Lyrics Woodcutters from Fiery Ships - Thought Gang, Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch

Woodcutters from Fiery Ships

The ants were walking fast
And they disappeared finally into some tall grass
Pete couldn’t see where they went
Or what they were after
It was a gray muggy day with some rain
A light wind was blowing
Pete saw the girl next door take off her clothes last night
And walk through her house nude
She went into a back room
And Pete waited for her to come out
But she never did
Pete saw two children of the earth
Come out of the ground after that
A cat killed one of them and played with the other
Until one of its legs came off
The moon was half full
Someone was in Pete’s yard last night
Pete heard the person walk past his window
And into the bushes, then out of the yard again
Pete couldn’t see them because the lights were on in his house
At the diner, he heard a man say
That the doctors had cut him down his neck and into his chest
They lifted his flesh away
And climbed his ribs
And scraped his arteries
A grey man with big ears lit a big cigar
Smoke drifted over Pete’s apple pie
The men at the other table were very pale
And were drinking Bloody Marys
Nothing is moving in Pete’s backyard
He hears distant traffic
And the electric clock is grinding gears near him
Several woodcutters from fiery ships
Are coming in his door
They are dressed in wool
And are opening his drawers
And his refrigerator
One of them runs his hand up and down Pete’s walls
Stopping now and then and laughing
They have discovered Pete
And have him by the arms
And Pete’s going with them
Out under the orange tree
They keep hitting Pete’s knees
With their smoking pipes
The sun is coming out
And a bird hops in the bushes
The woodcutters are digging a hole
Pete is upset about things
His brain is sorting out information
Gleaned from this confusing life
Things aren’t making sense
For instance, why is that boy bleeding from the mouth?
Everything is moving
Except where it is perfectly still
Pete’s curtains open and close
Smoke fills his room
Blood shoots from the cracks
The appliances roar
Wind blows things
Hurricanes through his lungs
And the roots come out
Woodcutters are everywhere now
Moving quickly, loading Pete into their craft
The dogs howl in the night
And blood rains fill the streets
Babies float in it
Stars shoot it first
And blue lightning greets a rotted gutter pinned
Swirls of flying ants are in Pete’s room now
Taking his shoes across the room
As a fiery ship roars
From the fiery ship, Pete sees the girl now as she falls
The first bump, then the second
Maintenance men employed by the city cleaned her kitchen
But it took two days
Pete and the woodcutters were five friggin' miles away by then
P. S., Pete learned to enjoy the woodcutters
And their particular brand of humor