Back to Top

The Decemberists - As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Album Lyrics



The Decemberists - As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Lyrics






Burial Ground

Oh Len, come down
And meet at the burial ground
They've undid the aerial
Tore down the merry-go-round
This world's all wrong
So let's go where we belong
Pack up the stereo, meet at the burial ground

Here among the fallen leaves
Are we alone the ones that dare to breathe?
Throw your worries down, they're oh so gravely held
You have carried them so well

Ooh, woah
Ooh, woah

Oh Len, come down
And meet at the burial ground
They've undid the aerial
Tore down the merry-go-round
This world's all wrong
So let's go where we belong
Pack up the stereo, meet at the burial ground
This world's
All wrong
So let's go where we belong
Pack up the stereo
Meet at the burial ground

You laid down below a stone
Saying, "Wherever they have gone, I long to go
Somewhere out beyond these maladies in my head."
At least I think that's what you said

Ooh, woah
Ooh, woah

Oh Len, (Oh Len) come down (Come down)
And meet at the burial ground (Meet at the burial ground)
They've undid the aerial
Tore down the merry-go-round
This world's (This world's) all wrong (All wrong)
So let's go where we belong (Let's go where we belong)
Pack up the stereo, meet at the burial ground

Oh Len, (Oh Len) come down (Come down)
And meet at the burial ground (Meet at the burial ground)
They've undid the aerial
Tore down the merry-go-round (Merry-go-round)
(Tore down the merry-go-round)
This world's (This world's) all wrong (All wrong)
So let's go where we belong (Let's go where we belong)
Pack up the stereo, meet at the burial ground
So, contract malaria, meet at the burial ground!
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT






Oh No!

It was on a wedding night
How they danced by the firelight
And the bride was well arrayed
By her fifteen chambermaids

As her father raised a toast
To the health of all the host
We descended from the apse
To bear witness to the whole collapse

And it's oh, no
We're jumped up and ready to go
Where do you think that the money comes from?
Do you think it just naturally grows?
And it's oh, no
We lurk at the end of the row
Listening for whistling, a bang from the drum
And it seems that we've caught you in tow
Between the devil and the devil you know

In the back of the bazaar
By the tramps and the muscle cars
We have gathered two by two
Just to figure out what to do

Pretty Sarah's a sotted mess
Gone and spoiled her party dress
All her suitors so entranced
Who will join her in the ambulance?

And it's oh, no
I'm sure that you'd just love to know
But what will you do when the rumpus is done
And it's time that we all were gone home?
And it's oh, no
Kick up your heels in a row
A song that is sung where my people come from
And it's best when it's not sung alone
Between the devil and the devil you know

And it's oh, no
Dash him in one final blow
Stick to the rackets, the heavy's a hack
And he's singing pianissimo
For the devil and the devil you know

When the casks have all run dry
And we've laid our knuckles by
Standing legless on the pews
Shouting curses to our union dues

Out beyond the city walls
In the grotesque mountain halls
There's a darkness coming on
So it's best I think we rambled on

And it's oh, no
On to the next bloody show
You won't feel so loose with a noose 'round your neck
When those cold winter winds start to blow
And it's oh, no
One more before we go
How can we ever get used to this dreck?
'Cause I'm sick and I want to go home
To the devil and the devil we know
To the devil and the devil we know
To the devil and the devil we know
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






The Reapers

Early in the evening, when the working is through
And the fields all in furrows and there ain't much to do
Me and my lady, all a-riding did go
As we wait for the reapers to mow

You lay on the hay rake and me on the plow
Foreman's in the granary a-wiping his brow
Gonna break an ankle just working this row
As we wait for the reapers to mow
As we wait for the reapers to mow

Over the next valley where the land is all wild
And the hillside's all berries and thornweed for miles
Gonna plow a pasture where no one will go
And I'll wait for the reapers to mow

I heard of a mansion on top of a hill
Where a lordling lives splendid, just eating his fill
Dressed in white linen, his servants in tow
'Til he waits for the reapers to mow
'Til he waits for the reapers to mow

Come and go with me to a land overseas
Where the people sit idle and do as they please
But one thing you can't run from wherever you go
Is that wait for the reapers to mow

I heard of a beggar, not a suit to his name
Born in a brothel to the madame's disdain
Put him in the gutter or in a château
As he'll wait for the reapers to mow
He's gotta wait for the reapers to mow

I dreamed of a trial 'tween the moon and the sun
Where the stars were the jury and the heavens the judge
Awarded to the plaintiff, the defendant brought low
She must wait for the reapers to mow

Tomorrow and tomorrow when the working is done
And the fields are all fallow and the harrow is run
Come and lie with me in the fresh fallen snow
And we'll wait for the reapers to mow
And we'll wait for the reapers to mow
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Long White Veil

Every night, a dream's the same
Every time I speak her name
Black and shiny eyes appear
In a long white veil
If only I could touch her skin
If only I could lie within
If only I could see her face
'Neath the long white veil
Long white veil

