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[instrumental opening]
Remember the morning we dug up your gun
The worms in the barrel, the hangin' sun
Those first nervous evenings of perfume and gin
The lost smell on your breath as I helped you get it in
The rush of your lips, the feel of your name
The beat of your heart, the devil's arcade
You said heroes are needed, so heroes get made
Somebody made a bet, somebody paid
The cool desert morning, then nothin' to save
Just metal and plastic where your body caved
The slow games of poker with Lieutenant Ray
In the ward with the blue walls, a sea with no name
Where you lie adrift with the heroes
Of the devil's arcade
You sleep and dream of your buddies Charlie and Jim
And wake with the thick desert dust on your skin
A voice says "Don't worry, I'm here"
Just whisper the word 'tomorrow' in my ear
A house on a quiet street, a home for the brave
The glorious kingdom of the sun on your face
Rising from a long night as dark as the grave
On a thin chain of next moments
And something like faith
On a morning to order, a breakfast to make
A bed draped in sunshine, a body that waits
For the touch of your fingers
The end of a day
The beat of your heart, the beat of your heart
The beat of your heart, the beat of her heart
The beat of your heart, the beat of her heart
The beat of her heart, the slow burning away
Of the bitter fires of the devil's arcade
Remember the morning we dug up your gun
The worms in the barrel, the hangin' sun
Those first nervous evenings of perfume and gin
The lost smell on your breath as I helped you get it in
The rush of your lips, the feel of your name
The beat of your heart, the devil's arcade
You said heroes are needed, so heroes get made
Somebody made a bet, somebody paid
The cool desert morning, then nothin' to save
Just metal and plastic where your body caved
The slow games of poker with Lieutenant Ray
In the ward with the blue walls, a sea with no name
Where you lie adrift with the heroes
Of the devil's arcade
You sleep and dream of your buddies Charlie and Jim
And wake with the thick desert dust on your skin
A voice says "Don't worry, I'm here"
Just whisper the word 'tomorrow' in my ear
A house on a quiet street, a home for the brave
The glorious kingdom of the sun on your face
Rising from a long night as dark as the grave
On a thin chain of next moments
And something like faith
On a morning to order, a breakfast to make
A bed draped in sunshine, a body that waits
For the touch of your fingers
The end of a day
The beat of your heart, the beat of your heart
The beat of your heart, the beat of her heart
The beat of your heart, the beat of her heart
The beat of her heart, the slow burning away
Of the bitter fires of the devil's arcade
Lyrics submitted by Lyricalis
Track duration: 05:06
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Remember the morning we dug up your gun
The worms in the barrel, the hangin' sun
Somebody made a bet, somebody paid
The cool desert morning, then nothin' to save
Just metal and plastic where your body caved
In the ward with the blue walls, a sea with no name
Where you lie adrift with the heroes
Of the devil's arcade
Then, his lover visits him, promising him he'll recover:
A voice says "Don't worry, I'm here"
Just whisper the word 'tomorrow' in my ear
His condition worsens as the song goes on:
Rising from a long night as dark as the grave
On a thin chain of next moments
And something like faith
At the end of the song, he dies:
A bed draped in sunshine, a body that waits
For the touch of your fingers
The end of a day
The beat of your heart, the beat of her heart
The beat of her heart, the slow burning away
Of the bitter fires of the devil's arcade
The song is tough to unravel flow wise as the first paragraph seems to indicate a female with the inclusion of perfume in the lyric. Heroes getting made and bets getting paid all point to Iraq--slow poker games with Lt Ray in the "ward with blue walls" sounds like someone in a military hospital doing an arduous rehab/recovery. Metal and plastic where your body caved perhaps intimates a prosthesis of some type?
Buddys Charlie and Jim sound like fallen comrades. I somewhat concur with Barknoq except i think sex is involved only in the first paragraph. That's my dos centavos.
I will say this though. I read in some review (on Amazon I think) some person said that this is the weakest song on the album. Erm....no, it's not.
What a song. I got shivers once I realized what it was about.
also Where you lie adrift with the heroes
and The cool desert morning, then nothin' to save
Just metal and plastic where your body caved
I think this song is about a lover lost in Iraq. There's "nothin' to save", this person was killed.
They're drifting, dreaming of the life they should have had were it not for their death in the war. I don't see redemption here, just sad unnecessary death.
You sleep and dream of your buddies Charlie and Jim
...
and then
Just whisper the word 'tomorrow' in my ear
... finally
the slow burning away ...
I think it's about a veteran whose soul has been lost to the devil during the war and menages to get it through thanks to love, that burns away the bitter fires of the devil's arcade