Gallowsbird's Bark

The Fiery Furnaces Gallowsbird's Bark Lyrics
1.South Is Only a Home

Can I feel useless and low?
Could I hide a chain of gold from your eyes?
Sandy thinks he knows the trade
All the games and the plays
And the ways I make

Do you believe in the first way to lend a hand?
It's a second chance you never planned
Just a close encounter that comes to mind
A rummage sale you barely find

And it's sold
You better believe it's freezing cold
When it's sold
You better believe it's freezing cold

Oh Whitehall
Whitehall women rejoice
Tell us we're the ones with the most
And hear the sounds of our voices
We've been waiting for our host

Brixton bunnies come in
We can see the state you're in
Nothing like a smiling face
Oh what a waste you've been

Clapham clown stop your frowning
Let it go you're not alone
The river may keep you drowning
But south is only a home
South is only a home


2.I'm Gonna Run

I slit my wrist with my swing line
Copied myself five hundred times
I pierced my ears with a three-hole punch
Ate twelve dozen doughnuts for lunch

So next week I'm a walk
Next week I'm a walk
And the week after that I'm gonna run

I swam in an Olympic-sized pool
Had a picnic with a ventriloquist
Saw my brother coming up the hill
He wrapped a beach towel 'round my wrist

So next week I'm a walk
Next week I'm a walk
And the week after that I'm gonna run

I dumped Surel for an older man
Now I'm doing it for Dante
Gimme some of that nasty water
I'll take it one sip at a time

So next week I'm a walk
Next week I'm a walk
And the week after that I'm gonna run

So next week I'ma walk
Next week I'ma walk
And the week after that I'm gonna run
On one of those things
It's something like a treadmill I think

So next week I'm a walk
Next week I'm a walk
And the week after that I'm gonna run


3.Leaky Tunnel

I pulled my kerchief out of my pocket
Wiped my nose and said hello
I bought a tambourine at the millennium dome
It jangled two thousand times in a row

I caught a cold when I was way down south
Standing out in the heat
Now my eyes are all itchy
And I can't tell which way to walk down the street

I'm stumbling through the crosswalk
And I'm humming in the din
And when I get to the other side
I'm gonna jangle my tambourine again

I fished my microphone out of Regent's Canal
Heading from Little Venice to Greenwich
Dirty boy said let's make in love in the water
I said, No thanks, pal.

Went on dictating in my mic
I got no time for a dip cause I'm heading for my ship
I'm going down to the tunnel
Down to the leaky leaky tunnel


4.Up in the North

Wearing my scarf and my hat
And I squint and I sniff as I went around
Walked up the road through the woods
By the pines, by the lake as I heard the sound

Maria Anna Gamisou
Daughter of a dire in Oulu
Sang me a song or two
And I wrote them down

Up in the north, in the cold
In the ice, in the snow
She would cry and cry

There she would moan
She would whine
And the tears would pour down
And she would never

Angela Exema Milou
Servant girl in Turku
And I wrote them down

Down in the south, in the heat
In the sweat, in the rain
She would cry and cry

There she would moan, she would whine
And the tears would pour down
And she would never

Melissa Jarmon Dupres-oo!
Sitting on a bench in Anjou
Sang me a song or two
And I wrote them down

Elias Doxia Didou
Son of a bitch back in Turku
Sang me a song or two
And I wrote them down


5.Inca Rag/Name Game

In the cracker barrel dumpster I found a bag
Red white striped I opened it--gag
Mummy day pizarro dressed in a Inca rag
Call on in to work quick
Tell 'em that I'm seasick

Uncle Ricky's schooner's docked Pompano Beach
Weigh anchor and me and him each
Need some extra sunblock, do it for 'em he can't reach
San Juan by next Sunday
Mummy mummy mummy

Walking through the market, stop buy some rum and coke
Plantains please, my mummy man spoke
But you have to pay 'cause you know dude I'm broke
Sitting outside the sunset, are we in Cadiz yet

Over to Majorca for few audience fit
Juan Carlos, his throne he go sit
Throw the mummy in the dungeon bottomless pit
Appealing in the Hague say
Mummy mummy mummy

I was listening to a classic VH when I pulled an H. Singh
Drank myself into a stupor, ears started to ring
And I'll go finally Al's and type my brain away
With Pebbles and Ives we'll meet Madonna, Ladonna, Shadonna
And my brother with the very best name of all
And we'll go to finally Al's and type our brains away

