When we all ran back into the briars
We told our children bout the foreign shore
When we threw our boots into the fire
We told em all about the tug of war
Wanna tell em bout the seed and the shovel
About the prison and the promised land
Gonna tell em bout the dream of the devil
About the hurting and the healing hand
That hand

Cause the music never lasts too long
for the singers and the endless song

When we heard our words up in the mirror
We told our children how to hold their tongue
When we held our heads beneath the river
We told em all about the iron lung
Gonna tell em bout the sins of the father
Bout the junkie and the jubilee
Gonna tell em bout the roots in the water
About the killing in the quiet night
of trees

Cause the music never lasts too long
for the singers and the endless song

All the morning kisses in the covers
They told our children what were their means
Until you wrapped your arms around another
And told em love was worth a pile of beans
Gonna tell em bout the call of the ocean
Bout the singers and the endless song
Gonna tell em bout the body and the motion
And how the music never lasts too long,
too long

Cause the music never lasts too long
for the singers and the endless song
(Bout the low-lit alley and the wedding band
Bout the first-born sucker in the spider's web)
(Bout the mind and the muscle and the weary mouth
And the heart and the hustle and the empty sky)
(Bout the tangle of truth and the perfect team
bout ???)
(Bout the butterfly kiss and the call for blood
Bout the ...? and the holy mud)
(more indiscernable verses til fadeout)