White Hinterland - A Beast Washed Ashore lyrics

'Neath the leaden lid I saw your face Ashen and pale as you walked away And I stayed behind Oh Where'd you go Dearest friend of mine Can you recall the lurid scene of savagery The sea beast belly-up and beached Twice as long as a seven mast ship They took him apart with pliers and a crane Oh they took him apart, though it took several days And they took him apart and the townspeople came And chit-chattered away The sky that night seemed lacerated Each cloud a con- contusion Some wade in the water to wash his bones off I wade in the water and I watch 'em Then they stack him up on a pushcart Haul him off to the maritime museum The horizon boasts a widowed light That punches pinholes 'tween the sycamores and pines And through the sodden bogs I make my way back home The biddies of the town can chew this tale down And gnaw it into skeletal scraps 'til fiction is fact See the truckling trees, bare in the air But for struggling kites Oh! His bones are bleached, laid out on the truck His teeth are brushed and his mouth is shut His bones are tied with twine and screws Put on poles, hoisted up in a room I recall looking once 'neath your lids To a universe full of starts And the days drag on awfully long When you're not one who can carry on Chit-chattering away Chit-chattering away...