I want to talk with ghosts, I want to raise the dead.
I want to ask you why you made this choice instead,
instead of seeing it through and working it out
you've left me here with a shadow of doubt.
Your parents never knew the damage that was done.
They took you from your house, they took away the sun.
A line of dirty sinks, you washed your face and hands,
you never understood, but you made no demands.
He was a parent, not a friend, when he claimed you like his coat
His glances cut like swords, your chances were remote.
Through a flurry of fists you never cried out
but they left their mark in a shadow of doubt.
(chorus)
They say “Spare the rod and spoil the child”
“Hide your anger, never be wild,” “don't talk back!”
and never be true to you.
You filled your father's shoes; his story would repeat.
Now you made all the rules that we could never meet.
A ransom for my soul, I thought it would suffice.
If I could just be good, my private sacrifice.
Already out of reach the ticking had begun
You made the choice to go; by morning it was done.
But aftershocks would tremble for years
Where no one speaks and no one hears.
(chorus)
I want to talk with ghosts, I want to raise the dead.
I want to ask you why you made this choice instead,
instead of seeing it through and working it out
you've left me here with a shadow of doubt.
