Papa Won't Leave You, Henry

I went out walking the other day
The heat hung wet around my neck
My head, it rung with screams and groans
For the night I spent amongst her bones

And I passed beside the mission house
Where that mad old buzzard, the reverend
Shrieked and flapped about life after you're dead
Well, I thought about my friend Michel
How they rolled him in linoleum
And they shot him in the neck

A bloody halo like a think-bubble a-circling his head
And I bellowed at the firmament
Looks like the rains are here to stay
And the rain pissed down upon me, and it washed me all away

Saying, Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy

Well, the road is long and the road is hard
And many fall by the side
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry

And I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)
Oh yeah, I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)

Well, the moon, it looked exhausted like something you should pity
I spent an age spotted above the sizzling wires of the city
Well, it reminded me of her face and her bleached and hungry eyes
Her hair was like a curtain falling open with the laughter
And closing with the lies
And the ghost of her still lingers on
Though she's passed through me and is gone

Well, the slum dogs, they are barking
The rain children on the streets
And the tears that we will weep today will all be washed away
By the tears that we will weep, we'll weep again tomorrow

Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy

Well, the road is long and the road is hard
And many fall by the side
Well, Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry

And I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)
Oh yeah, I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)

And I came upon a little house, a little house upon a hill
And I entered through and the curtain hissed
Into the house with its blood-red bowels
Where wet-lipped women with greasy fists crawled the ceilings and the walls
And they filled me full of drink, and they led me 'round the rooms
Naked and cold and grinning
Until everything went black and I came down spinning

I awoke so drunk and full of rage that I could hardly speak
A fag in a whalebone corset draping his dick across my cheek
Well, it's into the shame and it's into the guilt
And it's into the fucking fray
And the walls ran red around me, a warm arterial spray

Saying, Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy

Well, the night is dark and the night is deep
And its jaws are open wide
Yeah well, Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry

And I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)
Oh yeah, I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)
Yeah, whoa-whoa (whoa-whoa), whoa-whoa

It's the rainy season where I'm living
Death comes leaping out of every doorway, wasting you for money
For your clothes and for your nothing
Entire towns being washed away
Favelas exploding on inflammable spillways

And the lynch-mobs, death squads
Babies being born without brains
The mad heats and the relentless rains
Well, if you stick your arm into that hole
It comes out sheared off to the bone

And with her kisses bubbling on my lips
I swiped the rain and nearly missed
And then I went on down the road (he went on down that road)

Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, boy

Well, the road is long and the road is hard
And many fall by the side
Well then, Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry

And I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)
Oh yeah, and I went on down the road
(He went on down the road)

Yeah, bent beneath my heavy load
(Under his heavy load)
Yeah, I went on down that road
(He went on down the road)

Oh, whoa-whoa (whoa-whoa)
Oh, whoa-whoa (whoa-whoa)
Yeah, whoa-whoa (whoa-whoa)
Yeah, whoa-whoa (whoa-whoa)
And I went on down that road