RAGS OF JOY

the sign on the window says "vintage antiques"
I'll let you in on a secret: that means a junk heap
but you'll find a few diamonds if you dig through the pile
like a sad story sometimes, somehow makes you smile

it's a second hand story I'm dying to tell
about a shiny little promise I broke when I fell
but all of the pieces I swept up to keep
this store's where I sell 'em off easy and cheap

(chorus)
so buy what you will
right next door to free
every little thing
that's left of me
every little treasure
I tried to destroy
bones of true love
rags of joy
bones of true love
rags of joy

all the songs here are stolen, but let's just call 'em used
battered and beat up, ignored and abused
but they're a little bit beautiful in their own way
like a sick child who's sleeping at the end of the day

see the 69-year-old bottle of wine
which I should have guzzled down and had myself a good time
but I stored it away in the cellar of debt
now it's covered with cobwebs nightmares and regrets

(chorus)

see the black widow's webbing woven into a shawl
see the caskets of babies who never learned how to crawl
see the thief's clownish mask and his plastic pop-gun
they say he blinded himself staring into the sun

and gaze in the cracked mirror hanging on the back wall
you'll see my life story the rise and the fall
you'll see all the treasures I tried to destroy
bones of true love, rags of joy

(chorus)