Promise Is a Pendulum - Big Thief

I could never build the ether, or the grass overgrown

I could never build the river with a mouth full of foam

Could never build the winter with her cold tears of glitter

I’ve been listening to the red oak, the acorn she cries

Listening to the white birch, the paper she dries

Listening to the frog’s joke, listening to the fire smoke

I could never tell you now what I had often said before

Because promise is a pendulum, just swinging at the door

And I’m not saying I’m not jealous, or scared anymore

I’m just saying

I could never make a rainbow, or any kind of flower

Could never make a sparrow, or a meteor shower

Could never build an earthworm, never make the earth turn

I’ve been listening to the laughing of the fox down the trail

Clasping to the listening of the moss to the snail

Ooo

The shimmer of the beech leaves, as the wind does a big sneeze

I could never tell you now, but I had often said before

Because promise is a pendulum, just hanging at the door

And I’m not saying I’m not jealous, or scared anymore

I’m just saying

I could never make the shadow between your cheek and your eye

Could never make a freckle or the warm breath you sigh

The canopy of lashes with the softness of ashes

I’ve been listening to the memory, the way that it was

Been listening to the echo of whys and because

Listening to the echo, telling me to let go

I could never tell you now, but I had often said before

Because promise is a pendulum, just swinging at the door

And I’m not saying I’m not jealous or scared anymore

I’m just saying