Joey Batey
That Unwanted Animal
[Verse 1: Madeleine Hyland]
There's a second wind coming
As we lie here in our bed
It rattles the bones of our fathers
Carries whispers from the dead
And you, you light a candle
And I make sure the bairns are fed
You turn the telly on
To drown out your fear
You make the bed up silent on the floor
So no one will hear us
You try so loud to love me
I cannot seem to hear

[Verse 2: Madeleine Hyland & Joey Batey]
'Cause you, you touch ('Cause you, you touch)
My skin peels off like paint (My pain)
But beneath all of our panting (All our)
There's this noise I cannot shake (Panting shame)
Can't you hear that scratching?
There's something at the door
But the wind has picked us up now
We're hanging in the air
And as you grip me like an animal
That you're about to spear
"Be good to me," I whisper
And you say, "What?"
And I said, "Nothing, dear"
[Chorus: Madeleine Hyland]
Can't you hear it?
It can hear you
It wants me to
Throw the plate at the wall

[Verse 3: Madeleine Hyland]
I'm the paper cut that kills you
I'm the priest that you ignored
I'm the touch you crave, I'm the plans that you made
But fuck all your plans I'm bored
And can't you hear that scratching?
I ask your eyes
I've got knuckle burn from typing all these lines into your chest
And as the belt from your buckle is tightening I make shipwrecks out of my dress
And the door below it splinters
And the creature creeps inside

[Verse 4: Madeleine Hyland & both]
And we fall into each other
The scratching grows so loud
Because that unwanted animal
Wants nothing more than to get out
And I scream, "What’s the time Mr Wolf?"
But you, you're blind, you bleat, you bare your claws
And you rip my ribcage open
And devour what's truly yours
And our screaming joins in unison
I cry out to the lord
'Cause if we join our hands in prayer enough
To God I imagine it all starts to sound like applause
[Chorus: Madeleine Hyland & Joey Batey]
Can't you hear it?
It can hear you
It wants me to…

[Bridge: Madeleine Hyland & Joey Batey]
And these plates they smash like waves (Place your hand in mine)
And on the wind it howls (How long can this last?)
But that second wind is coming, love, it's coming for all we own
And on the creature scratches, it doesn't know how to get out (Let me out)
And you, you follow philosophies
But me, I laugh I choke
"Well hello, my hollow Holofernes"
I wink but you don't get the joke
"Hold the hand of the god-child," they said
"As he falls from the sky"
"Be good to me," I beg of him
"Be good to me," I beg of him
Be good, be good, be good, be good, be good, be good, be good
And he replies
("No no, not I")