Lyrics
The Slow Sheathing,
concept album 4 of 90
The Slow Sheathing
Farireteclucklend concept album 4 of 90 · Doom metal
By Kevin Snow, In A Whorld Enterprise. Concept album. No audio has been recorded or released. These are written lyrics only.
A funeral crawl for the day a whole army chooses to sheathe, and what it costs to stand down. Doom is the music of patience, and so is restraint. This album gives the sheathe verb the heaviest riffs in the catalog. Some wars are won by the blade that stays in its scabbard.
1. Weight of the Scabbard
Verse 1
It is heavy, the empty leather
Heavier than the blade it holds
It drags at the hip like a long, slow year
It hangs there, quiet and cold
Chorus
The weight of the scabbard
The weight of the choice
The weight of the scabbard
And no one raising a voice
Verse 2
We carried the edge for so many days
We learned its weight by heart
Now we learn the other weight
The weight of the part we do not start
Chorus
The weight of the scabbard
The weight of the choice
The weight of the scabbard
And no one raising a voice
Outro
Heavy. Heavy.
Hold it.
2. Ash on the Truce Table
Verse 1
A long table in a burned hall
Gray dust over the wood
Two sides sit and neither speaks
Neither says it is good
Chorus
Ash on the truce table
Ash on the hands
Ash on the truce table
The slow signing of the plans
Verse 2
The pen is slow and the ink is thin
Each name is a weight to bear
Every line costs a front we hold
And a front we leave out there
Chorus
Ash on the truce table
Ash on the hands
Ash on the truce table
The slow signing of the plans
Bridge
Sign it. Slowly.
Sign it.
3. The Blade Rests
Verse 1
Lay it down, lay it down
On the cloth, on the stone
It has done the work it could
It can rest, it can be alone
Chorus
The blade rests
The blade rests
No more light along the edge
The blade rests
Verse 2
It is not broken. It is not lost.
It is held in a quiet place.
It will be there if it is needed.
It will not be needed in haste.
Chorus
The blade rests
The blade rests
No more light along the edge
The blade rests
Outro
Rest.
4. Nobody Cheered
Verse 1
The gate swung open and the lines went home
No banner raised, no drum
No song for the thing we chose to do
Only the sound of the wind, and some
Chorus
Nobody cheered
Nobody cheered
The war is not won with a roar
Nobody cheered
It is won with a door
Verse 2
A child watched from the orchard wall
And did not understand
Why the soldiers wept with empty hands
And the blades stayed in the hand
Chorus
Nobody cheered
Nobody cheered
The war is not won with a roar
Nobody cheered
It is won with a door
Outro
Quiet. Quiet. Quiet.
5. Slow Ruin of the Line
Verse 1
The line was proud and the line was bright
It held through the long, hard days
Now it loosens, link by link
In the gray and the slow haze
Chorus
Slow ruin of the line
One shield, one step, one sigh
Slow ruin of the line
It comes apart as we let it die
Verse 2
No one broke it. No one fell.
It is only that we stopped.
The tempered steel remembers well
How it was to hold, and how it dropped
Chorus
Slow ruin of the line
One shield, one step, one sigh
Slow ruin of the line
It comes apart as we let it die
Bridge
Let it go. Let it go.
Slowly.
6. What the Orchard Remembers
Verse 1
The trees know the weight of boots
The roots know every wound
The fruit fell down on the broken ground
And the ground was not consumed
Chorus
What the orchard remembers
Is the sound of the strike
What the orchard remembers
Is the silence, too, alike
Verse 2
It will grow again. It will take its time.
The soil is patient, and the soil is wide.
One day it will bear the pale, soft fruit
And no one will ask who died
Chorus
What the orchard remembers
Is the sound of the strike
What the orchard remembers
Is the silence, too, alike
Outro
Root and leaf.
Root and leaf.
7. Sheathe
Verse 1
Draw the edge back slow
Feel the leather take the steel
The hiss of metal into the dark
The last small thing you feel
Chorus
Sheathe
Sheathe
It is the hardest thing to do
Sheathe
And walk away from the view
Verse 2
It would be easy to cut.
It is always easy to cut.
The wise thing is the hard thing here:
To close the blade, and shut
Chorus
Sheathe
Sheathe
It is the hardest thing to do
Sheathe
And walk away from the view
Bridge
Click.
The sound of a choice.
8. Long Walk Home
Verse 1
The road is long and the road is gray
Boots on the dust, one by one
No flag, no song, no drum to play
Only the sky, and the setting sun
Chorus
Long walk home
Long walk home
Blade at the hip and nothing to say
Long walk home
Another front is gone away
Verse 2
The lantern swings at a tired hand
The orchard fades from view
The room has dissolved, as rooms will do
And we are still here, and we are still true
Chorus
Long walk home
Long walk home
Blade at the hip and nothing to say
Long walk home
Another front is gone away
Outro
Home.
© Kevin Snow, In A Whorld Enterprise. Lyrics and album concepts are the copyrighted work of Kevin Snow, In A Whorld Enterprise. All rights reserved.