Josh Ritter - The Curse lyrics

He opens his eyes
Falls in love at first sight
With the girl in the doorway
What beautiful lines, how full of life
After thousands of years
What a face to wake up to

He holds back a sigh as she touches his arm
She dusts off the bed where
'til now he's been sleeping
Under miles of stone
The dried fig of his heart
Under scarab and bone starts
Back to it's beating

She carries him home in a beautiful boat
He watches the sea from a porthole in stowage
He can hear all she says as
She sit's by his bed
Then one day his lips answer
Her in her own language
The days quickly pass
He loves making her laugh
The first time he moves
It's her hair that he touches
She asks, "Are you cursed?" He says
"I think that I'm cured"
Then he talks of the Nile
And the girls in bullrushes

In New York
He is laid in a glass-covered case
He pretends he is dead
People crowd round to see him
But each night she comes 'round
And the two wander down
The halls of the tomb that she calls a museum

Often he stops to rest
But then less and less
Then it's her that looks tired
Staying up asking questions
He learns how to read from
The papers that she
Is writing about him and he makes corrections

It's his face on her book
More and more come to look
Families from Iowa, upper Westsiders
Then one day it's too much
He decides to get up and as chaos ensues
He walks outside to find her

She is using a cane and
Her face looks too pale
But she's happy to see him
As they walk he supports her she asks
"Are you cursed?" but his answer's obscured
In a sandstorm of flashbulbs
And rowdy reporters

Such reanimation, the two tour the nation
He gets out of limos, he meets other women
He speaks of her fondly
Their nights in the museum
But she's just one more rag
Now he's dragging behind him

She stops going out
She just lies there in bed
In hotels in whatever towns they are speaking
Then her face starts to set and
Her hands start to fold
And one day the dry fig of
Her heart stops it's beating

Long ago on the ship
She asked "Why pyramids?" he said
"Think of them as an immense invitation"
She asked, "Are you cursed?" He said
"I think that I'm cured"
Then he kissed her and hoped
That she'd forget that question