The Sabre And The Rose

Feet hit the ground', feet leaving town
 Quicker than a bullet or a knife
 Falling ain't no fun, when you're on the run
 Honey we was runnin' for our life
 When Stagger Lee had drunk his fill of moonlight
 He turned his burnin' eyes upon my soul
 "It's time, by God, to spend this night with someone else", he said
 "Squeeze a little pleasure from the gold, love and glory"
 But we can take it easy when we're old
 He said, "We'll take us into town, lay our money down
 I'll bring you to the sweetest thing that grows
 Because the fairest ones in sight, are bloomin' every night
 At a tavern called the Sabre and the Rose"
 We swang into the saddle slick as breathing
 And slapped 'em once for pleasure with the reins
 The horses snorted frosty in the moonlight
 Somethin' dark was singing in my veins
 Older than the voices in my brain
 He said, "This place you're gonna see is where they live and breathe
 And sink down a little bit deeper every day
 And sometimes at night, when the wind is runnin' right
 You can hear it suckin' thirty miles away"
 Then the light was crimson
 And I found her all naked and eternal and insane
 Sacred as the mysteries around her
 Like a veil nothin' but her prison was profane
 All we had in common was our chains
 Ah, burn it down boys, burn it to the ground
 Boys, burn it on down
 Feet hit the ground, feet leaving town
 Quicker than a bullet or a knife
 All the way she ran, holdin' to my hand
 Runnin' for the river and our life
 Slidin' from the moonlight into shadows, silent as the river as it flows
 Swimmin' to the place they'll never find us
 All we left behind us was our clothes and the stories
 Children sing about the sabre and the rose