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Batwings (A Limnal Hymn) Lyrics
(The key to joy is disobedience
There is no guilt and there is no shame)
A moon-piece to fetch up the golden cup
A snow-piece to avoid the great heat of the sun
Is kept in the night and by the light of the moon
An ice-piece so as they seem forever fallen
A night-piece of the dismal supper and strange entertainment
A rare chance-piece, a handsome piece of deformity
The skin of a snake bred out of the spinal marrow of a man
With stones and illegible inscriptions found about great ruins
Pictures of three remarkable steeples, or towers
Built purposely awry, so as they seem eternally tipping and falling
A transcendent perfume made of the richest odorates
Kept in a box of translucent scale
A glass of spirits made of ethereal salt, hermetically sealed up
Kept continually in quicksilver, of so volatile a nature
That it will scarcely endure the light
And therefore only shown in winter
Or by the light of a carbuncle, or a firefly
And batwings
And batwings
And batwings sing this limnal hymn
A wideness opening and closing to keep the darkness sealed within
To keep the darkness sealed within
To keep the darkness sealed within
To keep the darkness sealed within
A moon-piece to fetch up the golden cup
[The singing that follows is not in English. When this song was played at John Balance's funeral service, Peter Christopherson described it as "a language that only he knows".]
There is no guilt and there is no shame)
A snow-piece to avoid the great heat of the sun
Is kept in the night and by the light of the moon
A night-piece of the dismal supper and strange entertainment
A rare chance-piece, a handsome piece of deformity
The skin of a snake bred out of the spinal marrow of a man
Pictures of three remarkable steeples, or towers
Built purposely awry, so as they seem eternally tipping and falling
Kept in a box of translucent scale
Kept continually in quicksilver, of so volatile a nature
That it will scarcely endure the light
And therefore only shown in winter
Or by the light of a carbuncle, or a firefly
And batwings
And batwings sing this limnal hymn
A wideness opening and closing to keep the darkness sealed within
To keep the darkness sealed within
To keep the darkness sealed within
A moon-piece to fetch up the golden cup
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I just started crying listening to this track. What the..? that never happens.
So beautiful and sad.. :(
This possibly the most beautiful song I've ever heard. Some songs need to be heard and felt; and this is one of them.
So beautifull, it was played during Balance's funeral service. I would cut 2 fingers to know what he is singing in the last sentences.
Limnal means, 'Of or pertaining to lakes and ponds.'
Much of the imagery comes from: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/misctracts/museum.html
eg. "A Moon Piece, describing that notable Battel between Axalla, General of Tamerlane, and Camares the Persian, fought by the light of the Moon." and "An handsome Piece of Deformity expressed in a notable hard Face, with this Inscription,37
——Ora Julius in Satyris qualia Rufus habet."
So beautifull, it was played during Balance's funeral service. I would cut 2 fingers to know what he is singing in the last sentences.