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

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Peter Lord

Peter LordSongwriter Interviews

You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."