LOST WISDOM
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Lost Wisdom
Voice In Headphones
You Swan, Go On
Who?
Flaming Home
What?
If We Knew...
With My Hands Out
O My Heart
Grave Robbers
Lost Wisdom
I got close enough to the river that I couldn't hear the trucks
But not close enough to stop the roaring of my mind
These rocks don't care if I live or die
Everyone I know will finally turn away
I will confuse and disinterest all posterity
Lost wisdom is a quiet echo
Lost wisdom by the edge of the stream at dusk,
Is a quiet echo on loud wind
With one hand in the water, running cold and clear,
Fog obliterates the morning and I don't know where I am
The heart is pounding and you are always on my mind
Lost wisdom is a quiet echo
Lost wisdom: a boulder under the house
I used to know you
Now I don't
The screaming wind said my name, I think
Significant and dark, my lost face in the mirror at the gas station
Who are you, above my face that I wake up with alone
Lost wisdom, approaching shape in the low light
You thought you knew me, you thought our house was home
I thought I knew myself, I thought my heart was calm
Thunder, lightning, tidal wave, the wind blew down the door
Lost wisdom: the river goes through the room
I saw your picture out of nowhere and forgot what I was doing
Everything vanished in your eclipse,
A constellation of moments comes to life in the void
Lost wisdom: face down under the moss
Enraptured by the beautiful face in the billowing flames
I open the front and back door and let the wind blow through
And I stood in the house and tried to hold the breeze
Lost wisdom: waking up in a pile of ash
Secret knowledge comes to me in the dusk
You showed me the river
I saw me
Voice in Headphones
I'll no longer hide it
Yes, you move me to tears over and over
Every time I get it settled, you excite it
Every time I get my face dry, you sing
“It's not meant to be a strife
It's not meant to be a struggle uphill”
Now I know, so now I no longer fight it
Come on in little floating head at the door
Who are you? Who are you, who has come to fill this room?
Well come on, welcome in
I'll no longer hide it
Yes, the way you say it stirs me to the core
Every time, no matter what, no matter who I think you are
Every time I hear you say “undo,” I do
And the tears fall
And the universe is shown
But who are you, voice in headphones?
You Swan, Go On
As good as I could possibly imagine my life getting,
It did after I met you
The way you reached inside my chest and pulled out things and sent them off in breaths blew
And as good as it got with all the layers peeling off,
And though I writhed, I could not upset you
With your hand down my throat you held on to my heart and pumped blood through
And then “It’s time to go,” you said, “it’s time to go out
You little gray goose, get out from under my wing”
You said “You swan, go on, go out, you’re turned loose”
Oh, so it’s over
Oh, so we died
Oh, so your hand on my heart pumping blood went limp and oh, I fly
Oh, swan inside
Who?
What do I want with my life now that you're gone?
I want your ghost gone
What do I want with this wood now that it's sawn?
I want the stump gone and the land that it grew on
Oh black lagoon, you have my shoe, so I go shoeless
I go muddy, crawling through
What do I want with my home now that I'm gone?
I want the shades drawn and the overgrown lawn
I would gladly abandon a limb in the trap's jaw,
Just as long as I crawl on with no trapper to call on
Thorough and true, by stem and root, I know no one now
Now I say "Who?"
Flaming Home
You thought you knew me
Emptiness prevails
I thought our full house was glowing
Emptiness in the house
Every single shape I see for the pile of dust it is
Let's get out of the romance
Empty house
Now I look at the lights of town through the trees on my way home
Emptiness
Let's get out of the romance
The house that I walk home to is in flames in this wind
The wind is getting stronger, the emptiness shows
The breath that moves the branches, saying words that I don't know,
Blows from nowhere, just destroying for no reason
But to wake me up again heartbroken and tall
Wind revealing the dust that the body becomes
The spaces where we stood echo quiet
Rubbing eyes, we fill up the empty days
Clinging with our things to a windy rock
I have revealed myself to you and let the wind take me
Obliterated, you know me by my shadow
What?
What do I want with my life now that I’m blinded by your light?
Should I keep trying to see through it, or just lovingly close them?
Should I?
What do I want now that the air leaves my lungs and I roll over to you in the night?
Should I breathe you in? You’re floating beside
What do I want when we’re apart, now that I’m wed to you?
