The Gaslight Anthem - Changing of the Guards lyrics

Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath
The falling leaves

Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows
To the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power
My last deal gone down
And she's smelling sweet like the
Meadows where she was born
On a midsummer's eve, near the tower

And the cold-blooded moon
The captain wait's above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing


That his love will be repaid

And they shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
And I seen her on the stairs
Oh and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain
Where they lifted her veil

I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending
'neath her heart-shaped tattoo
And Renegade priests and
Treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that
I'd given to you

And the palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper to
The souls of previous times

And she wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains
Mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures
He now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching
On to his long golden locks

Gentlemen, he said
I don't need your organization
I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and
Marked your cards but Eden is burning
Either get ready for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage
For the changing of the guards