Lyrics
Virgin of the Ladder
I really dig your chiaroscuro
it gives me something I can misconstrue
these sickly martyrs make me feel alright:
they give me something I can live up to
I guess this is where the magic happens:
an epiphany of stone and light?
Blue-collar… of the Madonna
to bring in something from the building site.
O my Virgin of the Ladder
will you be with me when I start to climb?
Gravity I’m overcoming
Nothing doing when it comes to Time
in this year without a summer
when I lost everything I thought was mine
all the pain and the sheeting rain
and I’m sorry baby that was the last of the wine
and I know I can change
but there’s only so much a ladder will do
D’you want an acolyte
that is so scared of heights?
rung by rung I’m climbing up to you
O virgin of the ladder
grant me only that I do not fall
towards the centre of the earth
Ah keep that ladder up against the wall
Oh Virgin of the Ladder
what a pretty gal you are
maybe a slow climbdown into the squalid town
Light a candle on the way to the bar
it’s laboured as an image
overused as a metaphor
for spiritual ascension
(Blake and Jacob did it long before)
but you are Mother of the Word Incarnate
but what good are words when you want deeds?
- you need practical KIT
when you’re deep in the shit
and that ladder’s gonna meet my needs
O my Virgin of the Ladder
will you be with me when I start to climb?
Gravity I’m overcoming
Nothing doing when it comes to Time
