The Book of Anne Marie

Kneeling in a church room
Where heavy heads and hearts bow to pray
In burst man, screaming, "There's a bomb!"
(There's a bomb in the house of God!)
I do declare, his state of mind may have been
In a state of emergency
But all the same it sent them all into a roar
Like a lion that's lost all of its teeth

I can smell your fear, I see your doubt
You never learned the language
And you never figured out

Gather 'round, my prodigal sons and daughters
Before you practice, question what you teach
Don't let your words be your only charm
Take no shit, but do no harm
Says the modern day patron saint of blasphemy
In the Book of Anne-Marie

Now the shotgun preacher's voice rose
Screaming, "Let's slit this blasphemer's throat
For desecrating this sanctimonious occasion!"
But if the congregation only knew
Their holy father was a sinner too
The real culprit behind the pulpit
With something explosive up his sleeve

I can smell your fear, I see your doubt
You never learned the language
And you never figured out

Gather 'round, my prodigal sons and daughters
Before you practice, question what you teach
Don't let your words be your only charm
Take no shit, but do no harm
Says the modern day patron saint of blasphemy
In the Book of Anne-Marie

Better keep your head low, better stay down on your knees
Neck's feeling heavy 'neath the weight of your rosary
The coin beneath my tongue's my final tithe
My ticket through the golden gates when I die
And we're comin up now to the boatman's harbor
Take a seat, my child, it's not much farther
And I'd rather be a martyr otherwise no one will bother
To remember me when I go

Now who knows what went through that preacher's head
But for sure his twisted faith had led
To a lonely crater at the end of the street
There was no one left, but they did find
A burnt book containing thoughts from a girl's mind
If you turn to the first page, it will read
"The Book of Anne-Marie"