Here she comes in her palanquin
On the back of an elephant
On a bed made of linen and sequins and silk
All astride on her father's line
With the king and his concubines
And her nurse with her pitchers of liquors and milk
And we'll all come praise the infanta
And we'll all come praise the infanta

Among five score pachyderm
Each canopied and passengered
Sit the duke and the duchess' luscious young girls
Within sight of the baronness
Seething spite for this live largesse
By her side sits the baron her barrenness barbs her
And we'll all come praise the infanta
And we'll all come praise the infanta

A phalanx on camelback
Thirty ranks on a forward tack
Followed close, their shiny bright standards a-waving
While behind in their coach, in fours
Ride the wives of the king of Moors
And the veiled young virgin, the prince's betrothed
And we'll all come praise the infanta
And we'll all come praise the infanta

And as she sits upon her place
Her innocence laid on her face
From all atop the parapets blow a multitude of coronets
Melodies rhapsodical and fair
And all our hearts afire the sky ablaze with cannon fire
We all raise our voices to the air
To the air

And above all this folderol
On a bed made of chaparral
She is laid, a coronal placed on her brow
And the babe, all in slumber dreams
Of a place filled with quiet streams
And the lake where her cradle was pulled from the water
And we'll all come praise the infanta
And we'll all come praise the infanta
And we'll all come praise the infanta

Oh
Oh


Lyrics submitted by Imposs1ble, edited by missmollygrue

The Infanta Lyrics as written by COLIN MELOY

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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The Infanta song meanings
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52 Comments

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  • -1
    General Comment

    This is such a great song. I heard at a concert that the calling in the beginning is monkeys howling to each other. It is strange though because "Infanta" means the daughter of a Portuguese or Spanish king (dictionary.com), but this song has undeniable Indian themes (monkeys, elephants, sliks, sequins etc.). Also, I don't really understand who the infanta is in this song. Is it the virgin, or the "babe" from the river, or are they the same thing? Who is riding the elephant? There are so many people mentioned in this song, that I don't know.

    sarcasticSmithon May 19, 2005   Link

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