[Verse 1] There is a roof beside the churchyard Where the weather cannot take the box They built it so the living party Would not have to stand in shock Stone bench. Iron latch. A little dark That belongs to in-between Not the nave and not the acre Just the minute in the seam I asked you here without a sermon I asked you here without a crowd Only bring your coat and hush And do not make me say it loud [Pre-Chorus] Not at the house Not in the street Not where the lanterns want a show Here, under this short shelter Where the going learns to go [Chorus] Wait with me at the lychgate Keep your hands inside your own Wait with me at the lychgate I cannot do this road alone If the dead must have their mile Then the living get this stone Wait with me at the lychgate Until they take him and I go home [Verse 2] You knew him when the rooms were ordinary You knew the joke he would not quit You knew the way he packed a lunch Like the day might need a witness So do not offer me a proverb Do not tell me he is free Stand here while the hour ripens And be quiet next to me The pall men check their gloves and wait The priest looks ready to begin All I need from you is staying Till the gate lets all of it in [Pre-Chorus] Not at the bar Not in the car Not where a kindness turns to talk Here, under this short shelter Where even language has to walk [Chorus] Wait with me at the lychgate Keep your hands inside your own Wait with me at the lychgate I cannot do this road alone If the dead must have their mile Then the living get this stone Wait with me at the lychgate Until they take him and I go home [Verse 3] October puts a shine on mourning Makes a theater out of cloth I did not come to be a picture I came to get the first part off After this they take the corpse road After this the town goes back After this I have the house And the August cold, and the black So give me twenty honest minutes With the rain held off our heads Be a body I can borrow While I learn that he is dead [Bridge] I will not collapse for comfort I will not perform the break I will stand here like a person Who still has a life to make But I cannot take the first step From this roof into the wet If you leave me with the silence I will owe you. I will not forget [Breakdown] Wait Wait Do not speak Wait Wait Let it peak Gate Stone Box Breath This is the room Between life and death [Verse 4] When they lifted him I watched you Keep your eyes upon the wood You did not reach. You did not preach You did the one thing that was good Then the line moved toward the dead mile And the shelter felt too wide I stepped out. I did not stumble Because you had stayed the time I will not call that saving I will call it what it was A living person at the threshold When the threshold does what it does [Chorus] Wait with me at the lychgate Keep your hands inside your own Wait with me at the lychgate I cannot do this road alone If the dead must have their mile Then the living get this stone Wait with me at the lychgate Until they take him and I go home [Final Chorus] Wait with me at the lychgate If October comes again Wait with me at the lychgate Be the quiet, be the friend If you meet me on the dead road You can walk a pace behind But the part I needed most Was the waiting kind [Outro] Roof and iron Bench and rain You stayed That is the whole thing Wait with me Wait with me Then we go
