Lyrics Papusza and the Crows - Wendy McNeill

I fell in love with her among harps and violins
Attracted by her songs and the books she'd hidden
Her family brought the woods alive with thirst for living
But feared written words and cursed her for her reading
This passion, self taught
Along with local lessons she bought
Stolen chickens is how she managed to pay
And as she snapped their necks, she prayed
One crow sorrow, two crows trust
Whomever is my maker tell me this much
How can what I love so much be wrong
Are not words on paper as pure as words in song
One crow worry, two crows war
Three crows run child
Before they reach your door
This crow's seen it all before
So I warned them two times more
All the birds were praying for the Gypsy children
To blend into the forest so the pale men can't reach them
"Snow fell thick as leaves" as we watched their shadows
Looking past us in the trees
As if the stars might guide them
Porraimos, the Devouring
500,000 gone, more running
We're alone on this longest road
Papusza, don't you see, beware of the gadjo!
One crow danger, two crows truth
Three crows, enough luck to pull the family through
She wrote all of their suffering down
And hoped a sympathetic ear may be found
My darling was delighted to meet Ficowski
Felt he understood her nature and poetry
But two hearts in the right place don't guarantee
A happy ending, can't control what is to be
One crow sorrow, two crows joy
Three crows a promise
Four crows a ploy
This crow has seen it all before
I had to let her take her fall
They called her mahrime, traitor
No longer one of their daughters
No longer a part of
The water that wanders
My words were used against my wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me
My words were used against my wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me
My words were used against my wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me standing, standing, standing
My words were used against my wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me standing