Papa died smiling
Wide as the ring of a bell
Gone all star white
Small as a wish in a well

And Sodom, south Georgia
Woke like a tree full of bees
Buried in Christmas bows
And a blanket of weeds

Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, "God is good"
White tongues hang out, "God is good"

Papa died while my girl
Lady Edith was born
Both heads fell like
Eyes on a crack in the door

And Sodom, south Georgia
Slept on an acre of bones
Slept through Christmas
Slept like a bucket of snow

Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, "God is good"
White tongues hang out, "God is good"



Lyrics submitted by feverdream

Track duration: 04:59


Sodom, South Georgia song meanings
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    My Interpretation:The song is about faith in the face of birth and death.

    I fail to see how the "all dead white boys" line can be made to be about race (as some comments have suggested). The song talks about the singer's father's death and the birth of the singer's daughter; nowhere is something like Jim Crow or slavery mentioned. The "white" should really be thought of as "up in the sky white" (i.e. the "star white" of the song). That is, an ethereal or angelic (literally) white.

    Like most Iron
    Flag on July 31, 2012   Link

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