God, there is gold hidden deep in the ground
God, there's a hangman that wants to come around
How we rise when we're born
Like the ravens in the corn
On their wings, on our knees
Crawling careless from the sea
God give us love in the time that we have
God give us love in the time that we have
God, there are guns growing out of our bones
God, every road takes us farther from home
All these men that you made
How we wither in the shade
Of your trees, on your wings
We are carried to the sea
God, give us love in the time that we have
God, give us love in the time that we have
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days Album Lyrics
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days Lyrics
Writer: Samuel Ervin Beam
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Naked As We Came
She says, "Wake up, it's no use pretending"
I'll keep stealing, breathing her
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes 'round the yard
She says, "If I leave before you, darling
Don't you waste me in the ground"
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes 'round the yard
I'll keep stealing, breathing her
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes 'round the yard
She says, "If I leave before you, darling
Don't you waste me in the ground"
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes 'round the yard
Writer: Samuel Ervin Beam
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Cinder And Smoke
Give me your hand
The dog in the garden row is covered in mud
And dragging your mother's clothes
Cinder and smoke
The snake in the basement
Found the juniper shade
The farmhouse is burning down
Give me your hand
And take what you will tonight, I'll give it as fast
And high as the flame will rise
Cinder and smoke
Some whispers around the trees
The juniper bends
As if you were listening
Give me your hand
Your mother is drunk as all the firemen shake
A photo from father's arms
Cinder and smoke
You'll ask me to pray for rain
With ash in your mouth
You'll ask it to burn again
The dog in the garden row is covered in mud
And dragging your mother's clothes
Cinder and smoke
The snake in the basement
Found the juniper shade
The farmhouse is burning down
Give me your hand
And take what you will tonight, I'll give it as fast
And high as the flame will rise
Cinder and smoke
Some whispers around the trees
The juniper bends
As if you were listening
Give me your hand
Your mother is drunk as all the firemen shake
A photo from father's arms
Cinder and smoke
You'll ask me to pray for rain
With ash in your mouth
You'll ask it to burn again
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Sunset Soon Forgotten
Be this sunset soon forgotten
Your brothers left here shaved and crazy
We've learned to hide our bottles in the well
And what's worth keeping, sun still sinking
Down and down
Once again
Down and down
Gone again
Be this sunset one for keeping
This June bug street sings low and lovely
Those band-aid children
Chased your dog away
She runs, returning, sun still sinking
Down and down
Once again
Down and down
Gone again
Your brothers left here shaved and crazy
We've learned to hide our bottles in the well
And what's worth keeping, sun still sinking
Down and down
Once again
Down and down
Gone again
Be this sunset one for keeping
This June bug street sings low and lovely
Those band-aid children
Chased your dog away
She runs, returning, sun still sinking
Down and down
Once again
Down and down
Gone again
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Teeth In The Grass
And when you give me your clothes
And when we're lovers at last
Fresh air, perfume in your nose
There will be teeth in the grass
And when you give me your house
When we're all brothers at last
There will be food in our mouths
There will be teeth in the grass
And when there's nothing to want
When we're all brilliant and fast
When all tomorrows are gone
There will be teeth in the grass
And when we're lovers at last
Fresh air, perfume in your nose
There will be teeth in the grass
And when you give me your house
When we're all brothers at last
There will be food in our mouths
There will be teeth in the grass
And when there's nothing to want
When we're all brilliant and fast
When all tomorrows are gone
There will be teeth in the grass
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Love And Some Verses
Love is a dress that you made
Long to hide your knees
Love to say this to your face
I love you only
For your days and excitement
What will you keep for to wear?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair
Love and some verses you hear
Say what you can say
Love to say this in your ear
I'll love you that way
From your changing contentment
What will you choose for to share?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair
Long to hide your knees
Love to say this to your face
I love you only
For your days and excitement
What will you keep for to wear?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair
Love and some verses you hear
Say what you can say
Love to say this in your ear
I'll love you that way
From your changing contentment
What will you choose for to share?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Radio War
Did the wine make her dream
Of the far distant spring
Or a bed full of hens
Or the ghost of a friend
All the while that she wept
She had a gun by her bed
And a letter he wrote
From a dry, foundered boat
And the train track will take
All the wounded ones home
And I'll be alone
Fare thee well Sara Jones
Now we lie on the floor
While the radio war
Finds its way through the air
Of the dead market square
And the beast never seen
Licks I's red talons clean
Sara curses the cold
"No more snow, no more snow"
Of the far distant spring
Or a bed full of hens
Or the ghost of a friend
All the while that she wept
She had a gun by her bed
And a letter he wrote
From a dry, foundered boat
And the train track will take
All the wounded ones home
And I'll be alone
Fare thee well Sara Jones
Now we lie on the floor
While the radio war
Finds its way through the air
Of the dead market square
And the beast never seen
Licks I's red talons clean
Sara curses the cold
"No more snow, no more snow"
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Each Coming Night
Will you say when I'm gone away
"My lover came to me and we'd lay
In rooms unfamiliar but until now"
Will you say to them when I'm gone
"I loved your son for his sturdy arms
We both learned to cradle then live without"
Will you say when I'm gone away
'Your father's body was judgment day
We both dove and rose to the riverside"
Will you say to me when I'm gone
"Your face has faded but lingers on
Because light strikes a deal with each coming night"
"My lover came to me and we'd lay
In rooms unfamiliar but until now"
Will you say to them when I'm gone
"I loved your son for his sturdy arms
We both learned to cradle then live without"
Will you say when I'm gone away
'Your father's body was judgment day
We both dove and rose to the riverside"
