Lyrics The Handsome Family

The Handsome Family

Glow Worm

Up the snowy spires

Where the air is thick as glass

Once a year the cold mist clears

You can see inside the earth

High in that crystal palace

I’ve built a sailing ship

Mastered wheel of polished brass

Sails of gold and silk

I pyte the engine steam

I set for long citations

I consulted dusty maps

Said careful, care the glaciers

Never in, we’re never in

Hearing through my scope

I sail deep into the hollows

Deep inside the earth

I travelled a boiling river

Through streams of mercury

Under these volcanoes

And the roots of ancient trees

Underneath stalactites

I lit phosphorous lamps

Sparks snapped into the air

And coiled up the mist

I watched enormous birds

Diving through the slate

As I stood upon the ground

In my oil skin cap and cape

At last, my anchor caught

And echoed through the stone

As I climbed and old broke ladder

Pile through the globe

And up above I saw it

A glow worm’s little light

And I reached out and caught it

In the center of the night

Tightly in my fist

I held that glowing worm

Deep down in the hollows

I held the center of the world