I am holding open door, though I’ll not contain you
What do I want with my soft skin now that you’ve eaten me, my bride?
Nothing, I do not want it, just let me feed you
What do I endlessly ask about now that your love swells and pounds me?
I know nothing now that I know you, you’re fog’s wrapped around me
Invisible, incited, dumb and blind, new born babies come to life on my face
They say, “Tadaa!”
If We Knew…
We would not be so scared of losing hair and slowing down
If we knew that our hearts are not aging
Our little hearts are born already ancient
We would not be so scared to say “I do” and settle down
If we knew that our hearts never go dating
They stay at home for us, patiently waiting
We would not be so scared of meeting love and lying down
If we knew that mountains would be unveiling
We would not be so scared of being swallowed by the ground
If we knew that greater bodies still were waiting
Dotted lines in the air tomorrow morning
With My Hands Out
I want to go back across that sea with my hands out
And I will rise from the water
And though I'm cold and wet, I will be clean
I want to come back from this robbery with my hands up
And I will lie down and be handcuffed
Take me, I will be yours
Dripping wet
Just try and hold me
I am dripping wet and limp
O My Heart
What I find will be found easily and only when I’m not looking for it,
Without looking for the morning in the sunset
And it's like this, that my will to live hides implied in my heart beating,
Without looking for fulfillment but just accepting it
Oh what's this?
Is this my heart and is it thumping?
O, my heart, oh, there you are…I'd stopped hunting
I thought you would be as big as a whale
My nets were knit, my harpoons armed, I had my ship sailed
And o, my heart, there you are, mouse nest in my hair
O, my heart, stow away, I stopped looking
O, sleepy heart, what do you say?
Should we keep thumping?
"Yes"
Grave Robbers
Change your way of limping around the world
‘Cause you know what will come soon: a real broken leg
And you know this will come true, you cannot get away
Daylight, dawn and evening, around the world
And you know what we’ll come to
Do I have to say?
Everybody will eat you, everybody robs graves
And our ghosts stay forever confined in wherever we haunt
And hopelessly want to but cannot get away
And our bones do blow away, in pink light
Lost Wisdom
Voice In Headphones
You Swan, Go On
Who?
Flaming Home
What?
If We Knew...
With My Hands Out
O My Heart
Grave Robbers
Lost Wisdom
I got close enough to the river that I couldn't hear the trucks
But not close enough to stop the roaring of my mind
These rocks don't care if I live or die
Everyone I know will finally turn away
I will confuse and disinterest all posterity
Lost wisdom is a quiet echo
Lost wisdom by the edge of the stream at dusk,
Is a quiet echo on loud wind
With one hand in the water, running cold and clear,
Fog obliterates the morning and I don't know where I am
The heart is pounding and you are always on my mind
Lost wisdom is a quiet echo
Lost wisdom: a boulder under the house
I used to know you
Now I don't
The screaming wind said my name, I think
Significant and dark, my lost face in the mirror at the gas station
Who are you, above my face that I wake up with alone
Lost wisdom, approaching shape in the low light
You thought you knew me, you thought our house was home
I thought I knew myself, I thought my heart was calm
Thunder, lightning, tidal wave, the wind blew down the door
Lost wisdom: the river goes through the room
I saw your picture out of nowhere and forgot what I was doing
Everything vanished in your eclipse,
A constellation of moments comes to life in the void
Lost wisdom: face down under the moss
Enraptured by the beautiful face in the billowing flames
I open the front and back door and let the wind blow through
And I stood in the house and tried to hold the breeze
Lost wisdom: waking up in a pile of ash
Secret knowledge comes to me in the dusk
You showed me the river
I saw me
Voice in Headphones
I'll no longer hide it
Yes, you move me to tears over and over
Every time I get it settled, you excite it
Every time I get my face dry, you sing
“It's not meant to be a strife
It's not meant to be a struggle uphill”
Now I know, so now I no longer fight it
Come on in little floating head at the door
Who are you? Who are you, who has come to fill this room?
Well come on, welcome in
I'll no longer hide it
Yes, the way you say it stirs me to the core
Every time, no matter what, no matter who I think you are
Every time I hear you say “undo,” I do
And the tears fall
And the universe is shown
But who are you, voice in headphones?
