In the run-up to the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy show at the Apollo a week from Thursday, here is the magnificent second verse from one of the greatest Palace songs of all time, 'The Weaker Soldier' from the masterpiece Arise Therefore album (see right).
Sold down the lane, in a way to restrain
You from calling a name and then regretting
If you say what you own, then you are always alone
And then what postpones the good death?
We are those who break laws when the cold body thaws
Who prefer breaking jaws but must lower ourselves
Unfit though we are to let you get very far
Still we would never mar your rightful dues
And I have not been feeling the same
I am not fit to carry your name
I am not fit, and I am not willing
To go on
For real, I could quote the full song, because verses 1 and 3 are just as good as two. But I love the 5th and 6th lines of this verse, 'We are those who break laws ...' Internal rhyming that would make Nas proud. The chorus of the song is what gets me though: I have not been feeling the same ...
If you're in the right mood, it really hits you, and its almost too much to take.
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