1. |
Beware The Swamp Whomper
01:58
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Head like a deer
Hind legs falling down
you'll know its near
when you hear the sound
They're coming to your swamp
they're coming to your town
I wouldn't cross one's path if I could help myself
They're crawling out of bogs
mosquitos the size of dimes
they'll hush the peepers, frogs
the loons and coyote cries
you'll hear the rustling of bramble
make a fuss and you'll get tangled up in something
the swamp whomper's hunting
better run for your life!
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2. |
Sugar Shack
03:44
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A mountain of cigarettes
through the valley of the haze
I took a swig of keystone and packed another lip
If you're looking for some folklore
you ain't gonna find it in the day
buy me a shot of whiskey and I'll start saying more
but you can't laugh and you can't scoff
and you can't call me a drunk
if half the town had seen what happened, I'd still have a job.
Would I lie to you?
Would I make it all up cuz anguish sounded fun? No.
I swear I'm pious as a saint
I go to church, pray at night
oh, god ain't been much a friend to me.
I've seen those eyes
I recognize the skeptic in your heart
but come on down to sugar shack
and I could change your mind.
The winter's old
the melting snow leaves footprints in the mud
sit on back and boil sap to keep you from the cold.
Come on down to sugar shack
come humor me a bit
you might just see something that scares you out your wits.
Would I lie to you?
Would I make myself a fool if there wasn't something to it
I swear I'm telling you the truth
I know you think that I'm drunk
but there's nothing else to do around here.
Would I lie to you?
Would I make it all up cuz anguish sounded fun? No.
I swear I'm pious as a saint
go to church, pray at night
oh, god aint been much a friend to me.
credits
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3. |
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I used to think the world was an exotic piece of history
an artifact, an idol dug up on some stolen property
I was so curious to see the wonders and take them for myself
all that esoteric knowledge would be mine if i looked hard enough,
the mysteries of living keep confounding my heart every day
I should keep my nose out of the things that I don't want to find
I used to think the world was an ancient, hidden petroglyph
that remained veiled in shadow for 4 billion years
But you are like a forgotten epic poem
words lost to the wind
and no matter how many hours I spend
pouring over manuscripts by candlelight
I will never figure you out
and I don't want to figure you out.
Well now I think the world has just been turning like it always has
you and me are just two folks with an obscured and somewhat twisted past
and everything we built upon the sand was never meant to last
we can still dig up the ruins with a shovel and a rusty pickaxe
But I am like a forbidden temple chamber
come see whats inside
and even though you might get cursed
well I still get hurt
when you run away from the shadows that you find
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4. |
Ave & Nina
06:21
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[Kathy: When we first moved here, Isaac was young, kids have that vision, and he saw an old man leaning against a pine tree, in the pine woods there, smoking a pipe, and evidently it was Ave. He was a tall, thin old man and then all his pipes were in this shed. This was his go-away place, to get away from Nina]
Feel how the snow falls
clinging to the limbs and branches
covering the green beneath.
It ain't much different than my soul feels
The cold clings to my bones
and the only warmth is wood stove burning
house filling up with smoke.
And Ave smokes his pipe
And I water the chickens
I watch my soaps
and Ave's in the pine thicket
tall as the day is long
the years pass like cars going up the road.
I never wanna leave here
and every day you'll look at me like
oh
some day these walls are gonna cave in
and the dust will overtake the both of us.
[Kathy: She lived in this house for more than 70 years, and I'm like the third owner of this house and so everybody knew everybody and even to the I still have the mirror on the wall that- it's in the same place, over the shelf. Remember Henry and Bob and all of them walking down the road? One night, it was winter and they were walking down the road about 2-o-clock in the morning and they saw a blue light in the window where Nina always sat]
Feel how the wind blows
the more things change the stranger they become.
Your death left me shuddering.
Worst pie I ever baked for christmas,
got the news while mixing in the spice
a whole jar of nutmeg wasted
laid down right there and cried.
And Ave smokes his pipe
and I'm in the kitchen
I wash my hands
and Ave's in the pine thicket
Old as the home we made
the days pass like leaves falling from the trees.
Im never gonna leave here
and every day I'll look at you like
oh, I love you
some day these walls are gonna cave in
and the dust will overtake the both of us.
[Kathy: So those are my Nina stories but the main thing was she always stole my fucking nutmeg, and I don't know what she did with it! But I ended up sageing the house, and it got rid of her. I have nutmeg. I have whole nutmeg, I have nutmeg in jars. I have more jars of nutmeg now than you can shake a stick at.]
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5. |
Black Winter Hymnal
03:31
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I hear you're sleeping in the day
I heard you're rising with the moonlight
I know you're changing your shape
to fit the coffin at your bedside.
I know you're trying to change
it's really hard to be bloodthirsty all the time
even if you say that you're sated
you need a deal with satan
to get you out of your room,
to break down those walls.
I ain't scared of you at all.
I wanna be with you in the deep, damp, dark.
I guess you caught me in a lie
because I need to be invited inside
show me your neck and I'll bite.
The rings of bloodshot are clouding up your eyes.
When I look inside of a mirror
I don't even recognize the reflection,
I don't see anything at all.
The tower I've built for myself is gonna crumble and fall
and I'll be destitute and begging
to step into the sunlight
feel the warmth on my cold skin
feel a spark in my cold heart.
Garlic breath is gonna save my neck,
till then I'll just keep sleeping on the church steps.
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The Swamp Whompers Flatwoods, West Virginia
Ghost hands hold up the clouds!
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