Okkervil River - The War Criminal Rises And Speaks Lyrics






The heart wants to feel. The heart wants to hold.
The heart takes past
Subway, past Stop and Shop,past Beal’s, and calls it “coming home.”
The heart wants a trail away from “alone,”
so the heart turns a sale into a well-worn milestone

towards hard-won soft furniture, fought-for fast food,
defended end table that holds paperbacks and back U.S. News.
The mind turns an itch into a bruise,
and the hands start to twitch when they’re feeling ill-used.

And you’re almost back now, you can see by the signs;
from the bank you tell the temperature and then the time, and the billboard reads some headlines.
The head wants to turn, to avert both its eyes,
but the mind wants to learn of some truth that might be inside reported crimes.

So they found a lieutenant who killed a village of kids.
After finishing off the wives, he wiped off his knife and that’s what he did.
And they’re not claiming that there’s any excusing it;
that was thirty years back, and they just get paid for the facts the way they got them in.

Now he’s rising and not denying. His hands are shaking, but he’s not crying.
And he’s saying “How did I climb out of a life so boring into that moment?
Please stop ignoring the heart inside, oh you readers at home!
While you gasp at my bloody crimes, please take the time to make your heart my home:
where I’m forgiven by time, where I’m cushioned by hope,
where I’m numbed by long drives, where I’m talked off or doped.

Does the heart wants to atone? Oh, I believe that it’s so,
because if I could climb back through time, I’d restore their lives and then give back my own:
tens of times now its size on a far distant road
in a far distant time where every night I’m still crying, entirely alone.”

But the news today always fades away as you drive by,
until at dinnertime when you look into her eyes,
lit by evening sun - that, as usual, comes from above that straight, unbroken line,
the horizon - its rising is a given,
just like your living.

Your heart’s warm and kind. Your mind is your own.
Our blood-spattered criminal is inscrutable; don’t worry, he won’t
rise up behind your eyes and take wild control.
He’s not of this time, he fell out of a hole.





Other Lyrics by Artist

Rand Lyrics

Last Posts

Okkervil River The War Criminal Rises And Speaks Comments
  1. J.... C....

    WHERE I'M NUMBED BY LONG DRIVES

  2. V.... H....

    Fucking brilliant

  3. D.... A....

    couldn't find the chords to this song anywhere so I uploaded them, just google it

  4. E.... V....

    feels like an amazing predecessor to the also-amazing Frontman in Heaven.

  5. e.... ....

    Dont this song feel like a scene from shrek movie

  6. D.... S....

    Evocative, heartfelt, sad and beautiful. OR so underrated its criminal.

  7. E.... ....

    Today, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death for the Boston Marathon bombing. He spoke in the courtroom on his own behalf for the first time, and all I could think about was this song.

  8. G.... L....

    This track in particular sounds a lot like The Smiths

  9. D.... H....

    knock. it. out. the. park. way to go young buck, way to go

  10. L.... L....

    Quote: definitely the most Okkervil River underrated song.

  11. m.... ....

    Can't believe how good the lyrics are

  12. D.... I....

    I do not see their first single anywhere in the Okkervill stuff. Should I figure out how to post it here? It is a cover of"OMie Wise' with the conversion of Saul... It is not as good as their output after this but for histprical reasons Will put it out when he started the band.

    D.... I....

    +Do It Now! vidoe's yeah! yeah, please.

    D.... I....

    +Do It Now! vidoe's yeah!

    Haha I guess I could have just posted your name alone and that would be my answer.

  13. J.... L....

    It saddens me that so many humans will never get to experience this song and its sublime lyrics.

    J.... L....

    Me too, but I'm glad I found it and this whole album.

    J.... L....

    I discovered totally randomly like 2 or 3 months ago, by one of their song that i kept listening to..... and one day i let youtube play the next advised song as i was busy somewhere at my place and i was "what's this other band?" to finally come back and see it was them also. now i think there is a solid 5 to 7 songs i really love.

    J.... L....

    good they're the happiest people be happy for them

    J.... L....

    are you an alien

  14. e.... g....

    Ti voglio bene, A.
    E.

  15. S.... ....

    When he says , "now hes rising and not denying, his hands are shaking but hes not crying" I get chills every time. You can feel the emotion not only in the lyrics but the tone of his voice and general progression of the song. Amazing tune for sure.

  16. s.... ....

    It's a song about denial. We like to run from the hard questions, instead taking shelter in terms of black and white. Thinking too hard about those hard questions makes our normal lives seem stale and meaningless when all we do is bury our insecurities in furniture and fast food.

  17. E.... D....

    Will Sheff reminds me Roger Waters in this genius song !

  18. T.... ....

    similar songs?

  19. M.... N....

    We all hurt. He knows how to express it. To bring a tear to our eyes. Cause we know its true. But that's not the end.

  20. C.... H....

    It's a masterpiece!

  21. R.... D....

    they kind of remind me of Snow Patrol.

  22. F.... C....

    Does anyone else hear a Tardis sound at 3:22?

  23. b.... ....

    reading the news

  24. W.... R....

    Nobody hurts like Will Sheff hurts.

  25. R.... ....

    Bold statement but yes very good:)

  26. J.... A....

    The best Okkervil river song.

  27. T.... L....

    @XeeGen While you gasp at my bloody crimes,
    please take the time
    to make your heart my home

    so good.

  28. R.... ....

    @XeeGen He fell out of a hole. Yeah fuckin goosebumps.

  29. X.... ....

    Our blood-spattered criminal is inscrutable; don’t worry,
    he won’t rise up behind your eyes and take wild control

    Fucking brilliant

  30. B.... ....

    So beautiful.

  31. g.... ....

    The sound ist just awesome