By Appointment
Echoes of Warning: Unraveling the Dark Tale in Angelo Branduardi's 'By Appointment'
Lyrics
Through the misty realm of morning
Entering the early morning misty atmosphere
Came the cry of the raven's warning
A raven's cry signaling a warning
Come away there is evil around you
An urging to move away due to the presence of evil
There is canker curse and fire
Warning of a combination of decay, curse, and fire
It will take out your eyes for its master
The danger can cause harm to your vision for its master
It will cut you and give him your heart sir
The peril may injure you and give your heart to its master
Now too late it is close it has found you
Too late to escape, the danger is close and has found you
Beware the venomous iron
A warning about the poisonous nature of iron
Be still I do not fear death
Expressing fearlessness towards death
I now welcome the journey
Embracing the journey of death
But friend fly to my patron
Requesting a friend to seek revenge on the poet's patron
And pluck his eyes in revenge
Suggesting an act of vengeance by plucking the patron's eyes
Go tell him that my last breath
Informing to convey the message of the poet's last moments
I spent singing an old song
Spending the final breath singing an old song
His heart will burn with my heart
Expecting the patron's heart to burn alongside the poet's in hell
In the fires of hell before long
Anticipating a shared fate in the fires of hell
For the crab will come out of the ocean
A metaphorical reference to a crab emerging from the ocean
To be near to his mouth for the time
The crab seeks proximity to its mouth for a limited time
He can steal his soul on his dying breath
Describing the act of stealing a soul during the dying breath
And hide it away for eternity
Hiding the stolen soul for eternity
Oh greater the lord more the fool
Reflection on the greater the lord, the greater the foolishness
Always the same essential flaw
Noting a consistent and essential flaw in humanity
While his lackeys are picking my bones clean
Observing lackeys taking advantage of the poet's remains
People dance on to my songs at his back door
People enjoying and dancing to the poet's songs at the patron's back door
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