
I’ll be back when the sun goes down
To sing you a lullaby
This is how it’s been
And this is how it will be
Men have always left to fight
In the name of glory
My heart, my heart, my heart
Can we laugh before I go
Remember me in the morning light
Tell my mother I love her so
My blood, my blood, my blood
There’s no need for you to cry
Someday you’ll have a son
To sing a lullaby
This is how it’s been
And this is how it will be
Men have always left to win
Everlasting glory
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11. |
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What kind of love is taller than a mountain
Richer than a crown of brilliant jewels
Sharper than a sword, straighter than an arrow
That’s my love for you
What kind of love turns strangers into brothers
Puts brothers back into their mother’s womb
Together in the darkness, holding on to life
That’s my love for you
I will gladly raise an army
To keep your honor from the fire
I will keep your soul from danger
I will fight and never tire
What kind of love is harder than a war
Thicker than the walls of a tomb
Louder than a battle, softer than a dove
That’s my love for you
That’s my love for you
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12. |
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Open me up and look inside
See the dark I cannot hide
I may be a killer in the sun
But there’s a way these things are done
If you take away my bride
Then you take away my pride
I will close and lock the door
I won’t fight in your goddamn war
I’ve got grief as deep
As these graceless days are long
But each night when I lay down to sleep
I know right from wrong
Maybe I should strike you down
Cut out your heart without a sound
Leave your shell for the world to see
What happens when you violate me
But something holds me back
A hand keeps me from attack
If you make me a lion with no roar
I won’t fight in your goddamn war
I’ve got grief as deep
As these graceless days are long
But each night when I lay down to sleep
I know right from wrong
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13. |
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Don’t you be afraid my dear
Don’t you be afraid my dear
In your time of need I’ll always be near
Don’t you be afraid my dear
In every dream I’ll come to you
In every dream I’ll come to you
Walk into the ocean, I’ll meet you in the blue
In every dream I’ll come to you
I’ll make you a melody so clear
I’ll make you a melody so clear
When you cry I’ll be the one who gathers up your tears
I’ll make you a melody so clear
They’ll tell your story when you’re gone
They’ll tell your story when you’re gone
A mother’s love is even stronger than a song
They’ll tell your story when you’re gone
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14. |
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I am a bird without a song
Flying through the night until it’s gone
I am a bird without a song
I am a dawn that never breaks
A dream within a ghost that never wakes
I am a dawn that never breaks
This is how it feels
To be a wound that never heals
To wonder if you’re even real
This is how it feels
I am a wave upon a beach
Pulled back against my will into the sea
I am a wave upon a beach
This is how it feels
To be a wound that never heals
To wonder if you’re even real
This is how it feels
I am a golden field of grain
Cut down by a farmer ‘til nothing remains
I am a golden field of grain
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15. |
Taken (Helen's Song)
01:55
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I became the woman of the war
When I took your hand and walked out my door
Trouble followed us for sure
And I became a woman of the war
What was I supposed to do?
Sometimes fate has a plan for you
Desired by many but loved by few
What was I supposed to do?
When the war is done will I be the same?
In my heart I will bury shame
Like in my face I carry fame
When the war is done will I be the same?
Did I leave or was I taken?
Does it really matter to the graves of
All the souls and the bodies they’ve forsaken
If I left or I was taken
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16. |
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Please father don’t you cry
I will help you stand
We’ll say a prayer together
And wash the grief off of our hands
Join me at the table
Share a meal before you go
Tell me of your heartbreak
I’ll tell you of my sorrow
Now we’re thinking of what’s absent
My distant home, your broken son
We’re wondering where the years went
And if a war can be won
I don’t have much more to say
That I haven’t said before
I know my time is short
I can’t avoid it anymore
So I’ll bathe your son’s body
Until it’s clean of dirt and sand
And with the tears you’ve left behind here
I’ll wash the grief off of my hands
I’ll wash the grief off of my hands
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17. |
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I’m standing on the blood-soaked walls
My tears suspended in the sky
I can’t seem to make them fall
No matter how hard I cry
Now I see his body borne
A shell of my oldest son
And I wonder if he’s gone
To be with the other ones
All of them were bone
All of them were blood
All of them were flesh
That somebody loved
Open the gates, let him in
Bring the women, light a fire
Sing a song about his deeds
Let our voices never tire
Now my tears finally release
To crash like waves upon the shore
Will they sow the seeds of peace?
Or will they grow the ghosts of war?
All of them were bone
All of them were blood
All of them were flesh
That somebody loved
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Joe Goodkin Chicago, Illinois
Chicago-based singer/songwriter Joe Goodkin has released albums as both a solo artist and under the name Paper Arrows. He tours the country performing one-man folk opera retellings of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
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