What We Have Known
lyrics as sung on Sprout and the Bean [single]
The tadpole buoyant as basalt
The seahorse horsing in assault
The owlet in his greenery
The narwhal in his cup of sea
They all believe
They all believe
But collusion bleeds through back alleys
From parapets that end in feet
When one is weak we discretely meet
We throw the bones into the street
As they progress
We retreat
And all the books our fathers wrote
Are in the middle of the road
Little by little, we implode
History brittle, brown and broke
We can't remember what was spoke
So we stare in wonder at the smoke
What it begets is born alone
We know not now what we have known
Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones
When your children come back made of stone
And the terror seething sees a way
It is like the wheezing of the bay
In miniature agonies
They travel westward on the breeze
And bring us all to our knees
And the dappled horse, the sorrel mare
With eyes that do not see but stare
Beneath boots as black as malachite
He drives the nag into the night
Into the night
And all the baby boys we've born
With eyes averted from the storm
Sent off to die in perfect form
We know not now what we have known
Satellite photos and rhetoric
See how the euphemisms stick
And when they come back broke and burned
Those who return have no return
Ladies, breathe deep against your whalebones
When your children come back made of stone
Notes
The narwhal was described by Joanna, on her long-gone personal website, as her "favorite whale": "a hornéd, keening, lionhearted thing". It surfaces again in later songs. This song is also the first of several to reference the use of whalebone in corsets. My guess is that the recording released on the Sprout & The Bean single was considered for inclusion on The Milk-Eyed Mender.