Lyrics Amanda Palmer – House Of Eternal Return
Text:
Millions of us standing atop
Millions of snow covered mountains
Planting our flags, thrusting them in
Waving our arms to be counted
Frozen in front of an easel
She looks like a portrait
Of somebody’s grandmother
Still frame image retrieval
Standing there still
House on a hill
After so many transmissions
Telephone wires tangle the roof
But the origin story is missing
The origin story is missing
She hasn’t gone out in twenty-five years
Caged under plaster and ivy
Her eyes fix on something out on the horizon
A mountain of leaves gathered drying
To burn to burn to burn
Look at this view, look all around
Tied to the deck that our dad made
There’s no room to move and we’re so proud
Yes they made ’em like that in the old days
They made em like that in the old days
Retracing patterns
With new coats of paint
Fenced in by albums and journals
And they’re pulling her back
They keep drawing her in
Return, return, return
House of eternal return
House of eternal return
House of eternal return
Retracing patterns
The path to the door
She thinks of the hands of her father
Laying down floor joists
Framing up walls
One board after the other
One board after the other
There’s nowhere to rest in this cumbersome cavity
Crushed under mortalness sadness and gravity
Peeling off layers of skin cracked and blistering
Scattering seeds, making scratches on history
Head shoulders knees and toes, only the prophet knows
Why we were planned obsolescent with vertigo
Ridden like animals, flailing our tentacles
Searching for shelter in derelict ventricles
She crosses the threshold, runs up the stairs
Races through bedrooms and hallways
She stops at the canvas, a faithful depiction
The house she’s been entering always
The house she’s been entering always
Circling round heavenward bound,
A hundred and forty four thousand
This flesh isn’t right, the fit is too tight
This can’t be our permanent housing
This can’t be our permanent housing
This can’t be our permanent housing
House of eternal return
House of eternal return
House of eternal return
House of eternal return