Neil Halstead Wikia
Register
Advertisement
Wittgenstein's Arm
Neil-halstead-palindrome-hunches
Description and Information
Author/s: Neil Halstead
Release year: 2012
Length: 6:03
Label: Brushfire Records


Hey there now did I hear your voice,
ringing out in the early morning?
Did I hear you singing right through the night,
out there while I was rolling?
Did you see my brother lying in the ditch,
knuckles all scraped and the powder on him
passing like a shadow right through the night,
through my days and through my mind?

Love is dead and truth is empty
it won't heal and it won't save me.
See that girl in the checked white skirt
I'll hold her tonight and maybe it'll work

Love is all,
a white dove in the snow,
passing through,
like a bright new moon.
Water froze.
Where men's blood once flowed.

Death runs deep in this family.
Write your song for the left hand only.
Lost my arm in the first great war.
Wish I'd never learned that piano before.

See my brother drinking from the glass.
They say he died with his eyes wide open.
Poison flowing right through the veins.
Glass of milk fell from his hands.

Love is all.
Find the right way home.
Time is all.
Find the right way home.
Powder moon.
Find the right way home.
Time is all.
Find the right way home.

Hey there now did you hear my voice,
ringing out in the early morning?
Did you hear me singing right through the night?
I wonder if you'll ever get tired of this.

Death runs deep in this family.
Write your song for the left and only.
Lost my arm in the first great war.
Wish I'd never learned that piano before. (repeat)

Love is all.
Find the right way home.
Time is all
Find the right way home.
Powder moon
Find the right way home.
Time is all.
Find the right way home.

Notable trivia[]

  • Wittgenstein's Arm is written about a World War I veteran and piano player, who lost an arm in the war and made a name for himself as a one-armed piano player afterwards. He had a very depressing life throughout, and it inspired this song.
Advertisement