Mercy Brown

[Verse 1]
Jaundiced yellow light is flashing
Hanging above Church and Main
On the wind, her perfume lingers
Likewise, her Christian name
Fields of night hang close above her
The family lie in a dreamless sleep
Frost grows on the windowpanes
And the wind spins circles in the empty street

[Chorus]
Shining white steeples
Rise from the ground
Ring all the bells you may
And brace for the kiss of Mercy Brown

[Verse 2]
By the paper mill, she wanders
Singing melodies to the clouds
A fox calls, but nonе does answer
Cross the green of hallowеd ground
Quietly beyond the threshold
A pale hand on the banister
Looks upon the sleepers there
And weeps at the memory of the way things were

[Chorus]
Shining white steeples
Alarm the town
Ring all the bells you can
And brace for the kiss of Mercy Brown

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Bridge]
Two lovers in the moonlight
Playing at hare and hounds
Leaves fall upon the hillside
Ruddy as the lips of young Miss Brown

[Chorus]
Shining white steeples
Alarm the town
Ring all the bells you can
Then brace for the kiss of Mercy Brown
Shining white steeples
Dawn in the dark
Be still, your beating
Your beating heart

[Post-Chorus]
Be still, your beating heart