Performed by the Indigo Girls on their album "Nomads, Indians, Saints". |
Clearing webs from the hovel A blistered hand on the handle of a shovel I've been digging too deep, I always do I see my face on the surface I look a lot like Narcissus A dark abyss of an emptiness Standing on the edge of a drowning blue I look behind my ears for the green And even my sweat smells clean Glare off the white hurts my eyes I gotta get out of bed Get a hammer and a nail Learn how to use my hands Not just my head, I think myself in a jail Now I know a refuge never grows From a chin in a hand and a thoughtful pose Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose I had a lot of good intentions Sit around for fifty years And then collect a pension Started seeing the road to hell And just where it starts But my life is more than a vision The sweetest part is acting After making a decision Started seeing the whole As a sum of its parts I look behind my ears for the green And even my sweat smells clean Glare off the white hurts my eyes I gotta get out of bed Get a hammer and a nail Learn how to use my hands Not just my head, I think myself in a jail Now I know a refuge never grows From a chin in a hand and a thoughtful pose Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose My life is part of the global life I'd found myself becoming more immobile When I'd think a little girl in the world Can't do anything A distant nation my community And a street person my responsibility If I have a care in the world I have a gift to bring I look behind my ears for the green And even my sweat smells clean Glare off the white hurts my eyes I gotta get out of bed Get a hammer and a nail Learn how to use my hands Not just my head, I think myself in a jail Now I know a refuge never grows From a chin in a hand and a thoughtful pose Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose |