You Bother Me

©1984 Andrew Calhoun, recorded on Walk Me to the War

Chorus:
How you bother me, you b-b-bother me,
Whenever I come see, you you b-bother me

A hundred years or more, this fence has settled here
Dug out with dynamite and sweat that flowed like beer
The man had a wife and son, and when the work was done
There was no more to do, there was no money here

A thousand years or more, our neighbors worked these hills
They built the walls and dikes, them made the wheels and mills
Was not for power they grew crops in rocks and clay
But just to make their way, they bent their tools and wills

A hundred thousand years, we lived in huts and caves
There were no masters then, there were no saints nor slaves
By any flowing stream, lay you down and dream
Hear the messiah rave, hear the messiah rave

A million years ago, we hung around in trees
We dodged the arrowheads, we fought the floods and bees
Up rose a spider's head, we join the living dead
We long to bite the leaves, we long to bite the leaves

The wordless history, the long monotony
The stony statue of your family
Some tribal map in time
Some deep and quiet crime
One unlit memory, one unlit memory

The bleating bird sings on, the days are here and gone
The bird shall die, but the song goes on
My days are numbered here, I broke a plate somewhere,
Made a trip to London, made a trip to London