Alex Sturbaum
Alex Sturbaum: https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/by-the-door
https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/by-the-door
Sam and I knew by October that the hard times were in store We’d had such a sorry harvest and the baby newly born The winter came in screaming far too bitter and too soon The first storm took a yearling, the second might spell doom The neighbors gave all that they could, but they hadn’t much to spare We were never free from hunger, we were never free from fear It got cold, and it got colder, trees would shatter from inside But the night the wind brought voices was the only night that we cried Chorus: ÿWe all have heard the stories that the old-timers tell ÿNever eat the food they give you and beware the sound of bells ÿAnd you must never make a bargain, thus we’ve all been warned before ÿBut I hear the baby crying and my cloak hangs by the door We hung on through December, but outside the snow grew deep And the quiet words of winter whispered ever in my sleep Sam pretended not to hear them and I tried to do the same But they promised our salvation and asked nothing but my name On a silent winter’s evening in this lonely churchyard ground Twelve times over through the snowfall I can hear the old bell sound And I shiver for a moment and my voice sounds weak and frail As I say to what might hear me: “I have come to make a deal.”