Serafina - Bambara

Sadie saw smoke curling up from the trees

Put on her coat and went outside to see

A girl was feeding leaves and branches

To a pile of burning debris and dancing

Sadie said, «Got a nice fire tonight

What’s your name, if you don’t mind?»

She said, «My name is Serafina

But people call me Sera to save some time»

«Well, I got all the time in the world»

Sadie grabbed a stick and lit it while the girl

Said she’d been committed as a child

Discovered her love for fire, ran wild

In the asylum was a charming arson

Who broke out with his girl and started

Burning through Georgia like a moonstruck Sherman

Sera knew what she wanted for sure then

«People are who they are,» she said

«And I want their kind of love

Where you’re bad together and it’s good»

Sadie said, «Let me grab some wood and booze

See if we can’t keep this thing alive 'til noon»

(Serafina)

Shoots Roman candles all around

(Serafina)

Smiling with matches in her mouth

(Serafina)

Wears a bright, blazing crown of flowers and down

(Serafina)

Smell of gasoline in her hair

(Serafina)

Cinders glow as she blows cool air

(Serafina)

In her stare burns a solar flare

Months went by and they were happy

Setting fire to trashed mattresses

Cars with tickets on their dashes

Mannequins scattered in tattered masses

Through the rundown mall

They’d take pictures for their book

Rubbing the ash and the soot

On each other’s skin 'til it turned gray

And pose like dying lovers from Pompeii

In an overgrown lot

They fucked 'til it got too hot

Lying on top of a burning blanket

They hopped up and stood there naked

Smoking cigarettes and coughing

Sera threw her lighter in, heard it popping

«We gotta keep it up, Sadie, no stopping

We gotta keep it up, Sadie, we’re not stopping»

They watched as the wind caught

The fire spread a little further and died off

Sadie said, «I'm gonna buy us an old house in a big town

Where we can start a life and burn it all to the ground»

(Serafina)

Shoots Roman candles all around

(Serafina)

Smiling with matches in her mouth

(Serafina)

Wears a bright, blazing crown of flowers and down

(Serafina)

Throws firecrackers at their feet

(Serafina)

Yeah, and they start dancing, dancing while they sing

(Serafina)

Throws her dress in the flames

(Serafina)

Black sequins writhing, black sequins shine

(Serafina)

They sing, «We'll never die»

(Serafina)

«Yeah, we’ll burn and cry, we’ll never die»