Said the King to the River

Up, my lady, pack your things

This place is not your home, nor was it ever

Sever every tie

Tonight we ride, tonight we ride

Tonight we ride

And how we've trembled at the way that time assembles

Little fires of desire in the tundra of our skin

So, do yourself a little favor, savor every time you waver

For that shaking in my voice was only slightly feigned chagrin

Tonight we ride

Tonight we ride

Lover, uncover

I know it's warm beneath your sheets and there is ice along the streets but listen

Lover, we will recover

But we've no time to waste with meddling in affairs

We've locked so tightly in our dreams

We are not clean, we are not pure

We will not rest until we're sure

So rob your pretty little eyes of sleep's disguise

I'm at your bedside with a bucket full of lies

So clear your ears and listen

Up, my lady, pack your things

This place is not your home

And I know what is

And to the glorious past

You've opened my window but broken the glass

And I beseech thee, shed thy beauty

For as a child leaves the womb and learns the cold

You have taught us peril in the present

And you will bring us peril in our surely soon to be

Unless

The river's not flooded this time

Oh, precious distance

Oh, precious pain, you've given me a name

And etched it in the stones of the river bank

Oh, precious distance

Oh, precious pain, you've given us a name

You've given us a name

Rise, said the king to the river

Never let up

No, bring us a flood and bring it hard

Breathe, said the Wind to the water

Never give in

No, build us a bridge

And build it strong and angry.

Let it still the king's decrees

You must contemplate the current, boy

And command that coward cease

The boy breathes for his love says, I wait