You Swan, Go On
As good as I could possibly imagine my life getting,
It did after I met you
The way you reached inside my chest and pulled out things and sent them off in breaths blew
And as good as it got with all the layers peeling off,
And though I writhed, I could not upset you
With your hand down my throat you held on to my heart and pumped blood through
And then “It’s time to go,” you said, “it’s time to go out
You little gray goose, get out from under my wing”
You said “You swan, go on, go out, you’re turned loose”
Oh, so it’s over
Oh, so we died
Oh, so your hand on my heart pumping blood went limp and oh, I fly
Oh, swan inside
Who?
What do I want with my life now that you're gone?
I want your ghost gone
What do I want with this wood now that it's sawn?
I want the stump gone and the land that it grew on
Oh black lagoon, you have my shoe, so I go shoeless
I go muddy, crawling through
What do I want with my home now that I'm gone?
I want the shades drawn and the overgrown lawn
I would gladly abandon a limb in the trap's jaw,
Just as long as I crawl on with no trapper to call on
Thorough and true, by stem and root, I know no one now
Now I say "Who?"
Flaming Home
You thought you knew me
Emptiness prevails
I thought our full house was glowing
Emptiness in the house
Every single shape I see for the pile of dust it is
Let's get out of the romance
Empty house
Now I look at the lights of town through the trees on my way home
Emptiness
Let's get out of the romance
The house that I walk home to is in flames in this wind
The wind is getting stronger, the emptiness shows
The breath that moves the branches, saying words that I don't know,
Blows from nowhere, just destroying for no reason
But to wake me up again heartbroken and tall
Wind revealing the dust that the body becomes
The spaces where we stood echo quiet
Rubbing eyes, we fill up the empty days
Clinging with our things to a windy rock
I have revealed myself to you and let the wind take me
Obliterated, you know me by my shadow
What?
What do I want with my life now that I’m blinded by your light?
Should I keep trying to see through it, or just lovingly close them?
Should I?
What do I want now that the air leaves my lungs and I roll over to you in the night?
Should I breathe you in? You’re floating beside
What do I want when we’re apart, now that I’m wed to you?
I am holding open door, though I’ll not contain you
What do I want with my soft skin now that you’ve eaten me, my bride?
Nothing, I do not want it, just let me feed you
What do I endlessly ask about now that your love swells and pounds me?
I know nothing now that I know you, you’re fog’s wrapped around me
Invisible, incited, dumb and blind, new born babies come to life on my face
They say, “Tadaa!”
If We Knew…
We would not be so scared of losing hair and slowing down
If we knew that our hearts are not aging
Our little hearts are born already ancient
We would not be so scared to say “I do” and settle down
If we knew that our hearts never go dating
They stay at home for us, patiently waiting
We would not be so scared of meeting love and lying down
If we knew that mountains would be unveiling
We would not be so scared of being swallowed by the ground
If we knew that greater bodies still were waiting
Dotted lines in the air tomorrow morning
With My Hands Out
I want to go back across that sea with my hands out
And I will rise from the water
And though I'm cold and wet, I will be clean
I want to come back from this robbery with my hands up
And I will lie down and be handcuffed
Take me, I will be yours
Dripping wet
Just try and hold me
I am dripping wet and limp
O My Heart
What I find will be found easily and only when I’m not looking for it,
Without looking for the morning in the sunset
And it's like this, that my will to live hides implied in my heart beating,
Without looking for fulfillment but just accepting it
Oh what's this?
Is this my heart and is it thumping?
O, my heart, oh, there you are…I'd stopped hunting
I thought you would be as big as a whale
My nets were knit, my harpoons armed, I had my ship sailed
And o, my heart, there you are, mouse nest in my hair
O, my heart, stow away, I stopped looking
O, sleepy heart, what do you say?
Should we keep thumping?
"Yes"
Grave Robbers
Change your way of limping around the world
‘Cause you know what will come soon: a real broken leg
And you know this will come true, you cannot get away
Daylight, dawn and evening, around the world
And you know what we’ll come to
Do I have to say?
Everybody will eat you, everybody robs graves
And our ghosts stay forever confined in wherever we haunt
And hopelessly want to but cannot get away
And our bones do blow away, in pink light