Will you say to me when I'm gone
"Your face has faded but lingers on
Because light strikes a deal with each coming night"
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Free Until They Cut Me Down
When the men take me to the devil tree
I will be free and shining like before
Papa don't tell me what I should've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
When the wind wraps me like the reaper's hand
I will swing free until they cut me down
Papa don't tell me what I could've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
When the sea takes me like my mother's arms
I will breathe free as any word of God
Papa don't tell me what you would've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
I will be free and shining like before
Papa don't tell me what I should've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
When the wind wraps me like the reaper's hand
I will swing free until they cut me down
Papa don't tell me what I could've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
When the sea takes me like my mother's arms
I will breathe free as any word of God
Papa don't tell me what you would've done
She's the one who begged me
"Take me home"
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Fever Dream
Some days her shape in the doorway
Will speak to me
A bird's wing on the window
Sometimes I'll hear when she's sleeping
Her fever dream
A language on her face
"I want your flowers like babies want God's love
Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come"
Some days, like rain on the doorstep
She'll cover me
With grace in all she offers
Sometimes I'd like just to ask her
What honest words
She can't afford to say, like
"I want your flowers like babies want God's love
Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come"
Will speak to me
A bird's wing on the window
Sometimes I'll hear when she's sleeping
Her fever dream
A language on her face
"I want your flowers like babies want God's love
Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come"
Some days, like rain on the doorstep
She'll cover me
With grace in all she offers
Sometimes I'd like just to ask her
What honest words
She can't afford to say, like
"I want your flowers like babies want God's love
Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come"
Writer: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Sodom, South Georgia
Papa died smiling
Wide as the ring of a bell
Gone all star white
Small as a wish in a well
And Sodom, South Georgia
Woke like a tree full of bees
Buried in Christmas bows
And a blanket of weeds
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, God is good
White tongues hang out, God is good
Papa died while my girl
Lady Edith was born
Both heads fell like
Eyes on a crack in the door
And Sodom, South Georgia
Slept on an acre of bones
Slept through Christmas
Slept like a bucket of snow
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, God is good
White tongues hang out, God is good
Wide as the ring of a bell
Gone all star white
Small as a wish in a well
And Sodom, South Georgia
Woke like a tree full of bees
Buried in Christmas bows
And a blanket of weeds
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, God is good
White tongues hang out, God is good
Papa died while my girl
Lady Edith was born
Both heads fell like
Eyes on a crack in the door
And Sodom, South Georgia
Slept on an acre of bones
Slept through Christmas
Slept like a bucket of snow
Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say, God is good
White tongues hang out, God is good
Writer: Samuel Ervin Beam
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Passing Afternoon
There are times that walk from you
Like some passing afternoon
Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon
And she chose a yard to burn
But the ground remembers her
Wooden spoons, her children stir
Her Bougainvillea blooms
There are things that drift away
Like our endless, numbered days
Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made
And she's chosen to believe
In the hymns her mother sings
Sunday pulls its children from the piles of fallen leaves
There are sailing ships that pass
All our bodies in the grass
Springtime calls her children
Until she let's them go at last
And she's chosen where to be
Though she's lost her wedding ring
Somewhere near her misplaced jar
Of Bougainvillea seeds
There are things we can't recall
Blind as night that finds us all
Winter tucks her children in
Her fragile China dolls
But my hands remember hers
Rolling around the shaded ferns
Naked arms, her secrets still
Like songs I'd never learned
There are names across the sea
Only now I do believe
Sometimes, with the windows closed
She'll sit and think of me
But she'll mend his tattered clothes
And they'll kiss as if they know
A baby sleeps in all our bones
So scared to be alone
Like some passing afternoon
Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon
And she chose a yard to burn
But the ground remembers her
Wooden spoons, her children stir
Her Bougainvillea blooms
There are things that drift away
Like our endless, numbered days
Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made
And she's chosen to believe
In the hymns her mother sings
Sunday pulls its children from the piles of fallen leaves
There are sailing ships that pass
All our bodies in the grass
Springtime calls her children
Until she let's them go at last
And she's chosen where to be
Though she's lost her wedding ring
Somewhere near her misplaced jar
Of Bougainvillea seeds
There are things we can't recall
Blind as night that finds us all
Winter tucks her children in
Her fragile China dolls
But my hands remember hers
Rolling around the shaded ferns
Naked arms, her secrets still
Like songs I'd never learned
There are names across the sea
Only now I do believe
Sometimes, with the windows closed
She'll sit and think of me
But she'll mend his tattered clothes
And they'll kiss as if they know
A baby sleeps in all our bones
So scared to be alone
Writer: Samuel Ervin Beam
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Our Endless Numbered Days is the second full-length album from Iron & Wine. Released on March 23, 2004 on Sub Pop, it was the first non-solo effort by Sam Beam under his Iron & Wine moniker. Limited edition copies of the vinyl LP came with a bonus 7" vinyl single. Limited edition copies of the CD came with a bonus CD single. On January 29, 2019, Sub Pop announced that a deluxe edition of the album commemorating its 15th anniversary would be released on March 22, 2019, featuring previously unreleased demos of eight of the tracks from the original album.
The album's title comes from the lyrics of the song "Passing Afternoon": "There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days."
Performed By:
Iron & WineThe album's title comes from the lyrics of the song "Passing Afternoon": "There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days."
Genre(s): Indie Folk
Producer(s): Brian Deck
Length: 44:47
Released: March 23rd, 2004
Year: 2004