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A Pound of Flesh Lyrics
My feet plow on from light to dawn
My empty belly and my bodyaches, they ain't hard to take
Next to the weight I carry in my chest
A pound of flesh could never tip the scale that I've made
I should have stayed, but I was never wise
I hear your voices in the wind that cuts the night
And I pray to whatever is listening things will be alright
Oh my boy, you're alive
Your heart's still beating
So don't you mind
Don't you mind
We all drift sometimes
I can still hear your feet as you ran from the house
But knowing you won't be back doesn't mean that I will stop waiting
You told me then: hold me down, or hold me up to the fire
But don't you dare hold me back
I see your faces in the clouds that scar the night
And I pray to whoever is listening things will be alright
Then today I wake up feeling easy
And find I'm on the more familiar roads
I've got a darkness wrapped inside me
But now it ain't so hard to let it go
So keep a candle burning in the window, I'm almost home
My empty belly and my bodyaches, they ain't hard to take
Next to the weight I carry in my chest
A pound of flesh could never tip the scale that I've made
I should have stayed, but I was never wise
And I pray to whatever is listening things will be alright
Your heart's still beating
So don't you mind
Don't you mind
We all drift sometimes
But knowing you won't be back doesn't mean that I will stop waiting
You told me then: hold me down, or hold me up to the fire
But don't you dare hold me back
And I pray to whoever is listening things will be alright
And find I'm on the more familiar roads
I've got a darkness wrapped inside me
But now it ain't so hard to let it go
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At the Oct. 15 show in Chicago Ben opened with this song and explained that it was about a man who had just committed his first murder. The title is a reference to the pound of force required to break the skin. The song deals with overcoming the weight of a guilty conscience that accompanies having just committed such an atrocious act.
[FIRST PART "Judah"] Judah Northcote is on his way home after murdering a man. This man mocked his family and stepped on his pride, and Judah swore publicly that he’d set the record straight. Judah didn’t intend to kill him, but his temper got the best of him. Judah is now on the run from the murdered man’s family.
[SECOND PART "William"] William, Judah's father, sings about warning his son not to keep running, that everyone messes up and he'll always wait for his son to come back home.
[LAST PART "Judah"] Judah has decided to come home at last, back to his waiting family.
It's not:
I hear your voices in the wind that cuts the cold And the pain of whatever is listing things will be alright
It's:
I hear your voices in the wind that cuts the NIGHT And I PRAY TO whatever is LISTENING things will be alright
See how that rhymes and actually makes sense?
And it's not:
Knowing you will be back doesn't mean that I will stop waiting
It's:
Knowing you WON'T be back doesn't mean that I will stop waiting
agreed... was just about to post this.
agreed... was just about to post this.
Correct lyrics :
my feet plow on from light to dawn my empty belly and my body aches ain't hard to take next to the weight I carry in my chest a pound of flesh could never tip the scale that I've made I should have stayed, but I was never wise I hear your voices in the wind that cuts the night and I pray to whatever is listening things will be alright oh, my boy, you're alive your heart's still beating so don't you mind, don't you mind we all drift sometimes I can still hear your feet as you ran from the house but knowing you won't be back, doesn't mean that I will stop waiting you told me then: “Hold me down or hold me up to the fire, but don't you dare hold me back.” I see your faces in the clouds that scar the night and I pray to whoever is listening things will be alright then today I wake up feeling easy, and find I'm on the more familiar roads I got a darkness wrapped inside me, but now it ain't so hard to let it go so keep a candle burning in the window, I'm almost hom