Beasts of Burden - Kill the Vultures

Telling stories of a war chief killing with bare hands

To feed his fam with that boar meat

Swore he’d never starve, follow the herd

Keep the blade sharp and aim for the nerve

I’ll burn the world down to keep you cozy

Drown in the deep blue, curse the old sea

Paint my picture on the corner store

So the crack heads and insects will know what we’re dying for

Used to make tapes to court my love

But I broke away 'cause depression hugs me tighter

Scared to shame the name that brought me life

That worked late nights to buy me diapers

I’m a writer that never wrote home

But I phone when I need money 'cause the work’s gone

Sell hell to the Devil, hustling charm

The tat on my arm keeps me at level

You can pray at the man’s church or fall off the barstool

Stumble home and stare at your picture

When they ask you «So what does your son do?»

Say he mastered cool and works as a drifter

Beasts of burden, damn them dogs

Eat my flesh and drink my blood

Yea, Aqua-boogie on reggae woman with the clean hair

Took me to the water, cannot say what I seen there

Held me to the bottom, I floated to the surface

Did not keep that promise, felt that she hadn’t deserved it

Died with that, disguised as a mermaid

Heartache emits the high tide and hurricane

Gave her one last amphibious wish:

For me to catch her the prettiest fish

Soknowing full well that it don’t exist

I baited with blood from my bony fist

The scent was enough to make a sinner repent

Dinner of flesh, a sense of feeling inwardly cleansed from

Misdeeds committed against friends

Personal histories revised and resented

Green eyes, self-defense, platinum blonde

That’s a trinity that I beheaded

Beasts of burden, damn them dogs

Eat my flesh and drink my blood

The arrow in my prey took twelve years to make

And tonight it will be burned in return for what I take

Storm in the heart release poison in the blood

The blood that I cough up is thicker than mud

The guts in my stomach were built by my mother

No father, no brother, no preacher, no other

Color of my face is from your indifference

Monster in my grandpa diagnosed malignant

The body that they buried had my rocks in his warm hand

Said my final words on the phone in a foreign land

Rifles kept shooting, every shot made me jump

The sky was so open it carried him up

I said the arrow in my prey took my whole life to make

Didn’t learn from nobody, just filed the blade

Throw the beast on the fire, smoke get higher

Been a long time coming, never felt so motherfucking tired