Little Lord Obedience

Faceless when he docks, faceless when he's lost at sea
The ocean is green, admission is free
Only here, here at the source
There are fingernails and hair to spare
But when the order comes to go and the sirens blow
And the hair goes grey
He obeys

He obeys, away in a manger, no crib for a bed
Little Lord Obedience
Lays down his sweet, entirely sexless head
Christ found the source of the Bible
And Livingstone the source of the Nile
But the sailor and his amazon
Find the source of the child
In the dock of the baby
The resort where strangers liaise
The port in every girl where the sailor obeys

Naked when he docks, naked when he's lost at sea
There he loses his stripes, there he loses his body
Only here, here at the source
The fashionable dress is flesh
But when the order comes to go and the sirens blow
And the flesh decays
He obeys

He obeys, away in a manger, no crib for a bed
Little Lord Obedience
Lays down his sweet, entirely sexless head
Christ found the source of the Bible
And Livingstone the source of the Nile
But the sailor and his amazon
Find the source of the child
In the dock of the baby
The resort where strangers liaise
The port in every girl where the sailor obeys

No-one when he docks, no-one when he's lost at sea
The waves dissolve his frown, they solve his puzzled face away
Only here, here at the source
No-one comes without leaving someone else
But when the order sounds to go and the sirens blow
And they lower the gangway
We obey

We obey, away in a manger, no crib for a bed
Little Lord Obedience
Lay down our sweet, entirely sexless heads
Christ found the source of the Bible
And Livingstone the source of the Nile
But the sailor and his amazon
Find the source