Turning and turning
Within the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart
The center cannot hold
And a blood dimmed tide
Is loosed upon the world

Nothing is sacred
The ceremony sinks
Innocence is drowned
In anarchy
The best lack conviction
Given some time to think
And the worst are full of passion
Without mercy

Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it’s the second coming
And wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born

Hoping and hoping
As if by my weak faith
The spirit of this world
Would heal and rise
Vast are the shadows
That straddle and strafe
And struggle in the darkness
Troubling my eyes

Shaped like a lion
It has the head of a man
With a gaze as blank
And pitiless as the sun
And it’s moving its slow thighs
Across the desert sands
Through dark indignant
Reeling falcons

Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it’s the second coming
And the wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born

Raging and raging
It rises from the deep
Opening its eyes
After twenty centuries
Vexed to a nightmare
Out of a stormy sleep
By a rocking cradle
By the Sea of Galilee

Surely some revelation is at hand
Surely it’s the second coming
And the wrath has finally taken form
For what is this rough beast
Its hour come at last
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born
Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born

—W.B. Yeats

Looka yonder! looka yonder!
Looka yonder! a big black cloud come!
A big black cloud come!
O comes to Tupelo. Comes to Tupelo

Yonder on the horizon
Yonder on the horizon
Stopped at the mighty river
Stopped at the mighty river and
Sucked the damn thing dry
Tupelo-o-o, o Tupelo
In a valley hides a town called Tupelo

Distant thunder rumble. Distant thunder rumble
Rumble hungry like the beast
The beast it cometh, cometh down
The beast it cometh, cometh down
Wo wo wo-o-o
Tupelo bound. Tupelo-o-o. Yeah Tupelo
The beast it cometh, Tupelo bound

Why the hen won’t lay no egg
Can’t get that cock to crow
The nag is spooked and crazy
O God help Tupelo! o God help Tupelo!
O God help Tupelo! o God help Tupelo!

Ya can say these streets are rivers
Ya can call these rivers streets
Ya can tell ya self ya dreaming buddy
But no sleep runs this deep
No! No sleep runs this deep
No sleep runs this deep
Women at their windows
Rain crashing on the pane
Writing in the frost
Tupelos’ shame. Tupelo’s shame
O God help Tupelo! o God help Tupelo!

O go to sleep lil’ children
The sandman’s on his way
O go to sleep lil’ children
The sandman’s in his way
But the lil’ children know
They listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
They listen to the beating of their blood
The sandman’s mud!
The sandman’s mud!
And the black rain come down
The black rain come down
The black rain come down
Water water everywhere
Where no bird can fly no fish can swim
Where no bird can fly no fish can swim
No fish can swim
Until the king is born!
Until the king is born!
In Tupelo! Tupelo-o-o!
Til the king is born in Tupelo!

In a clap-board shack with a roof of tin
Where the rain came down and leaked within
A young mother frozen on a concrete floor
With a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw
Tupelo-o-o! o Tupelo!
With a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw

Well Saturday gives what Sunday steals
And a child is born on his brothers heels
Come Sunday morn the first-born dead
In a shoebox tied with a ribbon of red
Tupelo-o-o! Hey Tupelo!
In a shoebox buried with a ribbon of red

Oh mama rock you lil’ one slow
Oh mama rock your baby
Oh mama rock your lil’ one slow
Oh God help Tupelo! Oh God help Tupelo!
Mama rock your lil’ one slow
The lil one will walk on Tupelo
The lil one will walk on Tupelo
Black rain come down, black rain come down
Tupelo-o-o! yeah Tupelo!
And carry the burden of Tupelo
Tupelo-o-o! o Tupelo! yeah!
The king will walk on Tupelo!
Tupelo-o-o! o Tupelo!
He carried the burden outa Tupelo!
Tupelo-o-o! hey Tupelo!
You will reap just what you sow

—Nick Cave