[Intro: Romanian doina male lead, free doina cry over the taragot] Măi, Ionuț, măi Who's gonna lie to me at the bar now [Verse 1: Romanian doina male lead, heavy half-time drums kick in] Up in Maramureș we don't do the gray stone and the hush We cut a cross of oak and paint it blue with a horsehair brush Every grave gets a picture and a verse to tell it straight How the shepherd lost his sheep, how the drunk fell through the gate So they handed me the chisel 'cause I knew him thirty years Said, "Frate, make it pretty," and they left me with my tears But he'd haunt me if I made it pretty, haunt me if I made it sad So I'm carvin' him the way he was, the best friend that I had [Hook: female lamenter, sung, keening over the full band] Cut him deep and paint him blue Make 'em laugh the way he'd do Every stranger at the gate is gonna laugh until they cry Ionuț gets the last laugh, and the last laugh never dies [Verse 2: Romanian doina male lead, cobza and taragot snarling] Line one, he borrowed my ladder and he never brought it back Line two, he danced on Father Petru's table, heard it crack Line three, he raced a goat at Sighet fair and lost the bet And the goat is still out grazin' on the money he owes me yet Line four, he sang so loud at Easter that the windows used to shake And the priest would turn around and ask the Lord for one more break Doamne, every letter that I cut, I hear him laughin' in the shed Sayin', "Put the goat in, frate, put the goat right by my head" [Hook: female lamenter, sung, keening over the full band] Cut him deep and paint him blue Make 'em laugh the way he'd do Every stranger at the gate is gonna laugh until they cry Ionuț gets the last laugh, and the last laugh never dies [Verse 3: Romanian doina male lead, chisel strikes, a chisel blow under every stressed word] Now the cross is in the ground, the blue is wet, the goat is there And the village starts to read it with their hats held in the air First the priest begins to giggle, then the baker, then the band Then his mother laughs so hard she has to hold the cross to stand And I'm laughin' and I'm bawlin' and I cannot find the line Where the one turns to the other, măi, he always crossed it fine [Final Hook: female lamenter, sung, the doina male lead roaring under her] Cut him deep and paint him blue Make 'em laugh the way he'd do Every stranger at the gate is gonna laugh until they cry Ionuț gets the last laugh, and the last laugh never dies [Outro: Romanian doina male lead, doina cry over the taragot] Măi, Ionuț, you still owe me for the ladder [End]
