Heave Up Jonah

Lyrics

[Intro]
If you'll open your texts to the 20th century.
American folklore, the coastal domain.

[Verse 1]
When a citizen took on too heavy a cargo,
They became the leviathan, swimming in pain.
Now observe our dear subject upon the cold tile,
She has swallowed a prophet she cannot afford.
The vessel rebels at the stowaway cargo,
And the captain is pacing the deck of the Lord.
It is not an illness, my students, it's scripture!
The belly rejecting a hazardous mixture.

[Chorus]
You must heave up Jonah, let the runaway go!
The gut of the beast is a terrible hold.
It is biblical justice, a brilliant design,
When the ocean of spirits sends word down the line.
Heave up Jonah, deliver the man,
And spit out the prophet wherever you can.

[Verse 2]
The prophet was sailing for distant shores,
But fate and the mezcal had other decrees.
The porcelain rim is the beach of Nineveh,
The churning inside is the Mediterranean sea.
Do not pity the girl in her kneeling position,
She is acting a vital, historic tradition.
The anatomy knows how to govern the myth.

[Bridge]
For three days and nights? No, merely since 2 AM.
The timeline is rushed but the physics are sound.
She expels the bad barley, the root, and the stem,
And the wayward apostle is placed on the ground.
Magnificent biological engineering, really.

[Chorus]
So heave up Jonah, let the runaway go!
The gut of the beast is a terrible hold.
It is biblical justice, a brilliant design,
When the ocean of spirits sends word down the line.
Heave up Jonah, deliver the man.

[Outro]
The great fish is empty, fulfilling the law.
The ocean is quiet.
Lecture concluded...
Though I suppose someone should fetch her a damp towel from the hall.