Stephin Merritt, Jayne Houdyshell - The Ballad of the Wasps lyrics

At the dump near our flat
Our old flat, one Sunday
I went out exploring with my Dad
There were mountains of that
Stuff that gets tossed away
When people don't know what they've had

Broken chairs, old appli-
Ances, dishes, debris
Were taking their naps in the Sun-
Day sun suddenly I felt a jab in my knee
And Dad shouted, Coraline! run!
Wasps! thousands of wasps filled the air
I high tailed it over the hill
Dad? Dad, silly Dad, stayed there
Standing, perfectly, still

Getting stung, what would prove
To be thirty-two stings
We counted that night in the bath
Giving me time to move
Far away from the things
While Dad took the brunt of their wrath

Wasps! millions of wasps filled the air
But they didn't scare him until
The next day when we had
To go back over there
His glasses had dropped on the hill

He said he wasn't brave for he wasn't afraid
While watching me running away
He knew he had to save
Me, his choice had been made
He'd only been brave the next day