I married her, I carried her
On the very same day I buried her
In the cemetery plot by her mother
Though she never gave a thought to her mother
But she looked so pale
In that long white veil
Long white veil, long white veil
Long white veil, long white veil

And how when she fell in with me
I stole her from the Canary's
We pitch along the harbor side
In our wind-filled sails
But now when all the stars go dim
Something starts its crawling in
All I can do is hush and wait
For that long white veil
Long white veil

I married her, I carried her
On the very same day I ferried her
'Cross the channel in the cold, dark water
And in the evening how a chill had caught her
And she looked so pale
In our lateen sails
Like a long white veil
Long white veil, long white veil
Long white veil
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






William Fitzwilliam

William Fitzwilliam went walking in April
With with the green briar roses on the banks of the Thames
When over his kerchief, there came such a clamor
That William Fitzwilliam took shelter within

Don't lose your head to this brooding and raging
Don't lose your heart to the sweetness of sin
And don't go out a'wandering, the ghosts hover around you
The Howards and the Seymours
The Poles and Boleyns

When William Fitzwilliam emerged from his arbor
A luminous show such as he'd never seen
And so on to London he lit on his skateboard
To arrive in a tumult to greet the new queen

But don't lose your head to this brooding and raging
Don't lose your heart to the sweetness of sin
And don't go out a'wandering, the ghosts hover around you
The Howards and the Seymours
The Poles and Boleyns

As night settled earthly, all clad in its sables
And England's fair princes were snug in their beds
William Fitzwilliam will glide on the Humber
In star silver sneakers, above the living and dead

But don't lose your head to this brooding and raging
Don't lose your heart to the sweetness of sin
And don't go out a'wandering, the ghosts hover around you
The Howards and the Seymours
The Poles and Boleyns
The Tudors and the FitzRoys
The Poles and Boleyns
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Don't Go to the Woods

Don't go to the woods tonight
Don't go to the woods
See how they shine in the KC lights
Don't go to the woods

I see desire in your wanting eyes
I see your dress undone
I see you look to the distant lights
Hear those engines hum
Darling, stay right close to me
Do just as you should
For if you go in their company
Oh, then you're gone for good

Don't go to the woods tonight
Don't go to the woods
See how they shine in their KC lights
Don't go to the woods

They're gathering now at the edge of town
To kick some cloud of dust
And oh, how those broken boys drag you down
Beneath their boot heels, crushed
Darling, stay right close to me
Do just as you should
For if you go in their company
Oh, then you're gone for good

Don't go to the woods tonight
Don't go to the woods
See how they shine in their lit-up KC lights
Don't go to the woods
Don't go to the woods
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






The Black Maria

There in my memory, just on periphery
Loose knit like gauze on the center line
The broke down cobblestone drive
The Black Maria

For when it comes for you
Nothing to be done for you
Write down your name on the dotted line
Shut up your mouth, son
Here's the Black Maria

The Black Maria comes for us all
Can't you hear their boots in the hall?
Answer your name when they call
The Black Maria, the Black Maria

Where are the neighbors?
The bootblacking laborers?
Windows are dark and the shutters drawn
The only lone souls who roam
We're all pariahs

Turn out your lantern light
Set your affairs to right
Pull out the prayers that you mumble on
For everyone is an enemy
Come the Black Maria, the Black Maria

The Black Maria comes for us all
Can't you hear their boots in the hall?
Answer your name when they call
The Black Maria, the Black Maria

There in my memory, just on periphery
Loose knit like gauze on the center line
The broke down cobblestone drive
The Black Maria, the Black Maria
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






All I Want Is You

Don't want pretty poses
Don't want rows of roses
All I want is, all I want is

Don't want summer Mondays
Don't want stunning wordplay
All I want is
All I want is you

All I want is
All I want is you

All the United Nations
Couldn't feed my sensations
Half as well as how you do
When all I want is you

Don't want run-on phrases
Your dull and moneyed phases
Drinks and downers
With out of towners

Drag me to your altar
When my footing falters
All I want is
All I want is you

All I want is
All I want is you

All the wives of Ohio
Couldn't move me a mile
Half as much as how you do
When all I want is you
When all I want is you
When all I want is you
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Born to the Morning

(One, two, three, four)

There's a kind of languor in the morning
As we breathe and lift our eyes
There's a kind of sound that's forming
It's a sign that we must rise

Take your own bent shackle from the table
Take your own and idle by
We are born to buckle from the cradle
We are born to the morning when we rise, oh

I was once a troubled young canary
I was once as you are now
And how I struggled just to be contrary
But everything I did was quite allowed

Pull your own shot straight across the bowline
Make yourself all ocean-sized
We are born to stutter in the sunshine
We are born to the morning when we rise, oh

There's a kind of languor in the morning
As we breathe and lift our eyes
There's a kind of sound that's forming
But we are born to the morning when we rise

There's a kind of languor in the morning (when we rise)
As we breathe and lift our eyes (when we rise)

There's a kind of languor in the morning
As we breathe and lift our eyes
There's a kind of sound that's forming
For we are born to the morning when we rise
When we rise
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






