Just before our love got lost you said
"I am as constant as a northern star"
And I said "Constantly in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar"
On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice
Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
oh I would still be on my feet
Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time you told me you said
"Love is touching souls"
Surely you touched mine
'Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time
Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
I would still be on my feet
I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
"Go to him, stay with him if you can
But be prepared to bleed"
Oh but you are in my blood
You're my holy wine
You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet
© January 18, 1971; Siquomb Pub Corp
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Deveno on :
There are so many things about this song I find amazing. Like the way she sings: "Oh Canada..." (which are, incidentally the first words of the Canadian national anthem), like love gone wrong is a kind of homesickness. Or the way her voice and the melody break out of control on the line "surely you touched mine", sounding so naked and brave and defiant. Or how her voice lingers on the words, "you, darling" in the last chrous, like a lover who just can't let go.
shannyo on :
This is, quite possible, the best love song I've ever heard. It encompasses love in all its myriad forms and disguises. "In my blood like Holy wine, so bitter and so sweet." The poetry in this likeness.... who hasn't felt this sense of a reticent symbiotic connection?