Lyrics The Broken Tongue - Daniel Kahn, the Painted Bird

The Broken Tongue

Now you who gather joyfully beneath the festive lights
And warm each other soulfully with all of your delight
Take not too much comfort in this song
For what you choose to elevate from what was cast below
Is but the tidal whimsy of the seas you do not know
& may well turn asunder before long
A beauteous sound, a diamond I have found
A diamond I have found beneath the snow
Buried in the ground, 'neath a ruddy mound
'Neath a ruddy mound where nothing grows
The guests are almost ready for the dancing to begin
They’ve come to toast the wedding between Zion & Berlin
So raise a glass up to the bride & groom
But don’t confuse the Deutsch & Yiddish, nor the night & day
& if a Kaddish sounds like Kiddush, bow your head & pray
We never step upon the glass too soon
A shayn gesang, an oytser far a klang
An oytser far a klang, vi fun a khupe
Tsespaltn fun a shverd, bagrobn tif in drerd unter der kupe
So weigh your fortune carefully when prophesy reveals
That decadence & revelry can undermine your zeal
& turn the prophesy upon its ear
For in the dying embers of a century of blood
Is all we must remember to avoid the coming flood
Of prophesies we all refuse to hear
For singing broken melodies to songs in broken tongues
Cannot erase the memory of bells already rung
Nor can it unring the ones we hear
So let the broken birds return upon their painted wings
& let the broken words be burned unto the songs we sing
Till every note is new unto our ears
A beauteous sound, a diamond I have found
A diamond I have found beneath the snow
Buried in the ground, 'neath a ruddy mound
'Neath a ruddy mound where nothing grows