Here we sit
Across the table from each other
A thousand miles from both our mothers,
Barely old enough to rust
Here we sit
Pretending both our hearts are anchors
Taking candy from these strangers
Amidst the diesel and the dust
And here we sit
Singing words nobody taught us
Drinking fire, and spitting sawdust,
Trying to teach ourselves to breathe
We haven't yet,
But every chorus brings us closer
Every flyer and every poster
Gives a piece of what we need
And the sand that they call cocaine cost you twice as much as gold
You'd be better off to drink your coffee black
But I swear, the land it listened to the stories that we told
God bless the busted boat that brings us back
Morning's rough
It don't give a damn about the mission
Has no aesthetic or tradition,
Only lessons never learned
And I'd had enough
About a month ago tomorrow
Parting holds no trace of sorrow
For the bitter and the burned
And the piss they call tequila even Waylon wouldn't drink
Well I'd rather sip this Listerine I packed
But I swear, we've never seen a better place to sit and think
God bless the busted ship that brings us back
And the sand that they call cocaine cost you twice as much as gold
You'd be better off to drink your coffee black
But I swear, the land it listened to the stories that we told
God bless the busted boat that brings us back
Across the table from each other
A thousand miles from both our mothers,
Barely old enough to rust
Here we sit
Pretending both our hearts are anchors
Taking candy from these strangers
Amidst the diesel and the dust
And here we sit
Singing words nobody taught us
Drinking fire, and spitting sawdust,
Trying to teach ourselves to breathe
We haven't yet,
But every chorus brings us closer
Every flyer and every poster
Gives a piece of what we need
And the sand that they call cocaine cost you twice as much as gold
You'd be better off to drink your coffee black
But I swear, the land it listened to the stories that we told
God bless the busted boat that brings us back
Morning's rough
It don't give a damn about the mission
Has no aesthetic or tradition,
Only lessons never learned
And I'd had enough
About a month ago tomorrow
Parting holds no trace of sorrow
For the bitter and the burned
And the piss they call tequila even Waylon wouldn't drink
Well I'd rather sip this Listerine I packed
But I swear, we've never seen a better place to sit and think
God bless the busted ship that brings us back
And the sand that they call cocaine cost you twice as much as gold
You'd be better off to drink your coffee black
But I swear, the land it listened to the stories that we told
God bless the busted boat that brings us back
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by emergingsynergy
New South Wales Lyrics as written by Jason Isbell
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I hate to be cocky but I'm right stylistically this song wouldn't contain a celtic hint and "busted boat" along with other references to colonization. I mean Dirks could hire a musicologist and he would say yes it's a hint of celtic like I said.
It contains too many hints. It's very complex and is one of Jason's most mature songs.
I know the politics rate it up but this is an intellectual song. Jason is really smart and he didn't explain it completely because of historical accuracy. I'm sure it was subconscious and what not but look if you take it all literal from the interview you miss what he puts out. He's so good.