Forever Collapses
(lyrics officially revised by Chris Barron in 2010)

(The following was spoken at Wetlands, NYC, 02/16/92)
The King of Death, the King of Death was lonely…
Who could have blamed him for reaching up into the roots of the Earth
And pulling down one breathing, colored, flower to be by his side?

Night’s a garden wall
Evening’s a creeping vine
And our fingers are woven
Into stanzas that rhyme
The thunder is nothing
And the sky is a cloth
And the moon’s when a night light
Reflects off a moth

In your sad arms’ circumference
Time is devoured
And forever collapses to the span of a flower.
Forever collapses to the span of a flower

I’m your insane stallion
Bridled by your tune
My hooves upturn your meadow
And my eyes reflect the moon
Your lips are a sunset
And your glance engulfs mine
Your sweet respiration turns my air into wine

In your sad arms’ circumference
Time is devoured
And forever collapses to the span of a flower

I’m your dark king,
And you a queen to me
Oh, the dead they call me Hades.
Demeter named you Persephone
All my dead subjects
They shall never see the sun
Oh, to live past the three-headed dog
You’re the only living one
Ah, the only living one
Oh, the living one

You’ll live beneath the gnarly roots,
Not for death or misdeed.
You remain by my side for my love
And 6 of my pomegranate seeds
And for the other 6 moons
I’ll relinquish your hand
And your mother Demeter
Bring her green back to the land

In your sad arms’ circumference
Time is devoured
And forever collapses to the span of a flower
To the span of a flower

The king of the dead
Reaches into the roots
Of the ceiling of his kingdom
And plucks down for his side
One living colored breathing blossom

(The following was spoken on 5/24/92 at the Fastlane in Asbury Park, NJ)
The king of the dead,
Inspecting the borders of his dark kingdom
Found Persephone, the daughter of Demeter,
Goddess of spring, and all green things
Picking flowers.
The lonely king of the dark land,
Smitten with love in that moment,
Bleeding from an arrow of cupid
Decided in that moment to make Persephone his wife.
Stealing her he brought her down,
Down to his kingdom of night,
Where only the dead are.
Demeter, the mother of Persephone,
In a fit of sadness, weeping for her daughter
Allowed all the green things of the world to die.
The people of the world were starving,
And they went to Zeus they demanded
That he make Demeter bring back the spring,
For the winter had raged on for years.
A trial was held in the kingdom of the dead.
Hades agreed that if Persephone had not taken anything from his
Kingdom that she would freely be allowed to leave
And join her mother on the earth above.
One of the dead subjects of the dark king
Spoke up saying that he had seen the daughter of spring
Eat 6 pomegranate seeds.
It was decided that she would live 6 months under the earth with
Hades, the God of the dead, and for the other 6 months she would be
Allowed to rise, and Demeter would bring spring back to the land.
And every 6 months that her daughter is beneath the earth,
All the green things die, and Winter holds reign until
The king of the dead relinquishes the hand of the daughter of
Spring, and allows her to return to her mother, who allows
The green to return in spring back to the surface of the earth

Lyrics used by permission