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Buskers (The Cruel Sister)

from The Ratcatcher by The Crux

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Littoral Gastropod
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lyrics

There were two sisters, down by the dock throwing stones into the deep
A stranger came on his tall white horse, whistling a melody
He said to one sister, "You look fine. Gonna ask your pa to make you mine”
And he rode away on his tall white horse singing, “Oh cruel wind and the rain”

There were two sisters, down by the dock. One pushed the other one in
She said, "Dear sister, I’ve had enough , "You’ll never see your lover again”
She watched that girl drift from the bank and sometimes she swam, sometimes she sank
Sometimes she made a little bubblin’ up, going, “Oh cruel wind and the rain”

Then the cruel sister skipped back home, getting her story straight
She told her pa that sis had gone to the big city, o’er the gate
Pa, he cried, and the stranger heard, and he came up to the cruel sister
Picking her all up in his arms, sighing, "Oh, cruel wind and the rain”

The poor dead sister washed on shore, right beside a caravan
A group of kids called the River Rats were sitting in the sand
These River Rats were musicians. Musicians and magicians
They fished her out and laid her flat, singing, “Oh cruel wind and the rain”

From her skull they made a little drum and they beat out a dirge right there
From her spine they made a little harp and they strung it with her golden hair
From her arm they made the smallest pipe and they played all the way through the night
And the only song that came a whistlin’ out was “Oh, cruel wind and the rain”

Well that cruel sister and her stranger man chose to get hitched that day
The town, they threw a wedding feast and got the River Rats to play
They came and played their magic flute and the flute, it told the saddest truth
All about what the sister’d done - wailing “Oh cruel wind and the rain”

The town, they grabbed the cruel sister and they hung her from a locust tree
The River Rats and the stranger man stuck around and they could not leave
The stranger bowed and said “hello” as they watched that sister hanging low
He pulled out his pipe and began to blow - playin’ “Oh cruel wind and the rain”

credits

from The Ratcatcher, released October 31, 2013

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