We Danced from Homemade Wine by Penelope Swales

We Danced
© Stephen Swales

One was a time drowned in tears
The cold reign of pain, of fear
We mourn for the loss of those years
The waste of the sunny days
Seen through a leaden haze

Once was a man – well he said he was
He was God’s choice, he was the boss
But he was born to be two feet tall
And so not to feel so small
He stood on the backs of us all

Then came the night that we danced on your grave
The night we threw off our chains
Drank to the future and damned the dead past
You were under the cold ground at last

Yes, there were those with their studied grief
It wasn’t too hard to see the relief
No more pretence that he took as real
Love only a fool could feel
Given only for what they could steal

We came with our faces so grey
Masks for the burial day
Ah, but as soon as we filled in the hole
It’s time to rock ’n’ roll
A splendid time had by all

It was the night that we danced on your grave
The night we threw off our chains
Drank to the future and damned the dead past
You were under the cold ground at last

Ah, but the truth is,
We didn’t bury you at all
We sent your body to be burned
And one fine day
Without ceremony
We dumped the ashes in a dirty roadside toilet
On the way to somewhere else
Oh, life is good
For the living

It was the night that we danced on your grave
The night we threw off our chains
Drank to the future and damned the dead past
You were under the cold ground at last

Die di di die di di die di die die
Die di di die di di die di die die
Drank to the future and blanked out the past
We laughed at your passing
And damned your dead arse.

• Acoustic
• Australian
• Contemporary Folk
• female
• female vocalist
• indie folk
• political
• singer-songwriter
• Boolarra