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The Chimbley Sweep Lyrics
I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep
No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet
Upon the rooftops in dead of night
You'll hear me cry, I'll shake you from your sleep
To hear me weep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
I am an orphan, an orphan boy
I've known no love, I've seen no mother's joy
A dirty doorstep my cradle laid
My fortune's made, I'll shake you from your sleep
To hear me weep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
"Oh, lonely urchin!" the widow cried
"I've not been swept since the day my husband died"
Her cheeks a-blushing, her legs laid bare
And shipwrecked there, I'll shake you from your sleep
To hear me weep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep
No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet
Upon the rooftops in dead of night
You'll hear me cry, I'll shake you from your sleep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
I've known no love, I've seen no mother's joy
A dirty doorstep my cradle laid
My fortune's made, I'll shake you from your sleep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
"I've not been swept since the day my husband died"
Her cheeks a-blushing, her legs laid bare
And shipwrecked there, I'll shake you from your sleep
"Your day will come indeed
For I am a poor and a wretched boy
A chimbley, chimbley sweep"
A chimbley, chimbley sweep
Song Info
Submitted by
sendthestars On Apr 19, 2004
More The Decemberists
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The Mariner's Revenge Song
The Engine Driver
On the Bus Mall
Sixteen Military Wives
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This song makes me want to dance on a rooftop with an accordion. :]
I just finished reading "Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas about five minutes ago and I was laughing out loud. For real.
This song, and "Billy Liar" both come from "Under Milk Wood"- Billy Liar being about the character "Nogood Boyo" and this song is based on a song sung at the end of the story by a drunken man.
I love it.
Oh I forgot too...the line "And shipwrecked there, I'll shake you from your sleep"... This is from part of a poem in the book. The Captain says to his dead whore/lover:
"I'll tell you no lies The only sea I saw Was the seesaw sea With you riding on it. Lie down, lie easy. Let me shipwreck in your thighs."
I think the lyric: "'Oh, lonely urchin!' the widow cried 'I've not been swept since the day my husband died'" is actually "'I've not been swived since the day my husband died.'"
It never sounded quite like "swept" to me and I thought that was a pretty weak euphemism from The Decemberists anyway. And then today a friend pointed out to me that "swived" actually rhymes with "cried" and "died" and the verb means "to copulate with" so... Yeah. I think that's actually the correct lyric.
I too love the widow's voice. It's hilarious. Also, the voice of the mariner's mother in 'The Mariner's Revenge Song' is a good 'un.
well, i like cheese
love love this song...it has such a great energy and makes me want to tap my foot.
I love The Decemeberists.
hahaha but you cant even spell their name.
..How embarrassing. Oops. :X And that's even worse since their name is all over the freaking page.