Lyrics:

Originally featured as track #5 on the Mountain Goats 1994 release, Taking the Dative, this song was also featured on the 2002 compilation album Ghana as track #18.
We saw the last of the brightly-colored birds
Check out and make for the other world
And you asked me how much longer we'd have to stay here
But I'm not at liberty to say
And what flowers there were around Kingston
Were blue
I ripped them up from the dry soil
And draped them over you

We saw the last of the bright birds coming home
I saw you address them through your megaphone
And you asked me when we were leaving
Well, it's any day now
And what flowers there were around Trenchtown
Were red
I stole them from the hands of children
Braided them around your head