Song information On this page you can find the lyrics of the song Defenders of the Grave, artist - Exhumed. Album song Death Revenge, in the genre Date of issue: 12.10.2017
Record label: Relapse
Song language: English
Defenders of the Grave |
| Heraldry is a protection against such practices; |
| for what the audacious |
| atrocity of the resurrection-man cannot, the venality of the sexton certainly, |
| will accomplish" - Thomas Wakely, The Lancet newspaper 1832 |
| «'…a coffin was registered with the expressed purpose of frustrating the |
| resurrectionists… designed to be made in cast or wrought iron, |
| with concealed spring catches on the inner |
| Side of the lid to prevent levering, and joined in such a way as to thwart any |
| attempt to force the sides of the coffin apart… Some parishes had communal |
| mortsafes or 'jankers' - huge coffin-shaped pieces of stone or metal put on new |
| graves.» |
| — Ruth Richardson Death, Dissection, and the Destitute 1987 |
| «Resurrection men, your fate deplore |
| Retire with fore vexation |
| Your mystery’s gone, your art’s no more |
| No more your occupation: |
| Surgeons no more shall ye ransack |
| The grave with feelings callous |
| Tho' on the Old Bailey turn’d your back |
| Your only hopes the gallows» — Mr. Diben The Patent Cof in 1818 |
| Stalk through hallowed headstones |
| For notes and coin, trade flesh and bone |
| Your eternal rest may, become nocturnal wrest |
| The newly deceased, still bereaved |
| Snatched from their peace, taken without leave |
| Truncated repose, for the decomposed |
| Adamantine clasp of the mortsafe, the muddy bonds of earth |
| Patent coffins do not vouchsafe, calm repose beneath the turf |
| Stone walls do not a prison make, nor six feet of sod a grave |
| Pray the lord your soul to take, you’ll need defenders of the — |
| Graves' occupants, so dearly prized |
| But to butcher, not to eulogize |
| To rest they were laid, now sold under the blade |
| Who turns the key to the mortsafe, when the sexton stuffs his purse? |
| Nightwatchmen cannot vouchsafe, calm repose beneath the turf |
| Stone walls do not a prison make, nor six feet of sod a grave |
| So pray the lord your soul to take, you’ll need defenders of the grave |
| Defenders of the grave, hallmarks of this ghoulish age |
| Defenders of the grave, defenders of the — |
| Solo — Matthew Harvey |
| Solo — Michael Burke |
| Stone walls do not a prison make, nor shovels full of sod a grave |
| So pray the lord your soul to take, you’ll need defenders of the grave |
| Defenders of the grave, hallmarks of this ghoulish age |
| Defenders of the grave, defenders of the — grave |