Rapier

Lyrics

You rest your palm upon my wire grip
To make sure everybody sees the gold.
You like the way I angle at your hip,
A handsome piece of history to hold.
You wear me to the opera and the court,
A shiny feather for a velvet sleeve.
You do not know the foible from the fort,
Or what I have to do before we leave.

I am forty-one inches of geometry and spite.
I was forged to find the spaces in between.
But I feel your heartbeat quicken in the night
When the shadows stretch across the cobblestone ravine.
My terror is not the drawing of the blade.
It is the clumsy, panicking way you swing.
I am a needle, I was never meant to hack.
If you forget my math, I am going to snap.

The balance point is three thumbs from the guard.
The men who used to own me knew the weight.
They didn't have to look to push me hard,
They passed right through the steel and found the gate.
But you stop at your own fingertips, my friend.
You haven't mapped your mind down to my tip.
You see me as a bludgeon you can bend
When the wine runs out and the pleasantries slip.

I am forty-one inches of geometry and spite.
I was forged to find the spaces in between.
But I feel your heartbeat quicken in the night
When the shadows stretch across the cobblestone ravine.
My terror is not the drawing of the blade.
It is the clumsy, panicking way you swing.
I am a needle, I was never meant to hack.
If you forget my math, I am going to snap.

A broadsword takes a peasant's rolling wrist.
A falchion only asks you to be cruel.
But I require an angle and a twist,
I am a gentleman's most unforgiving tool.
Don't pull me if you only want to scare them.
Don't pull me if your wrist is shaking tight.

Just keep your hand upon my golden cage.
Leave me in the velvet, keep me clean.
Smile and play the hero of the age.
Please don't draw me.
Please don't let them see
That you're afraid.
And I am brittle.