Monkey & Bear - Joanna Newsom

Down in the green hay 
Where monkey and bear usually lay 
They woke from a stable-boy's cry 

He said; someone come quick! 
The horses got loose, got grass-sick! 
They'll founder! Fain, they'll die 

What is now known by the sorrel and the roan? 
By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey? 

It is: stay by the gate you are given 
And remain in your place, for your season 
And had the overfed dead but listened 
To that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom... 

Did you hear that, Bear? Said monkey 
We'll get out of here, fair and square 
They've left the gate open wide! 

So 
My bride 
Here is my hand, where is your paw? 
Try and understand my plan, Ursala 
My heart is a furnace 
Full of love that's just, and earnest 
Now; you know that we must unlearn this 
Allegiance to a life of service 
And no longer answer to that heartless 
Hay-monger, nor be his accomplice 
(that charlatan, with artless hustling!) 
But; Ursala, we've got to eat something 
And earn our keep, while still within 
The borders of the land that man has girded 
(all double-bolted and tight-fisted!) 
Until we reach the open country 
A-steeped in milk and honey 

Will you keep your fancy clothes on, for me? 
Can you bear a little longer to wear that leash? 
My love, I swear by the air I breathe: 
Sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth 

But for now, just dance, darling 
C'mon, will you dance, my darling? 
Darling, there's a place for us 
Can we go, before I turn to dust? 
Oh my darling, there's a place for us 
Oh darling 
C'mon will you dance, my darling? 
Oh, the hills are groaning with excess 
Like a table ceaselessly being set 
Oh my darling, we will get there yet 

They trooped past the guards, 
Past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards 
All night, till finally: 

The space they gained grew 
Much farther than the stone that bear threw 
To mark where they'd stop for tea 

But walk a little faster 
And don't look backwards 
Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture 

When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap 
And their applause caws the kettle black 
And we can't have none of that! 

Move along, Bear; there, there; that's that 
Though cast in plaster 
Our Ursala's heart beat faster 
Than monkey's ever will 

But still; 
They have got to pay the bills 
Hadn't they? 
That is what the monkey'd say 

So, with the courage of a clown, or a cur 
Or a kite, jerking tight at its tether 
In her dun-brown gown of fur 
And her jerkin' of swansdown and leather 

Bear would sway on her hind legs; 
The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure 
Of the children, who'd shriek 
Throwing coins at her feet 
Then recoiling in terror 

Sing, dance, darling 
C'mon, will you dance, my darling? 
Oh darling, there's a place for us 
Can we go, before I turn to dust? 
Oh my darling, there's a place for us 

Oh darling 
C'mon, will you dance, my darling? 
You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill 
Where you'll ever-after eat your fill 
Oh my darling, dear, mine 
If you dance 
Dance, darling, and I love you still 

Deep in the night 
Shone a weak and miserly light 
Where the monkey shouldered his lamp 

Someone had told him 
The bear had been wandering 
A fair piece away from where they were camped 

Someone had told him 
The bear'd been sneaking away 
To the seaside caverns, to bathe 

And the thought troubled the monkey 
For he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves 

Also afraid what the village people would say 
If they saw the bear in that state; 

Lolling and splashing obscenely 
Well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face 

Washing that matted and flea-bit pelt 
In some sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine 

But monkey just laughed, and he muttered; 
When she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with pride 

Till I jump up! 
Saying: you've been rolling in muck! 
Saying: you smell of garbage and grime! 

But far out 
Far out 
By now 
By now 
Far out, by now, Bear ploughed 
'Cause she would not drown: 

First the outside-legs of the bear 
Up and fell down, in the water, like knobby garters 

Then the outside-arms of the bear 
Fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes 

Low'red in a genteel curtsy 
Bear shed the mantle of her diluvian shoulders; 

And, with a sigh, 
She allowed the burden of belly to drop like an apron full of boulders 

If you could hold up her threadbare 
Coat to the light where it's worn translucent in places 

You'd see spots where 
Almost every night of the year Bear had been mending suspending that baseness 

Now her coat drags through the water 
Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows; 

In the magnetic embrace 
Balletic and glacial of Bear's insatiable shadow; 

Left there! 
Left there! 
When Bear left Bear 
Left there! 
Left there! 
When Bear stepped clear of Bear 

Sooner or later you'll bury your teeth