Lyrics
In the halflight, ships sulk in the harbour,
And the sailors spit and curse the air,
And the cold waves kiss the sullen metal,
And sing the ocean’s song
The fog clings to every single surface,
Spelling morning in drops of glister dew,
Where spiders hang their crystal rigging,
To try to catch the sun
Tell me why
Show me things I don’t already know
Tell me why
There’s nowhere left for me to go
I watch the waves crash down below
In the morning, the last night turns to ashes in my mouth
A pale disk peering through the thin clouds
On the houses that tumble to the sea
Down the steep streets that cling onto the cliffsides Like people to their dreams
What happened? I piece together last night
(I remember shouting things and standing at the bar)
And I wonder what I might have said
(Then I must have wandered cos I was staring at the stars)
Turn my collar up against the morning
(I clung onto a railing and was sick into the sea)
Spit the night out on the street
(Somehow found my way back to the poky B&B)
Tell me why
Show me things I don’t already know
Tell me why
There’s nowhere left for me to go
I watch the waves crash down below
In the morning, the last night turns to ashes in my mouth
Notes
I’m not sure I’ll ever be happy with this song – which really started life as poem. I’m very uncomfortable with lyrics in general, and tend to veer off into humour and nonsense to avoid any potential personal revelations, but this doesn’t have a personal meaning as such, although it does contain echoes of a specific day in my life.
Anyway, despite my misgivings, I’m re-posting this after a third remake to take out some of the running time and add some sound effects for atmosphere. I particularly like some of it (the finger picked coda, the bass in the second verse, the general melody) but it feels like I’m at an impasse with it.