SEVEN NEW SONGS
P.W. Elverum & Sun
Woolly Mammoth's Absence
Do Not Be Afraid
With My Hands Out
2 Blonde Braids
My Burning
November 22nd 2003, 4:45 PM
Cold Mountain Song 286
Wooly Mammoth's Absence
Quickly forgetting was the way that I lived my life
Try telling me your name or try telling me "don't worry"
Everything I knew would quickly wither and die
All echoes would be buried in the sound of living,
The sound of feet slapping sidewalk
That was me--treasure hunting, I would bury what I found
That was me--a gold digger, underground
Quickly forgotten was this forgetful way of life
When I left home, when I lived as if I'd died
Sitting on a rock and doing nothing
Alone for so long, in the dark, I found my sight
And there your name was, written large in letters bright
And there my faith was
"Worry not" declared the night
In the great void of my life, I could feel the shape of what was missing
Like the way the woolly mammoth stands so tall and bold in our minds
I was shaken at the size of my cry
And the true love it implies
So I know day is dawning now, so ends my holy night
It's back to the world I go, back to the girls and shows,
And all the worldly woes, all unfurling close
Will I carry myself slowly enough to remember?
I sit on a dark rock doing nothing still, just crowded in
And there's the love in flesh and bones
Do Not Be Afraid
Do not be afraid
(You cannot be afraid)
Your arms are wrapped around
(There's nothing to do)
In claps your hands resound
(Do you feel really afraid?)
Your feet they map the ground
(It's not being afraid)
You'll have night vision
(Of not being afraid)
Your window when it's jostled
We'll spend time
(To go around friends)
Over and over
We'll spend time in the mountains
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 come back from this robbery with my hands up
And lie down and be handcuffed
Take me
Dripping wet
Just try and hold me
I am dripping wet and limp
2 Blonde Braids
From your head grew two braids, gold and long
Golden long hair
One braid on one side of your face hung, cabled and calm
(Swaying slightly)
It seemed to say, as it swayed
that it hung there hoping to charm me or somebody
"Can you imagine me in your bed at dawn?"
Said your long hair
"Or kids with my face, can you see them? Tiny and blonde"
The other braid on the other side of your face was lost
In the folds of your clothing, having stayed there this morning
When you got up and pulled your clothes on
It seemed to say as it lay down your shoulder blade
"Leave me alone! Can't you let me be tucked in, then go?
Why do you gawk there with the prying long stare?
I know you think I could make you happy
If you could just stroke golden long hair
But you're wrong there!"
So your two blonde braids sang me this song
And, in between them, your face sang along, saying:
"Calm yourself down, Phil, be calm
You'll find that the beautiful long braids that you fawn over, aching to own,
Do in fact sway for you, though not you alone
There is also that gold in your palm, on your shoulder,
And everywhere, where it belongs
So don't try to say 'Spring is your own private dawn!'
Because us braids and cute faces make moms
And more laughing and licking and kids and their mouths
All living their lives in the throng"
My Burning
Flame upon flame upon flame,
Reaching out to wrap around my reaching arm
That's how life got to be among my friends
I wanted her so bad
I waited around in a burning down house for the phone
Totally scalded and scarred, I woke up in a pile of ash
And grave beyond grave beyond grave
Stretching out to horizons on all sides
That's how life was among my friends
I wanted her so bad
As revenge for my burning, I burned the whole world
And was warm for a little bit
November 22nd 2003, 4:45 PM
I walked down off the trail, onto the wet leaves
And rotting wood under mossy branches
I stood listening
An airplane came from the west,
The sound of a house's door,
Teenage girls from the north,
Faintly, in the almost black light,
A tiny bird fell from nowhere
Onto the wet leaves and then sang at my feet
And the owls were aloud on all sides of me
They gave voice to Mount Eerie
The dark, unknown, wild beautiful dark, dark
Little bird in the leaves flitted and flew off
When I moved my leg
Flew off chirping from the dark forest
Turned around and my brother had left
The airplane circled around to the east
The door closed
And the pregnant house just through the trees flits fire
The music was afloat on the wide black ocean made by the owls echoing the night
The mountain loomed through the trees
With night vision
With long eyes
With the ghost
With the dark voice
"What do you want?"
"What do you want?"
"I'm not telling"
"What do you want?"
"I can't say it"
"What do you want?"
