GIANT SQUID LYRICS

1. Minoans

Centuries of brine bestow upon us endless power and meat
Tides are all the fortifications we need

To trade with thee, you must sheath your swords
Share your bounty or your bones will feed the coral

All of the Aegean sea bows in the shadow of Crete

Salinity births our prosperity
Behind unassailable sands lie uncanny luxuries

Centuries of bronze bestow upon us endless peace and meat
Dominate the waves and fortress walls become obsolete

2. Thera

Listen closely when mountains speak
And skies turn gray like elders
Thera quakes to clear her slate
We will itch her skin no longer

Our island spits in disgust, not enough ships for us
If only we had gills, we may have escaped

Thera will be felt still thousands of years from now
We have her ash in our pores still to this day

Flocks of fire nested upon these homes
Like the hooks we bait, Akrotiri was swallowed

Millennia have passed and we still trip over her ash

Thera will be felt still thousands of years from now
We have her ash in our pores still to this day

3. Sir Arthur Evans

How much is a palace worth?
Far more than this mound of dirt
Charge me what you will
I'll still make out in the deal

I'll buy the whole bloody island if I have to
And turn the damn thing upside down

There's more here than shards and bone
I won't rest 'til my spade chips a throne

I'll buy the whole bloody island if I have to
And turn the damn thing upside down

Too old are these ruins
I will make some new ones

4. Palace Of Knossos

These walls faced no foes
Nor challengers to the throne
Harmony and peace,
encased in a labyrinth of stone

Frescos fall around us,
and ceilings turn to dust
As the incisors of destiny,
sink deep into us

All the pottery we painted,
and the pillars we erected
Will anyone ever know of them?

For where we paved roads,
and convinced water to flow
Is falling through the cracks again

Our mastery of crop,
and proto-government
Will be buried in the memories,
of no living Mediterranean

We will be forgotten, we will be lost
A sunken island, legend to none

5. Sixty Foot Waves

As the ground finally ceases its violent tantrums
We watch white caps grow like starving phantoms

First the sea retreats like shrinking, diseased gums
Baring its briny teeth before blocking out the sun

We will be washed clean and torn asunder
Crushed within our homes to drown in stone and lumber

We will be washed clean and torn asunder
Our culture swept away as we slumber

We will be washed clean and torn asunder
Moored no longer to centuries of comfort

Like an invading state, water storms down our streets
An infantry of waves, repeatedly sacking our cities

First the sea retreats like shrinking, diseased gums
Baring its briny teeth before blocking out the sun

Each charging wave, higher than our palace walls
Before my gaze, family and friends simply dissolve

The sea is retreating, the sea is rethinking
Its purpose for creating anything terrestrial

The sea is swelling, the sea is groaning
Its intentions are to reclaim us all

6. Mycenaeans

The means of our dominance washes about our feet
Our Bronze Age of progress splintered upon the reef

Five days or fifty years, we'll soon be fate's debris
Impatient nations north of here, hunger to make history

With no means of trade, crushed is our maritime might
Foreign sandals upon our sands, will we last the night?

Five days or fifty years, we'll soon feel fate's teeth
Impatient nations north of here, hunger to make history

What Gods do we turn to, which priestess do we believe?
The ones who clutch snakes, or those who point to the sea?

Every ship and sail swallowed by the generous one
A naval nation's stay of execution

What will the Greeks think when they see what we've become?
Delusion, chaos, and cannibalism

7. The Pearl And The Parthenon

I soldiered to the top of the Acropolis
With you, my love, strapped to my chest

Before you saw year one,
you saw the Parthenon
And left a shark as a gift to the Gods

Your sleep evasion,
led to our nightly excursions
Through the cobbled mazes of Athens

You were startled by the barks of stray dogs,
echoing off the ancient agora walls

Thank the Gods of Olympus,
that taverna's lights were still lit
And the inn-keeper knew,
which direction was best

Before you saw year one,
you saw the Parthenon
And left a shark as a gift to the Gods

8. Phaistos Disc*

Record what transpired
Don't let those who follow,
deduce in strain
Let the disc illustrate,
why our children's bones are flayed
Our axes fell not in vain

When the water retreated,
star shaped stomachs remained
Digesting those too slow
The rest were simply maimed

Sadistic spines on hellacious hides
A sting would mean,
extra arms growing from your sides

Ceremoniously,
we severed each ill placed limb
And buried them deep,
so as not to crawl again

Let the disc serve as warning
Never unearth these graves
For I fear our progeny,
would sprout from the remains

[* Thus concludes the tales of ... The Ichthyologist.]







GIANT SQUID LYRICS