Foreword Confession is supposed to cost something. Saying the discreditable thing out loud, in front of the person it concerns, is meant to be the penalty — an urge you have declared is an urge you have been separated from. The sacrament was stricter about this than the modern one: contrition was required, and a confession without sorrow absolved nobody. This is a confession without sorrow, and the confessor would like that noted. The difficulty is that an admission which lowers your standing is also the most credible thing a person can say, so the shortest route to a woman may run directly through explaining to her why she should not be left alone with you. From inside, the two are indistinguishable. Lyrics [Intro] CONFITEOR, SED NON PAENITET CAUDA CRESCIT IN TENEBRIS LUPUS IN FABULA ORA PRO NOBIS [Verse 1] You tell it slow, your coffee going cold I nod on cue, I keep my hands in place You say his name like something you have sold And I feel the heat climb up into my face MISERERE MEI, DUM SPECTO [Pre-Chorus] I am so well-behaved, so soft, so kind I pour the water, never touch your hand But when you say his name, I feel it again The collar tight, the animal awake [Chorus] My fangs grow when you cry, I cannot lie I wish him well — I wish him long goodbye ORA PRO ME, NON PRO ILLO I keep the vow, I keep the collar tight But trouble in your voice makes my boxers tight MEA CULPA, MEA MAXIMA CAUDA [Verse 2] You read me lines you should not read aloud I listen like a priest behind the screen The hair grows where it shouldn't — I am proud I bless the trouble. I am not clean DOMINE, NON SUM DIGNUS, SED VOLO [Pre-Chorus] I count the ways you could be free by spring I count them like a rosary at night I say a prayer for your happiness I mean it true — and still I hope you fight [Chorus] My fangs grow when you cry, I cannot lie I wish him well — I wish him long goodbye ORA PRO ME, NON PRO ILLO I keep the vow, I keep the collar tight But trouble in your voice makes my boxers tight MEA CULPA, MEA MAXIMA CAUDA [Bridge] I laid it all out, ugly, on the table So you could see the monk and not the teeth You touched my arm and said: you are so honest DEO GRATIAS, IAM DUBITAT And something inside me sat down, well fed [Final Chorus] My fangs grow when you cry — and now you know I told you everything. I told you slow I keep the vow, I keep the collar tight But now you hold the end of it, all night And trouble in your voice makes my boxers tight MEA CULPA, MEA MAXIMA CAUDA [Outro] You are intriguing specimen
