Andy Shauf - To Leave Lyrics

Best recording of this song, hands down. As everyone else, the birds add a great touch <3

Wendell Walker was a friend of mine.
we'd stain our teeth in the summertime,
and with lips of purple, the winter would roll
past the boarded windows into our souls
and shake our weary bones.
now this past winter was the coldest in years.
it's hard to explain if you've never lived here,
but it locks your doors and starts your mind
thinking in circles just to pass the time,
and breaks your weary heart.
now Wendell Walker was a man of God,
but he didn't care much for his sober mind,
and when the cold mixed in he was turned around
heard the voice of God and the angels sound
a message just for him:
my son, my son, she is the devil's child
won't you save her while you can
cut down the other man.
now Wendell Walker was a friend of mine,
but he married too young in the summertime.
their hearts weren't ripe so they fell apart
and I found myself with a joyful heart
as our secret lives began.
we found our moments in between the hours,
when Wendell Walker drove his car to town.
but one day he found a letter that I wrote for her
on the top of her dresser and in his winter mind
he heard the voice of God say:
my son, my son, she is the devil's child
won't you save her while you can
cut down the other man.
with the voice of the lord ringing in his ears
and the note to his wife that confirmed his fears,
he sat down on the edge of the bed
read the letter again to see who'd sent it
but it was signed 'forever yours'.
he stood up slow like he'd just been hit.
walked into the kitchen where his wife was sitting
he said, "my mother called on the telephone
she says she needs some help so I'll be back in the morning"
and he grabbed his heavy coat.
my phone rang while I was watching the news.
she said the house was ours to cure these winter blues.
so I made my way, and we turned the blinds
and Wendell walked in just in time
to see our secret die and say:
my son, my son I'm gonna have to cut you down.
he pointed his rifle to my eyes
but his hesitating hands
were shaking from the cold.
so I pushed his gun away,
just as he found his strength.
and the bullet kissed her lips
and I cried:
my god, my god what have I done?
and he reloaded his gun,
and he put it in his mouth.
and I stood in the room that I'd created.
Songwriters: Andy Shauf

Have his eyebrows gotten less aggressive over the years?

Class...

This dude is incredible.

at the part when he says “she is the devils child” i’m always like “yep, that’s me 😐”

Fucking beautiful. I'm a little confused by the accent when singing. He almost sounds russian, but he's from Saskatchewan, no?

He is canadian

Just what I needed

i find myself preferring quite a few of his songs played live rather than the album versions

Same! This is my favorite version even though his studio recording is good too.

I think the drake hotel live version is the best. It’s haunting.

its like it could be in a LOTR film for somereason

why would a song about an affair with your best friends wife be in LOTR? lmao

because it's enough to make kings declare war on each other

I can't stop carving this into the walls of my skull.

it really does not get much better than this IMHO.

Gives me kind of a stableness ;) Love listening to ur Album and working for school! :D greetings from Germany!

those cackling birds in the beginning fuuuuuucking powerfully eerie.

Great song. Just wonder who thought it would be a good idea to just film his face for the entire song. Talk about lazy.

idk it’s pretty cinematic

I wouldn’t want to see anything else

I think it’s to really key in on his facial expressions throughout the somg

Wicked song for real. Wendell was fcuked over pretty hard. I know..

I hate people who play the same song again and again, but I cant stop myself from putting this on repeat.

Same! I had to show so many people this song when I found it 😆

hypnotizing

Wowwwwwwww! I'm captivated by the rawness and stellar ability to make me absolutely speechless.

anyone know what tuning this song is in

+Riley M in the clip he plays it tuned minor third down (his open strings are C# F# B E G# c#) but with capo on 3rd fret it sounds like standard E tuning.

it's a touching one and I love the ducks in the background!

my rabbits both sat upright listening to the whole of this song

would love a version of this album with just this guitar and vocals

+Mick Martinez Agreed

That's pretty bleak.

Mick Martinez and the creepy birds

Brilliant. Love it. A lot.

oh my..................

One of my new favorites.

This is one of the most outstanding songs I've heard come out in a long time.  The lyrics, production, and singing are unreal.

That guitar tone + that voice is so good

Wow, beautiful story telling.  

holy cow the birds in the background kept coming in at the perfect times.