Hammer And A Nail Lyrics

clearing webs from the hovel
a blistered hand on the handle of a shovel
i've been digging too deep
i always do
i see my face on the surface
i look a lot like Narcissus
a dark abyss of an emptiness
standing on the edge of a drowning blue

i look behind my ears for the green
and even my sweat smells clean
glare off the white hurts my eyes
i gotta get out of bed 
get a hammer and a nail
learn how to use my hands
not just my head
i think myself in a jail
now i know a refuge never grows
from a chin in a hand 
and a thoughtful pose
gotta tend the earth 
if you want a rose

i had a lot of good intentions
sit around for fifty years 
and then collect a pension
started seeing the road to hell 
and just where it starts
but my life is more than a vision
the sweetest part is acting 
after making a decision
started seeing the whole 
as a sum of its parts

and i look behind my ears for the green
and even my sweat smells clean
glare off the white hurts my eyes
gotta get out of bed 
get a hammer and a nail
learn how to use my hands
not just my head
i think myself in a jail
now i know a refuge never grows
from a chin in a hand 
and a thoughtful pose
gotta tend the earth 
if you want a rose

my life is part of the global life
i'd found myself becoming more immobile
when i'd think a little girl in the world 
can't do anything
a distant nation my community
and a street person my responsibility
if i have a care in the world 
i have a gift to bring

i look behind my ears for the green
even my sweat smells clean
glare off the white hurts my eyes
i gotta get out of bed 
get a hammer and a nail
learn how to use my hands
not just my head
i think myself in a jail
now i know a refuge never grows
from a chin in a hand 
and a thoughtful pose
gotta tend the earth 
if you want a rose

words and music emily saliers
copyright 1990 godhap music (bmi)