The Flat Baritone

Form a ring and wind and twine
 Round the ol' grape vine
 Heavy on the wire from the house
 Salt the cow and kill the calf
 Meet yer lonesome with a once and a half
 Gent¹s on the east and ladies on the south
 The solemn boy carries his silver damage
 Sold but for, the number and the image
 His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
 Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
 Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
 When he sings he slurs
 & uses the meat of his thigh
 T¹hold the book he wrote when he was lame
 So wrapped up in his flat baritone
 No castrato could woo him in from the rain
 For he never raised his voice when his britches
 Was spillin¹ over with that honey truck richness
 His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
 Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
 Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
 Well the stylus hit the patches
 As he spit on the splashes
 & sought out the scratches in the vinyl
 'neath a needle topped with nickels
 To keep the tunes a-goin'
 Cracklin', croonin' & crowin'
 Multi-colored, hard-boiled & hidden
 In the corners, with the dogs rusty remnants
 His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
 Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
 Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure