Fire

Lyrics

[Verse 1] It's the last week in June near the first quarter moon The summer is comin' down warm And the corn's in the ground, and the vane's turnin' 'round As it tells of an oncomin' storm [Verse 2] Now, there's four of us home but we're not quite alone There's a host of ghosts livin' upstairs For a house doesn't shelter and then let you pass After standin' for two hundred years [Verse 3] Now, the cows in the meadow, a sleepy-eyed mother Her calf stands at tether inside And the barn swallows carry their bricks and their mortar The big door is swung open wide [Verse 4] This place is like tinder; the timbers are dry There's dust on the rafters and beams But the buildings will stand, they've been graced by the hands Of the ones who were buildin' their dreams [Verse 5] Now, up from the north there's a black cloud a rollin' And another rolls in from the west And, oh Lord, we need rain, or we've planted in vain So just quench us, and we'll do the rest [Verse 6] Now, the weepin' old willow that stands in the yard It sways back and forth in the breeze And there's a rumble of thunder, and the rain falls so hard Bringin' the drought to its knees [Verse 7] My grandfather worked here with his family beside him And God knows how many before And how many babies, and how many wives Their footsteps are worn in the floor [Verse 8] And there's a silence that falls in the midst of a storm As the elements wait and decide To unleash their forces on mortals like me Or to move on and let us survive [Verse 9] Now, crash like a sound like I never have heard Like a cannon from Uncle John's war My father and brother, they head for the stairway I shudder and head for the door [Verse 10] Now, off the backdoor steps the air has an odor of brimstone The rain is gone 'round And off to my right, I am blind by the sight Of the arc of the barn burnin' down [Verse 11] And there's fire, fire out in the barn, Father Fire in the chicken house, too And the flames run so high that they're scorchin' the sky And there's not a damn thing we can do [Verse 12] Now, the sparks from the hay-mow They light on the cedar, dry shingles that cover the shed And nothing is sacred, no, nothing is saved 'Cause there's fire, and there's flames to be fed [Verse 13] Now, the clock in the kitchen says quarter past three As the gates are flung open from Hell But time here is frozen; the clock ticks no more Just the ashes and the cinders and smell [Interlude] [Verse 14] You just take what you can carry and leave all the rest Leave Grandmother's four-poster bed 'Cause it's too big to haul, and the doorway's too small And there's a black cloud of smoke overhead [Verse 15] Take some china, some old things that can't be replaced Take a chair and the clothes on our backs The roof tumbles in, there's a smudge on your chin You better stay outside, don't go back [Verse 11] And there's fire, fire out in the barn, Father Fire in the main house, too And the flames run so high that they're scorchin' the sky And there's not a damn thing we can do [Verse 1] Now, it's the last week in June near the first quarter moon And the summer is coming down warm And the corn's in the ground, and the vane's turnin' round As it tells of an oncomin' storm