Lyrics The Giant of Illinois - The Handsome Family

The Giant of Illinois

the giant of Illinois
died from a blister on his toe
after walking all day throughthe first winter’s snow
throwing bits of stale breadto the last speckled doves
he never even felt his shoe full of blood
delirious with pain, his bedroom walls began to glow
and he felt himself soaring up through falling snow
and the sky was a woman’s arms
the sky was a woman’s arms
a boy with a club foot
had sat next to him in school
once upon a summer’s daythey went wandering through the woods
they spotted a sleeping swan
on the banks of a muddy stream
and they stormed it with rockstill it collapsed in the reeds
they lay out on a green lawn full of choclate and lemonade
but under the blue bowl the giant was afraid
because the sky was a woman’s arms
the sky was a woman’s arms