When we all ran back into the briars
We told our children about the foreign shore
When we threw our boots into the fire
We told them all about the tug of war
Want to tell them about the seed and the shovel
About the prison and the promised land
Gonna tell them about the dream of the devil
About the hurting and the healing hand
That hand
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
When we heard our words up in the mirror
We told our children how to hold their tongue
When we held our heads beneath the river
We told them all about the iron lung
Gonna tell them about the sins of the father
About the junkie and the jubilee
Gonna tell them about the roots in the water
About the killing in the quiet night
Of trees
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
All the morning kisses in the covers
They told our children what were their means
Until you wrapped your arms around another
And told them love was worth a pile of beans
Gonna tell them about the call of the ocean
About the singers and the endless song
Gonna tell them about the body and the motion
And how the music never lasts too long
Too long
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the low-lit alley and the wedding bed
About the first-born sucker and the spider's web)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the mind and the muscle and the weary mile
And the heart and the hustle and the empty sky)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the tangled-up truth in the perfect teeth
About the pilgrim and the picking through the chaff and wheat)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the butterfly kiss and the call for blood
About the pig and the preacher and the holy mud)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the breeze in the summer and the nose will know
About the sleep through the winter when the wind blows cold)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the lame duck lion and a thorny crown
About the proud punk mule and the heavy plow)
Because the music never lasts too long
For the singers and the endless song
(About the sunburned belly and the mother's moon
About the end of the music coming way too soon)