Текст песни Fairport Convention - Part Xi (the Hanging Song)
Fairport Convention - Part Xi (the Hanging Song) слова песни
Wake up John, it`s time to go Come along John and don`t be slowCome along John, don`t be slow Wake up John, it`s time to goWake up John, it`s time to goA priest joins the procession just to help me kneelWith a warder at my elbow and another at my heelMarching in the morning down a path I`ve lately seenI was sleeping in this garden, am I still within my dream?The echo of my heartbeat is the beating of a drumAnd all the earth is singing with life`s sweet humWe filed in solemn silence, shuffled through a doorThe place where life is taken for the letter of the law(Chorus)Shake the holy water, summon up the guardDying`s very easy, waiting`s very hardA rope was hanging from the roof, a sight which puzzles meI thought a gibbet and a guard would make a gallows treeBut now all is revealed, stamped there is the commandMy feet are on the trapdoor with a rope around my handAnd now the executioner is shaking hands with me"My duty I must carry out, you poor fellow," says heA strap is tied around my feet and a bag upon my headAnd then the noose which separates the living from the dead(Chorus)There he whispers to me "Have you anything to say?"My mouth is dry, my throat is tight, I answer "Drop away"Silence now surrounds me, my heart is beating onThe trapdoor hardly moves at all, my life is still my ownThey stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still boundWhile a carpenter is called for and an explanation found"The rain has warped the timbers," I hear the hangman say"It`s funny but it worked well, I tried it yesterday""All is mended now," they say, "your ordeal`s nearly overYour life`s as good as ended," but I hear their voices waverOnce more the ?board is shaked? and again I hang in limboWhile the guards jump on the trapdoor and my body stands on tip-toe(Chorus)They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still tiesA warder holds onto the noose, the trapdoor opens wideIs it magic or coincidence that keeps me on the brink?It seems to work without me, "Will it kill me now?" I think"Please, I`m tired of living and I really want to die"I was taken to the scaffold and I heard the hangman cry"Lee, I`m truly sorry, forgive these hands of mine"He drew the bolt and I felt the jolt the third and final timeMy life was spared that morning `cos it wasn`t theirs to takeThree`s the ?boat? the law requires, a man could feel the stake(Repeat chorus)