Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I went out walking the other day The heat hung wet around my neck My head, it rung with screams and groans From the night I spent amongst her bones And I passed beside the mission house Where that mad old buzzard, the reverend Shrieked and flapped about life after you're dead Well, I thought about my friend Michel How they rolled him in linoleum and they shot him in the neck A bloody halo like a think-bubble a-circling his head And I bellowed at the firmament Looks like the rains are here to stay And the rain pissed down upon me and it washed me all away [Chorus 1] Saying, Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Well, the road is long and the road is hard And many fall by the side But Papa won't leave you, Henry So there ain't no need to cry [Post-Chorus] And I went on down the road (He went on down the road) Oh yeah, I went on down the road (He went on down the road) [Verse 2] Well, the moon it looked exhausted Like something you should pity Spent an age spotted above The sizzling wires of the city Well, it reminded me of her face And her bleached and hungry eyes Her hair was like a curtain falling open with the laughter And closing with the lies And the ghost of her still lingers on Though she's passed through me and is gone Well, the slum dogs, they are barking The rain children on the streets And the tears that we will weep today will all be washed away By the tears that we will weep, we'll weep again tomorrow [Chorus 1] Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Well, the road is long and the road is hard And many fall by the side Well Papa won't leave you, Henry So there ain't no need to cry [Post-Chorus] And I went on down the road (He went on down the road) Oh yeah, I went on down the road (He went on down the road) [Verse 3] And I came upon a little house, a little house upon a hill And I entered through and the curtain hissed Into the house with its blood-red bowels Where wet-lipped women with greasy fists Crawled the ceilings and the walls And they filled me full of drink And they led me round the rooms Naked and cold and grinning Until everything went black and I came down spinning I awoke so drunk and full of rage that I could hardly speak A fag in a whalebone corset draping his dick across my cheek Well, it's into the shame and it's into the guilt And it's into the fucking fray And the walls ran red around me, a warm arterial spray [Chorus 2] Saying, Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Well, the night is dark and the night is deep And its jaws are open wide Yeah well, Papa won't leave you, Henry So there ain't no need to cry [Post-Chorus] And I went on down the road (He went on down the road) Oh yeah,I went on down the road (He went on down the road) Yeah, woah, woah (woah, woah, woah, woah) [Verse 4] It's the rainy season where I'm living Death comes leaping out of every doorway Wasting you for money For your clothes and for your nothing Entire towns being washed away Favelas exploding on inflammable spillways And the lynch-mobs, death squads Babies being born without brains The mad heats and the relentless rains Well, if you stick your arm into that hole It comes out sheared off to the bone And with her kisses bubbling on my lips I swiped the rain and nearly missed And then I went on down the road (He went on down the road) [Chorus 1] Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Papa won't leave you, Henry Papa won't leave you, boy Well, the road is long and the road is hard And many fall by the side Well then, Papa won't leave you, Henry So there ain't no need to cry [Refrain] And I went on down the road (He went on down the road) Oh yeah, I went on down the road (He went on down the road) [Outro] Yeah, bent Beneath my heavy load (Under his heavy load) Yeah, I went on down the road Oh woah ,woah (woah, woah) Oh woah ,woah (woah, woah) Yeah, woah ,woah (woah, woah) And I went on down that road