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Another the Letter Lyrics
Passed to hand, behind the curtain
The letter brings change, now things are uncertain
Hand to hand, the letter moves on
Like a series of shocks, but the contents are known
Oh faint heart, when the letter arrives
You suddenly find things getting life-size
Once the air rang with things unsaid
Now cruel outlines are easily read
Behind the curtain in the yellow bulb light
The letter reads I took my own life
The letter brings change, now things are uncertain
Hand to hand, the letter moves on
Like a series of shocks, but the contents are known
You suddenly find things getting life-size
Now cruel outlines are easily read
Behind the curtain in the yellow bulb light
The letter reads I took my own life
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No, the lyrics are correct, albeit seemingly abbreviated due to lack of repetition and speed. It is, indeed, about receiving a suicide's final letter. The lyric were written by Bruce Gilbert after seeing a peculiar carving or woodcut in which one hand passes a letter to another behind (betwixt?) the curtains of a window. He found it a very evocative piece, and so wrote this lyric, which is far more discernable in the original, slower version (see Behind The Curtain: Early Versions 1977-79).
oh man wot a song!
Pretty sure a lot of these lyrics are wrong.