Fiddle Bow from Winebringer by Palmer T. Lee

How does the fiddle bow out those words that tear me down
while the band just sang a hundred of them but I couldn't hear a sound
except for the fiddle bow and those hot licks that lay me out.
Even the bodhisattvas couldn't save me from the cross and the crown
only the fiddle bow could double stop me in my tracks
while the rain scatters the scents about till there ain’t no comin' back
except to the fiddle bow.

Only the fiddle bow could really say what's on my mind,
how I'm still feeling high from remembering your eyes
fixed on that fiddle bow just the way that you saw me
hearing the words between the words for more than you thought I could be.
But aw, that fiddle bow, with every scratch and swoop and pass
forgives the fears of the future and the sins of the past
as the whole world laughs along with the fiddle bow.

And those hot sulfur waters soften my toes,
still my hands are stained red as you'll ever know.
Though they steam and they roll down off the end of my nose
nothing could wash me clean it seems
except for the fiddle bow.

• Folk
• indie folk
• singer-songwriter
• Olympia