Yankee Bayonet

Album: The Crane Wife (2006)
Play Video
  • Heart-carved tree trunk, Yankee bayonet
    A sweetheart left behind
    Far from the hills of the sea-swelled Carolinas
    That's where my true love lies

    Look for me when the sun-bright swallow
    Sings upon the birch bough high
    But you are in the ground with the voles and the weevils
    All a'chew on your bones so dry

    But when the sun breaks
    To no more bulletin battle-cry
    Then will you make a grave
    For I will be home then

    I will be home then
    I will be home then
    I will be home then
    Then

    When I was a girl how the hills of Oconee
    Made a seam to hem me in
    There at the fair when our eyes caught, careless
    Got my heart right pierced by a pin

    But oh, did you see all the dead of Manassas
    All the bellies and the bones and the bile
    Though I lingered here with the blankets barren
    And my own belly big with a child

    But when the sun breaks
    To no more bulletin battle-cry
    Then will you make a grave
    For I will be home then

    I will be home then
    I will be home then
    I will be home then

    Stems and bones and stone walls too
    Could keep me from you
    Scaly skin is all too few
    To keep me from you

    But oh, my love, though our bodies may be parted
    Though our skin may not touch skin
    Look for me with the sun-bright sparrow
    I will come on the breath of the wind Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • John from Andover, KsAbsolutely beautiful. A great effort.
  • Dhani from Casselberry, FlMy favorite decemberists song.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Rick Springfield

Rick SpringfieldSongwriter Interviews

Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.