Lyrks
Lyrks
Lyrks
Cover Art

Ashes Lyrics by Andrea Gibson

Yellowbird

0

A couple years ago, I was told a story about a soldier who was set on fire and burned to death because he was gay. After that, I started reading similar stories about people in the GLBTQ community who were tortured or killed by being set on fire and burned. I couldn’t stop thinking about the people who had died that way and couldn’t stop wondering what they might say from where they are now.
The night I was torn from the pages of their Bible
and burned alive
my ashes came down like snow
and a girl who had never seen my face
saw me falling from the sky
and laid down on her back
to make an angel in the powder of my bones.
From heaven, I watched her,
‘though my eyes were still aflame,
and my ribs were still blue.
They didn’t win, I whispered, as her arms built my wings.
They didn’t win.
Look at that moon.
It is a pebble in my hand
Tonight, I could skip it across that fog-drunk sea
to the lashes accordion in the night
and all they know of hate
is that it couldn’t beat the love out of me…
that when they dropped me to the grave,
I fell like a bucket in to a well
and came up full;
carving my lover’s name
into the skin of a weeping willow
that had spent its entire life laughing at the rain.
Hold me like a lantern;
staircase my spine
When they bring the children to my funeral
to scream “FAGGOT” at my dust
tell them I was born in to their casket
but I wouldn’t pull the splinters from my heartany more than Christ would’ve pulled the thorns
from his crimson head.
They can come a thousand times
with their burning matches and their gasoline,
with their hungry laws
and their empty mouths full of prayers to that God
who greeted me at His gates with His throat full of trumpets
and His tears full of shame
as his trembling palms collected the cinders
of His children’s crime.
I know what holy is
I know that the soul is shaped like a bowl;
I know the lies we try to fill it with
and we spill too often
the orchards inside.
But my lover’s shoes were tied with guitar strings
and when I walked beside
there was a silo in my chest,
there was a field full of sun.
there was a river full of gold that we left
to pick our sweet hearts from the trees
that kept uprooting tombstones
so the names of the dead would crumble into poems.
Write me down like this:
Say my ashes never made the news.
Say the jury was full of shotguns.
Then say the snow that fell on the tip of your tongue
refused to melt away.
Say this to the kids hiding their heartbeats
from their father’s fists.
I planted the garden of my kiss.
I opened the night with my teeth.
I loved so hard that when they pressed their ear to the track
the train they hear coming will still be my chest,
a rumbling harpoon,
a sky they can not bury.
Look at that moon.
I am a pebble in her hand;
a harmonica held to the mouth of the river
where nothing ever
burns.
Credits
Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson

About “Ashes” by Andrea Gibson

Read the complete lyrics to "Ashes" by Andrea Gibson from the album "Yellowbird". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under LGBTQ+, Spoken Word, Poetry.

"Ashes" is performed by Andrea Gibson. from the album "Yellowbird" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Ashes", explore more songs by Andrea Gibson using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

View all songs and biography for Andrea Gibson · Trending lyrics · Billboard Hot 100

Frequently asked questions

"Ashes" is credited to Andrea Gibson. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Ashes" appears on "Yellowbird".

Visit the Andrea Gibson artist page at /artist/andrea-gibson for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.