The Passion

by Billy Bragg

From the album: Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

Track 10 of 22 on Talking With the Taxman About Poetry (1986).

Duration: 2:54

Talking With the Taxman About Poetry cover art

Lyrics for The Passion

The fear of a daughter runs high In the mind of a father to be For something is growing inside But we don't talk about it, do we? In the long empty passionless night Many times to herself she has prayed That the baby will love her much more Than the big boy who stole her away And sometimes it takes A grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take A child a night to learn And sometimes it takes A grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take A child a night to learn It pains her to learn That some things will never be right If the baby is just Someone else to take sides in a fight Harsh words between bride and groom The distance is greater each day He smokes alone in the next room And she knits her life away And sometimes it takes A grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take A child a night to learn And sometimes it takes A grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take A child a night to learn A long time ago She saw visions on the stairs And when she felt dizzy Her mother was always there The home help is no help at all I have not committed a crime Angels gaze down from the wall Is there a God? Is there a next time?

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More from Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

  1. Greetings to the New Brunette
  2. Train Train
  3. The Marriage
  4. Ideology
  5. Levi Stubbs' Tears
  6. Honey, I'm a Big Boy Now
  7. There Is Power in a Union
  8. Help Save the Youth of America
  9. Wishing the Days Away
  10. The Passion
  11. The Warmest Room
  12. The Home Front
  13. Sin City
  14. Deportees
  15. There Is Power in a Union - Instrumental
  16. The Tracks of My Tears
  17. Wishing the Days Away - Alternative Version
  18. The Clashing of Ideologies - Alternative Version
  19. Greetings to the New Brunette - Demo
  20. A Nurse's Life Is Full of Woe
  21. Only Bad Signs
  22. Hold the Fort