1
The bells will ring
Church steeple's catching fire
And if you promise spring
Then I know you are a liar
Cause in the spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles will burn my feet
And if you join our chorus
You'll never fear anymore
So here it comes, just the chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Souverian
Souverian
The elder
Souverian
Souverian
The free
Souverian
Souverian
The felled heart
So very young
So very young
Were we
Birds were singing
Still my lover won't return to me
You promise spring
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips scar my lungs
And the thistles are burning my feet
So here it comes, the chorus
You will never fear anymore
If you join our chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get over
over the elders
and under the elders
pretend that you're older now
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get older
over the elders
under the elders
bending the branches down
We were so very young
Still my lover won't return to me
Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles still burn my feet
Church steeple's catching fire
And if you promise spring
Then I know you are a liar
Cause in the spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles will burn my feet
And if you join our chorus
You'll never fear anymore
So here it comes, just the chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Souverian
Souverian
The elder
Souverian
Souverian
The free
Souverian
Souverian
The felled heart
So very young
So very young
Were we
Birds were singing
Still my lover won't return to me
You promise spring
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips scar my lungs
And the thistles are burning my feet
So here it comes, the chorus
You will never fear anymore
If you join our chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get over
over the elders
and under the elders
pretend that you're older now
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get older
over the elders
under the elders
bending the branches down
We were so very young
Still my lover won't return to me
Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles still burn my feet
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So who is Souverian? A google search turned up a farmer named Souverian P. Frigon who was born in 1850 in Canada and immigrated to Iriquois County, Illinois (Andrew Bird's home state). Might just be a coincidence, but this Souverian being a farmer fits in with the pastoral images of parsnips, thistles, thrushes, and grasses.
Perhaps Andrew Bird is spinning a story around a real but mostly unknown figure?