Je had Parels voor de zwijnen op Veronica en ik had vaag het vermoeden dat de naam tevens een verwijzing was naar de naam van de band, Pearls before swine. Dat het een bijbelcitaat was, was mij al helemaal niet bekend.
Maar ik herinner mij niet ooit iets van die band gehoord te hebben. Bij dezen dan, nieuw voor mij. Folk dus. Van de LP Balaklava, 1968.
There was a man came to our town
He wore a suit of red
He memorized with secret eyes
That he hid away in his head
He had a scar upon his head
Where there used to be a crown
But he sold his robes at the five and ten
And lived on the edge of town
That fall he showed us a magic leaf
That he could change to snow
He bought it partly with his grief
And partly with his soul
He scattered seeds in the alley way
He never seemed to rest
And when you went to ask him why
All he ever said was yes
He made a swan from waving grass
Beside a crystal shore
And a sunrise spun from broken glass
And many things wondrous more
But then his hands began to burn
When he heard the news from the war
When we cannot find each other he said
Then we can’t run away any more
Next day with tears along his face
He passed us on the hill
No one thought to ask him to stay
And he knows that we never will
There was a man came to our town
He wore a suit of red
He memorized with secret eyes
That he hid away in our head
