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The Jeweller Lyrics
The jeweler
Has a shop
On the corner of the boulevard
In the night,
In small spectacles,
He polishes old coins
He uses spit and cloth and ashes
He makes them shine with ashes
He knows the use of ashes
He worships God with ashes
The coins are often very old
By the time they reach the jeweler
With his hands and ashes
He will try the best he can
He knows that he can only shine them
Cannot repair the scratches
He knows that even new coins have scars
So he just smiles
He knows the use of ashes
He worships God with ashes
In the darkest of the night
Both his hands will blister badly
They will often open painfully
And the blood flows from his hands
He works to take from black coin faces
The thumbprints from so many ages
He wishes he could cure the scars
When he forgets he sometimes cries
He knows the use of ashes
He worships God with ashes
Has a shop
On the corner of the boulevard
In the night,
In small spectacles,
He polishes old coins
He uses spit and cloth and ashes
He makes them shine with ashes
He worships God with ashes
By the time they reach the jeweler
With his hands and ashes
He will try the best he can
He knows that he can only shine them
Cannot repair the scratches
He knows that even new coins have scars
So he just smiles
He worships God with ashes
Both his hands will blister badly
They will often open painfully
And the blood flows from his hands
He works to take from black coin faces
The thumbprints from so many ages
He wishes he could cure the scars
When he forgets he sometimes cries
He worships God with ashes
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When this song It is a lament for lost love. The Jewellor is the surviving lover collecting the pieces of their broken heart and memories of thier lost love represented by the coins. They are cerished by polishing them with the emotional ashes from the lost love. That's why he knows the use of ashes and worships God with ashes. At times the pain becomes overwhelming and the scars bleed again represented by blistered hands.
[Edit: Corrected and grammer]
this song is beautiful with dark piano and cello but the true brilliance is in the lyrics his job(the jewller) is the perfect metaphor for redemption. the spit(like being spit upon) the cloth(to wipe away the spit) and the ashes (which in biblical refrence is the purifier)are the three steps of redemption there are other great metaphors but i cant describe all of them in a short review =) the philosopher
My dad always thought the song was about a Holocaust survivor. A Jewish jeweller who lost his loved ones hence the use of ashes and blood as metaphors.
Cleaning the coins; there is a popular misconception that Jews place coins on the eyes of their deceased, so perhaps the songwriter incorporated this into the lyrics. The jeweller sits alone in the dark and tries to restore the coins to their mint condition. He works until there is blood on his hands, on the ashes, on the coins, all the while knowing he can never retrieve the past. It is ashes... his loved ones are ashes. Ashes do indeed signify redemption, but they may also have a darker meaning here.
He is trying really hard to maintain his faith in God in-spite of his anguish, (a very Jewish trait) using the coins as substitutes and trying to erase the scars. Sometimes his grief overwhelms him and he cries...