You Have Never Lived Because You Have Never Died
Listener Lyrics

I saw thirteen black crows they were black as three A.M.
I saw thirteen ominous-looking black crows as dark as the wee hours of the morning.

And as big as vultures eyes
They were big enough to fill my vision like the eyes of a vulture.

With wings hanging to their sides like laundry on the line
Their wings were so still and lifeless that they hung limply like wet laundry on a clothesline.

They were standing in a circle letting their tongues dry
The crows stood in a circle with their tongues outstretched, letting them dry out in the open air.

They’re coming for me like thieves or ghosts
I feel like these crows are approaching me like ghosts or thieves, ready to steal something from me.

Stealing songs, and whispering poems to themselves
I imagine the crows stealing away with my thoughts and whispering cryptic lines of poetry to themselves.

About nonsense and existence
The crows seem to be discussing abstract concepts such as nonsense and existence.

I don’t want to die
I am fearful of death and wish to avoid it at all costs.

I saw four black eagles, with horns growing towards the ground
Next, I saw four black eagles with strangely distorted features, as it appeared they had horns growing down towards the ground.

Like columns or anchors reaching for the bottom
These horns looked like columns or anchors that were drawing the eagles towards the ground below them.

Their feathers folded like hands on a man resting in his coffin
The eagles' feathers, which were folded in a peculiar way, reminded me of the way a person's hands might rest in a coffin as they lie in eternal sleep.

Bending over each other rattling my bones
The eagles seemed to be hovering around one another and shook my very bones as they did so.

Drumming out the answers in ways I will need one day
The eagles seemed to be drumming out answers to the questions in life in ways that I will need one day in the future.

Their hooves are giving me growing pains
I felt an aching pain as the eagles' hooves struck me, giving me growing pains that seemed to last.

I sleep like a tornado
My mind is in turmoil, and I cannot sleep peacefully - I find it difficult to find any stillness in my life.

I saw eighteen black hawks, with beaks full of teeth
Then, I saw eighteen dark hawks with menacing-looking beaks full of teeth that looked poised to bite.

Roaring like a pack of wolves in perfect V
The hawks moved like a pack of wolves and traveled in an almost perfect V shape.

With hoods over their eyes to cover up what they’ve seen
Each of the hawks had hoods covering their eyes, perhaps to shield themselves from what they had witnessed before.

Secrets bouncing off the insides of their lips meant for me
I got the feeling that the hawks had secrets to share with me, given how they seemed to be clutching them between their tight beaks.

They landed on my life like spears, ears tucked back like arrow feathers
As they descended upon my life, they looked like spears hurtling through the air - with their ears pulled back like arrow feathers when they are launched from a bow.

Wings spread wide like storm clouds over Kansas
Their wings seemed to stretch as wide as storm clouds that gather over the flat Kansas landscape.

Hailing on me teaching me their dances, they gave me armor
The hawks gave me an understanding of their language and their dances, imparting some sort of armor or protection to me.

We will never die, we will never die, I don’t want to die, we will never die
There is a sense of defiance, a refusal to succumb to death - 'we will never die'.

We will never die, but we don’t want to try, I don’t want to die, I won’t let you die
While there is no desire to die outright, there is also the wilful neglect to do anything about death - perhaps a sign of resignation or defeat.

We will never die, we won’t even try, but if we never die, then we never really live
There is no effort to strive for excellence or to live an exceptional life, and without the experience of death, there is little value in being alive.

I saw nine black owls, they were quiet as death
Lastly, I saw nine black owls - they were as silent as death itself.

They had talons like antlers growing from their hearts
These owls were deeply complex creatures, with talons that looked like antlers growing straight from their hearts.

And they were tearing me apart
These creatures seemed to be tearing me apart internally, tearing away at the very core of who I was as a person.

Each bird was tagged like cattle with one word
Each of these owls appeared to have been labelled, like cattle, with a single descriptive word.

And they burned them in to my mind, they read: You have never lived because you have never died
These words seemed to sear themselves into my consciousness, the words reading: 'You have never lived because you have never died.'