"The Once and Future Carpenter", formerly known as "Scared to Die," is a song by The Avett Brothers that appears on their 2011 album The Carpenter. It was first performed at a New Years Eve show in Asheville, NC. on December 31, 2010.
Video[]
Lyrics[]
I ain't from Texas, but I made my way from Dallas
And I know the lonesome sound is following
And I ain't a gambler, but I can recognize a hand
And when to hold, when queens are staring back at me
Once I was a carpenter, and man my hands were calloused
I could swing a metal mallet sure and straight
But I took to the highway, a poet young and hungry
And I left the timbers rotting where they lay
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
And when I lose my direction I'll look up to the sky
And when the black cloak drags upon the ground
I'll be ready to surrender, and remember
We're all in this together
If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die
I don't come from Detroit, but her diesel motors pull me
And I followed til I finally lost my way
And now I spend my days in search of a woman we call purpose
And if I ever pass back through her town, I'd stay
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
And when I lose my direction I'll look up to the sky
And when the black dress drags upon the ground
I'll be ready to surrender, and remember
We're all in this together
If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die
My life is but a coin, it's pulled from an empty pocket
Dropped into a slot with dreams of sevens close behind
Hope and fear go with it, and the moon and the sun go spinning
Like the numbers and the fruits before our eyes
Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind
Sometimes I hit, sometimes it robs me blind
Forever I will move like the world that turns beneath me
And when I lose my direction I'll look up to the sky
And when the black cloak drags upon the ground
I'll be ready to surrender, and remember
Well, we're all in this together
If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die
Purchase[]
- Available on The Carpenter
Images[]
The Carpenter tracks[]
2. "Live and Die"
3. "Winter in My Heart"
4. "Pretty Girl from Michigan"
5. "I Never Knew You"
6. "February Seven"
7. "Through My Prayers"
8. "Down with the Shine"
9. "A Fathers First Spring"
10. "Geraldine"
11. "Paul Newman vs. the Demons"
12. "Life"
Deluxe editions:
13. "Die Then Grow" (Target exclusive)
14. "Standing With You" (Target exclusive)
15. "The Clearness is Gone" (7" exclusive)