America Made Me

America made me
Of brick and coal and rubber
America made me
A camp and cold little kickabout
And look at me now

Aluminum paved me
I was primped and poised and shit out
Antediluvian lady
You won't get far in a knockabout
With your keeling aground

America made me
America saved me from myself
And all these wishers-well
America prayed me
I dare you to lull me to my knees
Give me something sweet
Maybe something that will get me back to sleep

They told me to line up
They said, "Keep your mind out of the gutter
Or it's likely you'll wind up
In some dark hole all a-mutter about
All the ways you've been wronged"

So America, heal me
Come kick my door off the hinges
Swap me out for a real me
One that's not always going on about
How he'll never belong

America made me
So America, save me from myself
You long to, I can tell
Abuse and abrade me
I'm coming to you on my hands and knees
Just feed me something soft and sweet
Maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep

Oh no, give me something to sleep
Give me something to sleep
And maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep
Oh no, give me something to sleep
A little something to sleep
Maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep

Something to sleep
Something to sleep
Little something to sleep
Maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep
Oh, no, something to sleep

Just a little something to sleep
Maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep
Oh, no, something sweet
Just a little something to sleep
Maybe something that won't keep me from my sleep

(Something to sleep)
(Something to sleep)
(Something to sleep)
(Something to sleep)
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Tell Me What's on Your Mind

Hey, so great to see you again
Blown in on a wayward wind
Oh, how the years have bent and bound our lives
It's been such a lonely time
But know that I'm on your side
It's always a calm to confide our minds

But I don't want to bring you down
How can I bring you around
Back onto solid ground?

But oh, all the days between
How can we say what we mean?
How can we learn to believe? (To believe)
So breathe and now
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind

Wait, I don't like to see you this way
So many clouds in the way
What can I do to convey my mind?
If I, if only I could stop time
Anchor aweigh and unwind
Knowing we'll never align our minds

But I don't want to bring you down
How can I bring you around
Back onto solid ground?

But oh, all the days between
How can we say what we mean?
How can we learn to believe? (To believe)
So breathe and now
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind

On your mind
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind
Tell me what's on your mind
On your mind, on your mind
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Never Satisfied

How will morning find you?
How will the light define you?
When all the time you spent was wasted

Gather arms about you
What will it all amount to?
When all the time you spent was wasted
It was wasted along the way

Settle down and watch the sunrise
Rattle 'round and watch the day die
No more words for once
And laid to bed, we're all just getting by
But you're never satisfied

What your father told you
How he shipped and sold you
You got so far away, you could taste it

But we are not our forebears
And maybe our home is nowhere
And we don't mind the time that's wasted
If it's wasted along the way

Settle down and watch the sunrise
Rattle 'round and watch the day die
No more words for once
And laid to bed, we're all just getting by
But you're never satisfied

You're never satisfied
Never satisfied
So you stay never satisfied
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






Joan in the Garden

Joan in the Garden
In a book I found
Joan in the garden
I will write this down
I will lay her heart in mine
For a time
Write a line
Erase a line

In the dawning light (In the dawning light)
As she left her body
Gifted second sight (Gifted second sight)
Did she lay her dowry by
Lay it by
Write a line
Erase a line

And if you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
And if you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Hosanna
Make her ten miles tall (Make her ten miles tall)
Make her arms cleave mountains
Let her temptors fall (Let her temptors fall)
Make her tears weep fountains by
Now to try:
Write a line
Erase a line

And if you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
And if you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Ho, oh oh, oh oh
Hosanna

Just another tinsel ornament
Another troubled sky
We are folded in the firmament
Catch us as we fly

I don't remember what I ought to be
I only know what's right
I'm suspended from the orrery
Bursting into light
If you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, hosanna, hosanna

If you listen closely
You can hear them singing
Ho, hosanna, hosanna yeah
Hosanna yeah
Hosanna, hosanna yeah
Hosanna yeah
Hosanna, hosanna yeah
Hosanna yeah

Over stone and grapevine
Over the souls on the breadline
There's a reckoning at hand
Our hand

See them flayed at the flagpole
Catch it all on your console
We have come at your command
We stand
We stand

Blessed babe on display
Break her skull on the parquet
Wayward mariner awake!
We pray
She is daughter and son
The imperium undone
All the autocrats are laid
To waste
To waste

Oh holy whore androgyne
Come and sunder the stop signs
Break it all so we can build
Again

Bring on duke or dauphin
Blood will flow like a fountain
As it ever was so it
Will be again
Will be again
As it ever was so it
Will be again
Will be again
As it ever was
So it will be again, again
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna yeah
Hosanna yeah
Hosanna yeah
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Colin Meloy
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management








Led by Montana native Colin Meloy, the Decemberists craft theatrical, hyper-literate pop songs that draw heavily from late-'60s British folk acts like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, and the early-'80s college rock grandeur of the Waterboys and R.E.M.

The album reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, after which the Decemberists went on a brief hiatus.
-Wikipedia
Performed By: The Decemberists
Released: June 14th, 2024
Year: 2024

Tags:
No tags yet