Cage the Songbird

God cage the songbird Before the feathers run brown God bar the windows That we may though hollow be sound And this island shall be shackled to her waters Here we vow never to change Here we will stand at last for something With no desire to pretend Send up our prayers to gilded idols Their names etched in heartwood of palm And scatter the ashes of the contracts Their freedom so hollow a song God cage the songbird Before the feathers run brown God bar the windows That we may though hollow be sound Now the street lamp will be tethered to her station As the poor man is tethered to the flesh The wise man will be tethered to his wisdom As the mother is tethered to her creche Was your hunger your awareness of salvation As your chances go slipping to the past You're tortured by the changing of the seasons And each grain of sand in the glass God cage the songbird Before the feathers run brown God bar the windows That we may though hollow be sound --- Cage the Songbird - The Low Anthem