Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 109 · middle
Raw Eel
VOLUME V — the CURES, crawling back to life. The idiom and the song's title hook: "Raw Eel". Its true history: Medieval Europe — swallow a raw eel, believed to come alive in your stomach and drink up the remaining alcohol; ancient and eldritch. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.
Lyrics
[Intro] Come closer, child of the morning after Let the old ones fix your aching head [Verse 1] You drank the tavern dry and now you're groaning A fragile little vessel cracked in two Back in the lantern-light of 1340s Europe They knew exactly what to do with you No willow bark, no water from the river No quiet prayers whispered to the dawn You need a friend who loves the muddy bottom To slip down where the wicked wine has gone [Chorus] Swallow the raw eel Sleek and silver-grey Send him down the river of your throat To drink your sins away He wakes up in the cavern of your belly And laps up every drop of yesterday Oh, the raw eel The oldest price to pay [Verse 2] It feels a little strange upon the palate A wriggling ribbon wrapped in river-slime But he’s a thirsty monster in the shadows Just soaking up the sediment of time He swims the churning ocean of your stomach A tiny ancient god inside the deep Feasting on the brandy and the barley So your exhausted mortal frame can sleep [Chorus] Swallow the raw eel Sleek and silver-grey Send him down the river of your throat To drink your sins away He wakes up in the cavern of your belly And laps up every drop of yesterday Oh, the raw eel The oldest price to pay [Bridge] Such strange and wondrous creatures, you poor humans You poison your own blood to feel so grand And when the sun comes up to judge the ruin You pull a squirming savior from the sand Down he goes. [Outro] Let him drink Let him swim in the dark The raw eel Your little medieval friend Sleep now. He’s taking the watch.