masked and anonymous/Jack Fate

chris mansel

The Ballad Of Jack Fate

Bread of life, crust of crumbs
When have you lived where you’re from
Mexican children reading W.B. Yeats
Sculpting dust on crooked brown plates

Mississippi river runs away from hell
Back up to the steps of the well
Sleepy written read hands fortunes told
A billionaire dressed in a crown of gold

Darkening eyes lifting up from a wanted man
His mother between the legs of the hangman
One man’s story is a lie
One woman’s child is a wife

Chorus:
A prison bible is only read over the dead
In a room where mama’s dress turns red
And the living are just getting in the way

Alleys never close like a lithograph
Of the wind that blows up a shady path
Comes the prodigal to a race of one
A hopeless crying madrigal tunes to the passing sun

Disappear into the light
Where the night shines bright
The stars cut their teeth on the sun’s rays
And I’m going away

Chorus:
A prison bible is only read over the dead
In a room where mama’s dress turns red
And the living are just getting in the way

Buru

good song

I liked the verse: "And the living are just getting in the way"