I got pretty frustrated with there being nearly no lyrics, and if they were there, they were usually incorrect, so I started this page as a repository of “as correct as possible” Reverend Glasseye lyrics. Kinda wild how it's been 20 years and there's still songs missing.
If you can provide any transcriptions for the missing songs (or corrections for the ones that are there) I'd be immensely grateful!
Contact: asoftbi.rd@gmail.com
(last edit 04-02-2023)
03. 17 Lashes
I ran to my father yet he would not have me
Ran to my mother, she showed me such shame
Ran to the mirror where my brother haunts me
Ran to the harbor to watch the incoming rain
I follow the map, it ran down my backside
Helpless in that as I charted my course
Here from the seaside I can see the desert
Headed out east with a dollar in my purse
Let the rain wash away, amen
I will hold my brother's hand
And if I am guilty of too much sin
Let the rain wash away, amen
Further inland I came to this small town
Masters won't stand an ignorant child
Went from a traveler to master's possession
Taught me to fight and then they taught me to kill
Every night except for the sabbath
I was content to fight round for round
First there was laughter and the marks on my backside
Then there was silence and a body on the ground
Let the rain wash away, amen
I will hold my brother's hand
And if I am guilty of too much sin
Let the rain wash away, amen
I dreamt of the desert, along my backside
Dreamt of the forest, along my back
Dreamt of the waters, along my backside
Dreamt of the gardens, along my back
Seventeen lashes along my backside
I can see mountains, along my back
Seventeen lashes along my backside
Seventeen rages I have made
My master's hand, how softly I hold it
As he stares up with them cataract eyes
Packed my belongings and left for my desert
The road it is cluttered with my master's cries
Soon I will find the gates to my garden
Then I will shed this manger frame
I'll find my brother come hell or high water
Renewed in purpose and then renewed in name
Let the rain wash away, amen
I will hold my brother's hand
And if I am guilty of too much sin
Let the rain wash away, amen
05. Belle's Palsy
My arms shake, I can't feel my legs
My skin flakes most every day
Leaves a mess of a man
In a sea full of sin
The storm is coming in
I open my mouth and find little voice
I was meant to love you, I don't have much choice
But I will sing this song and I'll sing it with joy
The storm is coming in
So I hold my breast
Imagining
The tenor and the bass singing
We'll beat our breast and sing our song
And whip ourselves to the candlelight
And this song is to my enemy
This song is for my priest
And this song is for my eagerness
In my ill prepared feast
And like this rain
I move it along
Remembered only through my pathetic song
But the wind it howls and the mobs that roar
The storm is coming in
I collect your name in a masons jar
Places on my shelf and handled with care
But sometimes the thunder shakes them close to the edge
And the storm is coming in
So it's broken glass on a hardwood floor
Once was here, now no more
It seems
So I take the glass and stab the throat
So I can hit the holy note from my hymns
And this song is for the prophet
This song is for the poor
And this song is for the holy men
Who abuse our sacred words
And I'll get down on my knees
Hallelujah
I cry out your name
So I hold my arms
Imagining the tenor and the bass singing
And we beat our breast and sing our songs
And whip ourselves tot he candlelight
And this song is to my enemy
And this song is for my priest
And this song is for my eagerness
An ill prepared feast
And I'll get down on my knees
Hallelujah
I cry out your name
And I thank you
And I love you
But I must make you understand
I have become less than a man
And the storm is coming in