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Black Lyrics
Black, you are my enemy
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
Everything was lucked and downy
What was good was up from under
Until black, that awful tender
Came and popped my sense of wonder
All at once all eyes turned at him
Leaving me an unwatched body
And it sagged, my body's rib cage
Out from under ogler's study
Black was decomposing quickly
This was found offensive to me
His disrespect for life's proprieties
Made me scared he would destroy me
Black, you are my enemy
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
So I thought I'd try to cut him
Try to force him 'neath my level
The only way to equal to him
Would be hit him with a shovel
But to really rise above him
That would be the final evil
So instead I asked the sucker
If he'd care to see my rooms
And as a friend and as a comrade
And all the things that these implied
I made him leave what it was that he had
Used to keep us unallied
Black, you are my enemy
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
Now black and I we are together
Fairly just inseparable
And in the terriblest of weather
Our bonds are incorruptible
Black, you are my enemy
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
What was good was up from under
Until black, that awful tender
Came and popped my sense of wonder
All at once all eyes turned at him
Leaving me an unwatched body
And it sagged, my body's rib cage
Out from under ogler's study
Black was decomposing quickly
This was found offensive to me
His disrespect for life's proprieties
Made me scared he would destroy me
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
Try to force him 'neath my level
The only way to equal to him
Would be hit him with a shovel
But to really rise above him
That would be the final evil
So instead I asked the sucker
If he'd care to see my rooms
And as a friend and as a comrade
And all the things that these implied
I made him leave what it was that he had
Used to keep us unallied
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
Fairly just inseparable
And in the terriblest of weather
Our bonds are incorruptible
And I cannot get close to thee
Our life is ruled by enmity
And I can't weaken that
The only way that I can see
Is to hold you close to me
To love you for it's meant to be
I weaken your attack
Song Info
Submitted by
twitty On Oct 18, 2004
More Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
I See A Darkness
Death To Everyone
A Minor Place
Raining In Darling
Wolf Among Wolves
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I once heard him say at a gig that the song is about Bryan Rich aka Roy Black. Hard to believe but it puts the song in a totally different light.
Black can pretty easily replaced by "depression". The person in this song struggles with his state of depression. Depression (Black) is always there, threatening to destroy him. He's tried to fight Black, trying to get rid of him (it), trying to defeat him (it), but realizes that Black is part of him. Black cannot be destroyed without destroying himself. The character learns to embraze Black as part of himself, to accept his life as a whole.
"So I thought I'd try to cut him Try to force him 'neath my level The only way to equal to him Would be hit him with a shovel But to really rise above him That would be the final evil So instead I asked the sucker If he'd care to see my rooms And as a friend and as a comrade And all the things that these implied I made him leave what it was that he had Used to keep us unallied"
I find the lack of rhyme in those verses very disturbing.