Promise Is a Pendulum Lyrics by Big Thief
I could never build the ether
Or the grass overgrown
I could never build the river
With a mouthful of foam
I could never build the winter
With her cold tears of glitter
I’ve been listening to the red oak
And the acorn she cries
Listening to the white birch
And the paper she dries
I’ve been listening to the frogs joke
Listening to the firesmoke
I can never tell you now
What I had often said before
Because promise is a pendulum
Just swinging at the door
And I’m not saying I’m not jealous
Or scared anymore
I’m just saying
I could never build a rainbow
Or any kind of flower
I could never make a sparrow
Or a meteor shower
I could never build an earthworm
Never make the earth turn
I’ve been listening to the laughing
Of the fox down the trail
I’ve been clasping to the listening of the moss to the snail
The shimmer of the beech leaves
As the wind does a big sneeze
I could never tell you now
What I had often said before
Because promise is a pendulum
Just swinging at the door
And I’m not saying I’m not jealous
Or scared anymore
I’m just saying
I could never build the shadow
Between your cheek and your eye
I could never make a freckle or the warm breath you sigh
The canopy of lashes
With the softness of ashes
I’ve been listening to the memory
The way that it was
Listening to the echo of whys and because
Listening to the echo
Telling me to let go
I could never tell you now
What I had often said before
Because promise is a pendulum
Just hanging at the door
And I’m not saying I’m not jealous
Or scared anymore
I’m just saying
Saying