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The Dead Waltz Lyrics
I saw your daughter yesterday
as I was idle on the porch
she slept-walked from your house down the walkway
as though she'd done it all before
and the moon was out
and in her gown beside the riverbed
she got down on her knees
and wrapped her long hair up in vines, and leaves, and branches
and with the wind beneath her feet
oh, she waltzed with the dead
and everything was bathed
in light white as milk
as the impossible began
she danced across the water's edge
but her feet, they didn't sink
as though she flew
I ran out in the water
with a lantern in my hand
I was waste deep and shivering
I took her wrist and walked her in
I was loathe to interrupt her
but I had to get her home
if people were to see thisthey'd gather up, raise hell and burn her alive
don't you mind, don't you mind
she'll be fine
tie a bell around her ankle
before she lays down at night
and the sound of her footsteps
will wake me in time
don't you mind, don't you mind
I'll watch over her
as though she were mine
as I was idle on the porch
she slept-walked from your house down the walkway
as though she'd done it all before
and the moon was out
she got down on her knees
and wrapped her long hair up in vines, and leaves, and branches
and with the wind beneath her feet
oh, she waltzed with the dead
in light white as milk
as the impossible began
she danced across the water's edge
but her feet, they didn't sink
as though she flew
with a lantern in my hand
I was waste deep and shivering
I took her wrist and walked her in
I was loathe to interrupt her
but I had to get her home
if people were to see thisthey'd gather up, raise hell and burn her alive
she'll be fine
tie a bell around her ankle
before she lays down at night
and the sound of her footsteps
will wake me in time
don't you mind, don't you mind
I'll watch over her
as though she were mine
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I can't believe there aren't any comments for this yet! Such a beautiful song. I hate that it took me so long to discover this album-I was stuck on "Ghost" for a long time. I love the last part-
"don't you mind, don't you mind she'll be fine tie a bell around her ankle before she lays down at night and the sound of her footsteps will wake me in time don't you mind, don't you mind I'll watch over her as though she were mine"
One of my favorites on this album, besides "Always Gold" and "Ghost Towns".
@sushicat0 I was hoping there would be more comments as well, this is an amazing song and I'm having trouble finding a meaning for if
@sushicat0 I was hoping there would be more comments as well, this is an amazing song and I'm having trouble finding a meaning for if
All of the songs from Radical Face's Family Tree trilogy (roots, branches, and leaves) tell the intertwined stories of a single family's history over the course of a few hundred years. This song in particular tells the story of Abigail and a man named Tom (described as "simple" and referenced in the later songs Always Gold and Crooked Kind).
I don't have the full details, but, due to some of the imagery that Ben sings about my belief is that Abigail has some kind of supernatural powers, and that Tom, upon witnessing them, decides to protect her, instead of have her accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake.