Hush now, hush now, the dark is here. The dark is here. It came on little feet, my dear. Little feet. What falls will fall. What keeps will keep. What wakes will wake. What sleeps—— will sleep. Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, the branch will break. The branch will break. We knew it would, for our own sake. Our own sake. What falls will fall. What keeps will keep. What wakes will wake. What sleeps—— will sleep. Gone away, gone away, the birds have flown. The birds have flown. We are not lost. We are not home. Not home. What falls will fall. What keeps will keep. What wakes will wake. What sleeps—— Hush now. Hush. The dark will keep what the dark will keep. SHANTYMAN: Oh, the dark came in on little feet—— CREW: Heave away, heave away! SHANTYMAN: And it took the moon and it took the street—— CREW: Heave away, my bonny! ALL: What falls will fall and what keeps will keep, What wakes will wake and what sleeps will sleep, And we’ll all go down to the dark so deep—— Heave away, heave away, heave away! SHANTYMAN: Oh, the branch will break, we knew it would—— CREW: Heave away, heave away! SHANTYMAN: And the cradle fell like we knew it should—— CREW: Heave away, my bonny! ALL: What falls will fall and what keeps will keep, What wakes will wake and what sleeps will sleep, And we’ll all go down to the dark so deep—— Heave away, heave away, heave away! SHANTYMAN: (spoken, suddenly quiet) Hush now. CREW: (whispered) Hush now. SHANTYMAN: The birds have flown and we’re not home—— CREW: (barely audible) Heave… away… ALL: (a cappella, slow, no rhythm) What falls will fall. What keeps… will keep.
