I think the lyric: "'Oh, lonely urchin!' the widow cried
'I've not been swept since the day my husband died'" is actually "'I've not been swived since the day my husband died.'"
It never sounded quite like "swept" to me and I thought that was a pretty weak euphemism from The Decemberists anyway. And then today a friend pointed out to me that "swived" actually rhymes with "cried" and "died" and the verb means "to copulate with" so... Yeah. I think that's actually the correct lyric.
I think the lyric: "'Oh, lonely urchin!' the widow cried 'I've not been swept since the day my husband died'" is actually "'I've not been swived since the day my husband died.'"
It never sounded quite like "swept" to me and I thought that was a pretty weak euphemism from The Decemberists anyway. And then today a friend pointed out to me that "swived" actually rhymes with "cried" and "died" and the verb means "to copulate with" so... Yeah. I think that's actually the correct lyric.