Jephtha, HWV 70, Act 3: No. 31, Recitative, "A father, off'ring up his only child" (Jephtha)

歌詞

In the war you severed the cord You broke the line You turned an only child But just before you buried the blade Your eyes betrayed The spark of another one Pure at heart Another day our daily bread Another night of the living dead It's like an ocean upon you So you did what you did And you said what you said Put your pen to the page And a gun to your head Got it all worked out this time Oh, but you can't be sure they're dead Still the footsteps fall In an empty hall The voices echo in your head And through the ashes raining down Your eyes replied They told a sordid tale And when the fires Barreled down the mountain side I saw your senses fail So I painted a word In the dust where I bled Signed the seal of the living dead I'm looking down and upon you So you did what you did And you said what you said Put your pen to the page And a gun to your head Got it all worked out this time Oh, but you can't be sure they're dead Still the footsteps fall In an empty hall The voices echo in your head Oh, but you can't be sure they're dead Now I close my eyes As the daylight dies And I drift away What a perfect ghost You are a record skipping On a needle's eye In a dark refrain Singing, "Nobody knows who you are" Mirror mask with the empty eyes In a devil's rain Footsteps in an empty hall Shadows crawl across the wall You can't be sure they're dead And if I go before your time Don't let 'em close your mind Don't watch the flowers fall Never looking back at all (But if I should change before your eyes) Don't be fooled by my disguise (You were born of my demise) And I'm a willing sacrifice Should you wake before you die Don't let a day go by Don't believe a word they say I'll be back again one day You never know Fallen or in flight Wind moans Deep in the dark of night And by the blue moon light At the angle when it hits me right You can see the choice Here beneath my skin Bright bones Barely keeping the beast within Prick of a pin Let the shift of my shape begin But the barrier is thin I hear the beating of angel wings Somewhere a siren sings You severed your puppet strings And now the justice is blind tonight It's hard to see wrong from right When you're looking through The tunnel of a target site What a perfect ghost You are a record skipping On a needle's eye In a dark refrain Singing, "Nobody knows who you are" Mirror mask with the empty eyes In a devil's rain