I’ll bite my tongue
And take my punishment for diamond tears
Diamond tears
Ten-pound notes in an envelope
For diamond tears, diamond tears
Like frozen rain on a mountainside,
Compacted carbon and refracted light
There are no other feelings
But for diamond tears
Diamond tears
No reward, no conditions
Only diamond tears, diamond tears
Echoes are calling out to me now
Shadows are boxing
Gonna knock me out
The tide is a cheat that could take you
A drop in the desert could save you
On a hot afternoon
Midnight. I’m reeling.
I start to dance with my reflection
In the shattered glass
The tide is a cheat that could take you
A drop in the desert could save you
On a hot afternoon
All over again
All over again
All over, all over
All over again
An estranged father, blind drunk, pines for his lost children before picking a fight with his own reflection. This song fades on a lengthy pedal steel solo, like all such laments should. What you hear here is the one and only take. I think it’s miraculous. When I asked BJ Cole for another attempt to give us options in the mix, he looked me straight in the eye and said ‘No, I think you’ve got what you need.’
