Weather Vane - Common Market

In this current climate of change it seems some things never will

Age of my formation split between the grange and Pleasureville

Skill and dedication, gained appreciation for the work

He’s up early to serve stock feed and tend to barley

Surely this man is a model, though my role is cast in other fields

Typify provisioner, I empathize, a brother feels

Meaning in the motion going out to bring a promise home

Son be there in spirit, father left to do the job alone

Shown the ways of older generations, known little else

Elements affect them all, weather wear the mental health

Down inside the dale driving bales, on his own to think

Arrived with the rye, just shy of mad and prone to drink

In an eye blink, the storm clouds rolled in, tension built

Let em pass, them attempt an intervention — get 'em killed

Caught up in the tempest, mother suffered nature’s wrath

When the neighbors asked, quick to say she slipped taking a bath, but uh…

And when the cops came knocking, she tell 'em «I ain’t talking»

The thrashing don’t happen often — he’s a hard working man, and the

Baby’s barely walking and the bills ain’t stopping

A day lost will cost him — is it hard to understand

Why the women keep living as the men keep hitting

Passively passing it off as a victim of circumstance

Here’s a whole life given, sacrificed for the children

Let him loose, he’s got no use for a tender hand

Never break, it’s a test of faith, I bet tomorrow brings a better day

Rest your frame, help is on its way, signs are blowing through the weather vane

Death is grace, like it says in James, which of us will be kept to wait?

No don’t hesitate, no for heaven’s sake, just let us pray

The Good Lord’s gonna set him straight

Last year drought took the crops, now facing floods

Staples on the table ain’t enough, what we scraping up will

Go to pay the bank back, partial payment — take that

Life in dire straights will make a stark-raving maniac

Tapped a fifth of vodka, kicked her hard enough to break a rib

Shhh — keep quiet, too much crying she gong wake the kids

And when the cops came knocking she tell em «I ain’t talking»

It’s only gong be a problem when the farm don’t yield

You know a man’s heart hardens when his fam starts starving

The wind did in the garden, now the rains claimed the field

I’ll take the weight of the burden if it means less hurting

In crisis the type of person you’re with is fully revealed

Things may be more certain if you take away the bourbon

Tired of fussing I’ll discuss it when the bones heal

Never break, it’s a test of faith, I bet tomorrow brings a better day

Rest your frame, help is on its way, signs are blowing through the weather vane

Death is grace, like it says in James, which of us will be kept to wait?

No don’t hesitate, no for heaven’s sake, just let us pray

The Good Lord’s gonna set him straight

Baby times are tough, but you know you’re making em harder

Household on the edge when you’re wired on that firewater

Daughter old enough to see the evidence, herself

He told her «mind your business,» nothing else, then headed for the shelf

Once he polished off a bottle, started throttling the youngest son

Nest threatened, mama got the weapon, now what’s done is done

And when the cops came knocking she tell 'em «I ain’t talking»

Drop the body in a coffin, dig a hole and throw it in

When the callous won’t soften, it’s only one way to stop 'em

He’s gone, but not forgotten are the scars in the skin

A mother’s resolve is steady, with the volatile especially demanding

Stand ready for the man to go again

Spent enough time guessing if the curse would turn deadly

I heard every word you read me but I’m innocent

Never break, it’s a test of faith, I bet tomorrow brings a better day

Rest your frame, help is on its way, signs are blowing through the weather vane

Death is grace, like it says in James, which of us will be kept to wait?

No don’t hesitate, no for heaven’s sake, just let us pray

The Good Lord’s gonna set him straight