By The River

[Verse 1]
By the river sings a woman
Tied to nothing and bound to no one
The voyeur stands by shadowed boughs, dew-heavy limbs
Damp the wood burns
Windless morning
Birds are silent as a warning
And sorrow comes like hungry wolves in dead of night

[Pre-Chorus]
But it's a bad, bad habit, you know

[Chorus]
Go whether the skies are cloud-heavy or the ground is unsteady
And the haze of young pity is gone
And deal or barter your living when your sins are forgiven
And the scales are made even again

[Verse 2]
Under white sky smoke is rising
Breath is shallow, pupils widen
And bracken dries as river flows under the ice

[Pre-Chorus]
But it's a bad, bad habit, you know

[Chorus]
Go whether the skies are cloud-heavy or the ground is unsteady
And the haze of young pity is gone
And deal or barter your living when your sins are forgiven
And the scales are made even again