Do not be afraid
The war of the worlds that's gonna’ come
Do not be afraid
Your whole body
Do not be afraid
The dark night on the unlit trail
Do not be afraid
There's nothing to do
You can't get away
Cold Mountain Song 286
I see people singing their songs, relying on the words
Their mouths at work without their minds,
Singing with mouths and minds at odds
Our minds contain no tangles, honestly
Our minds create no wall or chain
Just examine your own self,
Don't look for stand-ins, do your work
Become the master of your own mouth
Know there's no inside and no out
Woolly Mammoth's Absence
Do Not Be Afraid
With My Hands Out
2 Blonde Braids
My Burning
November 22nd 2003, 4:45 PM
Cold Mountain Song 286
Wooly Mammoth's Absence
Quickly forgetting was the way that I lived my life
Try telling me your name or try telling me "don't worry"
Everything I knew would quickly wither and die
All echoes would be buried in the sound of living,
The sound of feet slapping sidewalk
That was me--treasure hunting, I would bury what I found
That was me--a gold digger, underground
Quickly forgotten was this forgetful way of life
When I left home, when I lived as if I'd died
Sitting on a rock and doing nothing
Alone for so long, in the dark, I found my sight
And there your name was, written large in letters bright
And there my faith was
"Worry not" declared the night
In the great void of my life, I could feel the shape of what was missing
Like the way the woolly mammoth stands so tall and bold in our minds
I was shaken at the size of my cry
And the true love it implies
So I know day is dawning now, so ends my holy night
It's back to the world I go, back to the girls and shows,
And all the worldly woes, all unfurling close
Will I carry myself slowly enough to remember?
I sit on a dark rock doing nothing still, just crowded in
And there's the love in flesh and bones
Do Not Be Afraid
Do not be afraid
(You cannot be afraid)
Your arms are wrapped around
(There's nothing to do)
In claps your hands resound
(Do you feel really afraid?)
Your feet they map the ground
(It's not being afraid)
You'll have night vision
(Of not being afraid)
Your window when it's jostled
We'll spend time
(To go around friends)
Over and over
We'll spend time in the mountains
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 come back from this robbery with my hands up
And lie down and be handcuffed
Take me
Dripping wet
Just try and hold me
I am dripping wet and limp
2 Blonde Braids
From your head grew two braids, gold and long
Golden long hair
One braid on one side of your face hung, cabled and calm
(Swaying slightly)
It seemed to say, as it swayed
that it hung there hoping to charm me or somebody
"Can you imagine me in your bed at dawn?"
Said your long hair
"Or kids with my face, can you see them? Tiny and blonde"
The other braid on the other side of your face was lost
In the folds of your clothing, having stayed there this morning
When you got up and pulled your clothes on
It seemed to say as it lay down your shoulder blade
"Leave me alone! Can't you let me be tucked in, then go?
Why do you gawk there with the prying long stare?
I know you think I could make you happy
If you could just stroke golden long hair
But you're wrong there!"
So your two blonde braids sang me this song
And, in between them, your face sang along, saying:
"Calm yourself down, Phil, be calm
You'll find that the beautiful long braids that you fawn over, aching to own,
Do in fact sway for you, though not you alone
There is also that gold in your palm, on your shoulder,
And everywhere, where it belongs
So don't try to say 'Spring is your own private dawn!'
Because us braids and cute faces make moms
And more laughing and licking and kids and their mouths
All living their lives in the throng"
My Burning
Flame upon flame upon flame,
Reaching out to wrap around my reaching arm
That's how life got to be among my friends
I wanted her so bad
I waited around in a burning down house for the phone
Totally scalded and scarred, I woke up in a pile of ash
And grave beyond grave beyond grave
Stretching out to horizons on all sides
That's how life was among my friends
I wanted her so bad
As revenge for my burning, I burned the whole world
And was warm for a little bit
November 22nd 2003, 4:45 PM
I walked down off the trail, onto the wet leaves
And rotting wood under mossy branches
I stood listening
An airplane came from the west,
The sound of a house's door,
Teenage girls from the north,
Faintly, in the almost black light,
A tiny bird fell from nowhere
Onto the wet leaves and then sang at my feet
And the owls were aloud on all sides of me
They gave voice to Mount Eerie
The dark, unknown, wild beautiful dark, dark
Little bird in the leaves flitted and flew off
When I moved my leg
Flew off chirping from the dark forest
Turned around and my brother had left
The airplane circled around to the east
The door closed
And the pregnant house just through the trees flits fire
The music was afloat on the wide black ocean made by the owls echoing the night
The mountain loomed through the trees
With night vision
With long eyes
With the ghost
With the dark voice
"What do you want?"
"What do you want?"
"I'm not telling"
"What do you want?"
"I can't say it"
"What do you want?"
Do not be afraid
The war of the worlds that's gonna’ come
Do not be afraid
Your whole body
Do not be afraid
The dark night on the unlit trail
Do not be afraid
There's nothing to do
You can't get away
Cold Mountain Song 286
I see people singing their songs, relying on the words
Their mouths at work without their minds,
Singing with mouths and minds at odds
Our minds contain no tangles, honestly
Our minds create no wall or chain
Just examine your own self,
Don't look for stand-ins, do your work
Become the master of your own mouth
Know there's no inside and no out