My Uncle's Navy - Neko Case

There’s memories i’d pay to remove

I’d cut them out myself

If that were possible

The kind you cry yourself blind about

The kind that choke you out

Choke you out

I had an uncle who was not by blood

He loved to scare all the little girls away

And if you’re tender-hearted

You should stop the tape

Stop the tape

He pulled the heads off of garter snakes

I cried so helpless for those

Silent creatures

Twisting away from

The horror

In the tarpit sea

Memories wear thick coats

The kind that pull you down

But in refusing to drown

You’re choked into the shape of

A sailor

Deputized by the cruel god of children

No running water in his soul.

Just a hole

That echoed when he’d call your name

From down the hall

His name was a command

That cuts the ears off fighting dogs

And wipes the knife

On his militia pants

Mercurochrome and merthiolate stains, oh

Mercurochrome and merthiolate stans, oh

And he’s braggin' all the while

«if i say that black is blue, it’s blue.

Black is blue, if i say it is.»

I never wondered what made him that way

Bullies are not born

They are pressed into a form

And i hated those who gave him access

To our days

The ones who did nothin'

I still can’t love them

Mercurochrome and merthiolate stains, oh

Mercurochrome and merthiolate stans, oh