Smith, Patti - Memento Mori Lyrics






The fans were whirlin'
Like the blades of a 'copter
Liftin' into the skies above some foreign land
Soaked with the bodies of so many friends
Johnny waved, he was on his way home
Waved goodbye to his comrades in arms
And all the twisted things he'd seen

Waved goodbye
And the blades hit somethin'
Maybe just fate, but the blades hit
The 'copter went up in flames
And Johnny never went marchin' home
Johnny never went marchin' home
They took his name
And they carved it on a slab of marble
With several thousand other names
All the fallen idols
The apples of their mother's eye
Just another name

Meanwhile
Back on that burning shore
Johnny's comrades stood speechless
They looked with uh uh uh uh disbelievin' eyes
As those bits of metal and the embers
The embers of his eyes, fanned out into the air
Black dust, flames

Oh! Johnny
Some day they'll make a movie about you
And in the makin' of movie
Some mad apocalypse
It will become even stranger
Than the simple act
Just a boy goin' up, up, up
Just a boy goin' up, in flames, in the smoke
Just another life, just another breath
And who'll remember
Oh! Eternity now
As eternal as a sheet of marble
Eternal as a slab on a green hill
And your name and all your fallen brothers
And all the ones not cut
All the ones remembered only in the hearts
A mother, a father, a brother
A sister, a lover, a son, daughter
Shall not, shall not fade, shall not fade

Your ancestors salute you
And the Gods of your ancestors, salute you
Havin', havin' been formed by the minds of your ancestors
The Gods of your ancestors, salute you
Havin' been formed by your ancestors
The Gods of your ancestors, salute you
They draw you in, they draw you through
They draw, they draw you through that golden door
Mornin' boy, come in, we remember you
We conceived of you, we conceived of your breath
We conceived of the whole human race
And we conceived it to be a beautiful thing
Like a tulip bending in the wind
Sometimes, it comes back to us
In the form of a handful of dust
Comes back in the form of smitten child
Our raped daughters, our
The broken bones, souls cleaved from hearts
They come back to us and our hands are filled
With their rotting tissues
But we turn not our backs we press our lips
Into their cancer, into the dust
Into the remains of each one
And that love is there and will greet you, will greet you
Mornin' boy, it's eternal love

Well here, go ahead
Run through that flame
Aww man, runnin' through your mind
You took a cat, you took a life, you took it by the tail
And you swirled it around your head
And you thrashed it, you smashed the life out of it
And you knew that would be your own
But you wanted to feel, you wanted to feel it die
Because you know, you would feel your own
You would feel your own, but you're remembered
You're remembered, you're remembered dead
You're remembered dead, you're remembered dead
We remember, we remember
We remember, everything hah
Everything hah
Wau wau wau
Wau wau wau





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Smith, Patti Memento Mori Comments
  1. t.... H....

    im hearing nick cave, pj harvey and suzi soux. a pioneer in punk rock our Patti Smith

  2. v.... ....

    "Memento Mori"

    The fans were whirlin'
    Like the blades of a 'copter
    Liftin' into the skies above some foreign land
    Soaked with the bodies of so many friends
    Johnny waved, he was on his way home
    Waved goodbye to his comrades in arms
    And all the twisted things he'd seen

    Waved goodbye
    And the blades hit somethin'
    Maybe just fate, but the blades hit
    The 'copter went up in flames
    And Johnny never went marchin' home
    Johnny never went marchin' home
    They took his name
    And they carved it on a slab of marble
    With several thousand other names
    All the fallen idols
    The apples of their mother's eye
    Just another name

    Meanwhile
    Back on that burning shore
    Johnny's comrades stood speechless
    They looked with uh uh uh uh disbelievin' eyes
    As those bits of metal and the embers
    The embers of his eyes, fanned out into the air
    Black dust, flames

    Oh! Johnny
    Some day they'll make a movie about you
    And in the makin' of movie
    Some mad apocalypse
    It will become even stranger
    Than the simple act
    Just a boy goin' up, up, up
    Just a boy goin' up, in flames, in the smoke
    Just another life, just another breath
    And who'll remember
    Oh! Eternity now
    As eternal as a sheet of marble
    Eternal as a slab on a green hill
    And your name and all your fallen brothers
    And all the ones not cut
    All the ones remembered only in the hearts
    A mother, a father, a brother
    A sister, a lover, a son, daughter
    Shall not, shall not fade, shall not fade

    Your ancestors salute you
    And the Gods of your ancestors, salute you
    Havin', havin' been formed by the minds of your ancestors
    The Gods of your ancestors, salute you
    Havin' been formed by your ancestors
    The Gods of your ancestors, salute you
    They draw you in, they draw you through
    They draw, they draw you through that golden door
    Mornin' boy, come in, we remember you
    We conceived of you, we conceived of your breath
    We conceived of the whole human race
    And we conceived it to be a beautiful thing
    Like a tulip bending in the wind
    Sometimes, it comes back to us
    In the form of a handful of dust
    Comes back in the form of smitten child
    Our raped daughters, our
    The broken bones, souls cleaved from hearts
    They come back to us and our hands are filled
    With their rotting tissues
    But we turn not our backs we press our lips
    Into their cancer, into the dust
    Into the remains of each one
    And that love is there and will greet you, will greet you
    Mornin' boy, it's eternal love

    Well here, go ahead
    Run through that flame
    Aww man, runnin' through your mind
    You took a cat, you took a life, you took it by the tail
    And you swirled it around your head
    And you thrashed it, you smashed the life out of it
    And you knew that would be your own
    But you wanted to feel, you wanted to feel it die
    Because you know, you would feel your own
    You would feel your own, but you're remembered
    You're remembered, you're remembered dead
    You're remembered dead, you're remembered dead
    We remember, we remember
    We remember, everything hah
    Everything hah
    Wau wau wau
    Wau wau wau

  3. L.... D....

    thank you! i hope SRE doesn't mess with it!