Ruins

Lyrics

[Intro] This is a song about druids Late eighteenth-century, nineteenth-century British literature There was a big fad on druids And 'cause of this fad they sort of over-romanticized them Sort of glossed over some of the starker facts One of which was that the druids were into human sacrifice This would happen at their two major festivals of the year One was on May Day which they called Bealtaine And the second was on Halloween which they called Samhain And on these festivals they would build these huge wicker structures And fill them full of choice prisoners and the first-born of every family And set them on fire This was to ensure a good harvest for the following year And this would take place in a giant stone circle In the middle of a sacred oak grove And the mistletoe was a part of the ceremony Other than all of this esoteric bullshit This whole song takes place in the Bronx I think you'll see some of the similarities [Verse 1] I have looked at Rome burning through the eyes of the Bronx Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn The parks' slow decaying, the yearning of lovers Who find not a metaphor for their songs Sail away from the land of Samhain All's deserted 'cept the rock-gray pigeon I lose only your smile like that of the child Finds the fruits of the market are not all for free There are not flowers left to throw on the grave [Refrain] Sail away to the land of Bealtaine Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn [Verse 2] I have looked at these buildings as the towers of Carthage Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn Divorced from the feelings that fill them like bones Stuffed like the wicker beast for the throng Sail away from the land of Samhain We worship the parasites of sin The mistletoe grows in the cracks of the oak The sacred grove is now glass and now stone Those cold slabs of stone they lay the dead on [Refrain] Sail away to the land of Bealtaine Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn [Verse 3] I have looked at these barges float down towards the sea Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn The ghosts of the automobiles gleam Past the stadium silence the Nile moves along Sail away from the land of Samhain A life for a life is the offering I lose only my song that's spread 'neath the wrong Like a mother mourning her first-born to go The kiss that is stolen or the kiss that is sold [Refrain] Sail away to the land of Bealtaine Sail away in the evening, sail away 'til the dawn [Outro] "Ruins"