Let's play bacci and horseshoes and croquet
But no, not cricket, 'cause I can't say their names
And I'll go to finally Al's and type my brains away

Penguin, Moe, Sal, Chris
Penguin, Moe, Sal, Chris


6.Asthma Attack

I would I had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back
I would I had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back

Yeah it's paradise island I know
Yeah yeah yeah I been there before
Once, twice, three times maybe
Once with my moms and twice with my baby

I shook my silver bracelet at a thousand sharks
They like the shimmer-glimmer but said
No never, no never swim in the dark
Once twice, three times maybe
Once with my moms and twice with my baby

I would I had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back
I would I had a asthma attack
If I seen the shark bite back

Yeah yeah it's just a figure of speech
A python ate my babe when he hit the beach
Once twice, three times maybe
Once with my moms and twice with my baby

I shook my silver bracelet at a thousand sharks
They like the shimmer-glimmer but said
No never, no never swim in the dark
Once twice, three times maybe
Once with my moms and twice with my baby


7.Don't Dance Her Down

Don't dance her down boys
Don't dance her down
Don't dance her down boys
Her man's in town

I played cards in England
I threw dice in Spain
I'm going back to England
To play cards again

Don't dance her down boys
Don't dance her down
Don't dance her down boys
Her man's in town

My mom told me
A long time ago
To quit all my rowdy ways
And drink no more

Don't dance her down boys
Don't dance her down
Don't dance her down boys
Her man's in town


8.Crystal Clear

At Four o'Clock
Just after work
I got my check
I held my breath
The phone wrings tell them I ain't never here

The over under
Made a blunder
I gave my cell phone
To my cousin
He plays the threats I get to his friends at school

I board the dog
At Uncle Nicky's
I put my hood up
I have to run out
You welched the bet I'm soaking wet too close to an OTB

I took a train
Got off at Trenton
Bought a ticket
A bus to Vinton
Won't stop sweating till I get to Davenport

On the bridge
On the bus
Bye bye Moline
Look at the water
Filthy dirty cloudy muddy messy mucky crystal clear

I got my palm read
For seven fifty
She looked me over
I bought crystal
Filthy dirty cloudy muddy messy mucky crystal clear
Filthy dirty cloudy muddy messy mucky crystal clear


9.Two Fat Feet

Slip me out of my northern noose
My easter egg
My western wheel
And a snouthern snake

I've got a busted breast and a jiggly thigh
A rumpled roast and a raggedy eye
A floppy neck and two fat feet
Sneaky cheeks chewin' greasy gums

You got a wing in your snaggle tooth
And you can't knock it back with no eighty proof
You got a wing in your snaggle tooth
And you can't knock it back with no eighty proof

You got a wing in your snaggle tooth
And you can't knock it back with no eighty proof
Oh you got a wing in your snaggle tooth
And you can't knock it back with no eighty proof


10.Bow Wow

Down in the dumps
Me and the seagulls we were looking for lumps
They all get scared when off of one of the bumps:jumps

I have to clutch
I have to tell him his commands all in Dutch
He likes his treat but he don't like to touch much

I forget to fix his card
Down on Richmond Boulevard
Running through the yard keenly

High on the hills
They laid the sod thought they were full of the fills
Now when we're searching I swear all of the kills stills

Wrinkling his brow
He takes a sniff and drags me over there now
He looks all worried then he tells me a bow wow

I forget to fix his card
Down on Richmond Boulevard
Running through the yard keenly

Shade by the sheds
I drink a coke he digs a hole and he heads
Back where they came, where the trucks leave their treads, speds
Over the sift

He goes all round it past the end of his shift
I make him leave he lets me know he feels miffed: stiffed

I forget to fix my card
Down on Richmond Boulevard
Stumbling through the yard sleepy


11.Gale Blow

Gale, gale blow
Gale, gale blow
Oh my umbrella
Can't, can't take it you know

Been caught in a hail storm
A blizzard tornado's nose
Oh but nothing, no nothing
Can beat this gale blow


12.Worry Worry

Never let one man worry your little mind
Don't you never let one man worry your little mind
He'll keep you troubled troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time
He'll keep you troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time

Don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
Well don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
He's a married man but he comes to see me sometime
He's a married married man but he comes to see me sometime

Never let one man worry your little mind
Don't you never let one man worry your little mind
He'll keep you troubled troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time
He'll keep you troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time

Don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
But don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
He's a married man but he comes to see me sometime
He's a married married man but he comes to see me sometime

