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Brickbats Lyrics
Brickbats fly at my fireplace
Upside down I see them in the fire
They squeak and roast there
Wings leap across the floor
Fold up the wall shadows
The window curtain ghost
Throws my heart and dusts my throat
My mind caught by the corner
Gradually decides its safe
Becomes a bat itself
Flexes its little claws
Curse its leather wings
With loud, hollow pops
Around the room
Threatening to dash its brains
Somehow at the last minute
Retreats and becomes a natural glue
And holds fast and slow
In every other motion
Making the night more interesting
Becomes a cold, liquid breeze
That freezes and thaws
And pours the surroundings full
As no breath can be taken
It drowns and relieves
To see the black turn into yellow
And the yellow into black.
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats
Upside down I see them in the fire
They squeak and roast there
Wings leap across the floor
Fold up the wall shadows
The window curtain ghost
Throws my heart and dusts my throat
My mind caught by the corner
Gradually decides its safe
Becomes a bat itself
Flexes its little claws
Curse its leather wings
With loud, hollow pops
Around the room
Threatening to dash its brains
Somehow at the last minute
Retreats and becomes a natural glue
And holds fast and slow
In every other motion
Making the night more interesting
Becomes a cold, liquid breeze
That freezes and thaws
And pours the surroundings full
As no breath can be taken
It drowns and relieves
To see the black turn into yellow
And the yellow into black.
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats
Song Info
Submitted by
israffel On Jan 04, 2010
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Brickbats were a word for insults or slanders. It is a metaphorical use of earlier brickbats which were brick bits or chipped off parts of bricks that people would throw in riots, etc. No doubt the innovator and bohemian Beefheart had faced his share of slander and hard insults. Here he plays with the word to turn them into bats flying about the interior of a Gothic landscape. While playful, it may also show that insults and rumors take on a life of their own, and can become a veritable horror.