Furr (Live at KCRW)

Yeah, when I was only seventeen,

I could hear the angels whispering

So I drove into the woods and wandered aimlessly about

Until I heard my mother shouting through the fog

It turned out to be the howling of a dog

Or a wolf to be exact

The sound sent shivers down my back

But I was drawn into the pack

And before long

They allowed me to join in and sing their song

So from the cliffs and higher still

Yeah, we would gladly get our fill

Howling endlessly and shrilly at the dawn

And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong

For my flesh had turned to fur

Yeah, and my thoughts, they surely were

Turned to instinct and obedience to God

You can wear your fur like a river on fire

But you better be sure if you're makin' God a liar

I'm a rattlesnake, babe, I'm like fuel on fire

So if you're gonna' get made

Don't be afraid of what you've learned

On the day that I turned twenty-three

I was curled up underneath a dogwood tree

When suddenly a girl, her skin the color of a pearl

She wandered aimlessly, but she didn't seem to see

She was listenin' for the angels just like me

So I stood and looked about

I brushed the leaves off of my snout

And then I heard my mother shouting through the trees

You should've seen that girl go shaky at the knees

So I took her by the arm

We settled down upon a farm

And raised our children up as gently as you please

And now my fur has turned to skin

And I've been quickly ushered in

To a world that I confess I do not know

But I still dream of runnin' careless through the snow.

And through the howlin' winds that blow

Across the ancient distant flow

It fill our bodies up like water till we know

You can wear your fur like a river on fire

But you better be sure if you're makin' God a liar

I'm a rattlesnake, babe, I'm like fuel on fire

So if you're gonna' get made

Don't be afraid of what you've learned