Never let one man worry your little mind
Don't you never let one man worry your little mind
He'll keep you troubled troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time
He'll keep you troubled worried yeah
Worried all the time

Don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
Now don't you wish your little boy was cute like mine
He's a married man but he comes to see me sometime
He's a married married man but he comes to see me sometime


13.Bright Blue Tie

On my first day in town we saw the king
He was dressed in a suit with a bright blue tie
And it matched his eyes
And when ours met I sighed

Took a boat or a ferry to an island
There were gardens and trees and balloons in the sky
And we knew it was right

It wasn't only the light
Rode our bikes up and down the streets so wide
Don't lock 'em up no they'll be just fine
And I said Oh my, my
I can't believe it! I cried

This must be paradise
But it's not, no, no, no, no
But it's sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, oh Sweden

Had a breakfast of cheese, yogurt too
All this fat but you're so skinny to boot
I said it's in my genes
Yeah we're so skinny we're mean

Took the train everyday from your suburb yeah right
Only ten minutes and we're south centre tonight
And we don't have to pay
We sneak in free everyday

Schnapps on the house at the bars you like
Your friends stand in line and practise English all night
And I like them, they're nice
All so blonde and precise

This must be paradise
Oh it's not, no, no, no, no
But it's sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, oh Sweden


14.Tropical Ice-Land

Goat's head in the deli case
Oh sweet angel-angel-bearded face
Papier maché parade on at night
That's what you do with no sunlight

In the tropical tropical
Tropical ice-land
Tropical tropical
Tropical Ice Ice

Bleak church on a cold tundra
Mountain-glacier-glacier-glacier-stream
Black stone beach and a black death bottle
Is all me and my baby'll need

In the tropical tropical
Tropical ice-land
Tropical tropical
Tropical Ice Ice

Take intermission at the movies
Freeze outside for one quick smoke
Take a klondike bar from the pop machine
Hey it's ice cream, no not coke

In the tropical tropical
Tropical ice-land
Tropical tropical
Tropical Ice Ice

Let's meet in Kristiana next summer
Let's get out before we melt away
I've seen enough stray ponies and puffins
To get me through till the end of May

In the tropical tropical
Tropical ice-land
Tropical tropical
Tropical Ice Ice


15.Rub-Alcohol Blues

Troubles up and down the road
And trials all the way around
Never knew what trouble was
Till my honey threw me down

With nothing but old ragged clothes
My heartstrings broken to shreds
Blues creeping over my body
Queer notions flying in my head

The easiest thing I ever done
Was loving and drinking wine
The hardest thing I ever done
Was paying off a judge's fine

No I've never worked for pleasure
Peace on earth I cannot find
The only thing I surely own
Is a worried and troubled mind

If men and wine don't kill me
There's one more plan to find
Oh soak up all the old rub alcohol
Ease all trouble off my mind
Oh ease all trouble off my mind
My mind, my mind


16.We Got Back The Plague

That easy going man of blood
Mucking about in the McLennan County mud
If you're hoping he won't, well course then he must
Driving his truck through the McLennan County dust

I read in my book on Sunday afternoon
So it's easy to think the end's coming soon
But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague
Early November we got back the plague

While beautiful Laura's sweeping the porch
He's teleconferencing up his operation torch
And I don't care if he bombs Babylon to hell
Except for he's building Babylon here as well

I read in my book on Sunday afternoon
So it's easy to think the end's coming soon
But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague
Early November we got back the plague

Waking up in Cedar Rapids looking for allies
Praising his leaches and looking for likewise
Down in St. Charles local talent he hawks
Smirking and sowing the wind as he talks

I read in my book on Sunday afternoon
So it's easy to think the end's coming soon
But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague
Early November we got back the plague

In Northern Virginia on their excursions
L.U.V. in with all their diversions
Horns for hounds & spurs for horses
Release the committed Seventy-Two hour task forces

I read in my book on Sunday afternoon
So it's easy to think the end's coming soon
But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague
Early November we got back the plague

Bentonville and Dalas with gasoline douse
Then back to Crawford going over to the firehouse
Behind the curtains not turning much of a trick
Sicking ourselves to make ourselves sick

I read in my book on Sunday afternoon
So it's easy to think the end's coming soon
But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague
Early November we got back the plague

That easy going man of blood
Mucking out in the McLelland County mud
If you're hoping he won't well course then he must
Digging us down under the McLellan County dust