I fell asleep down by the stream
And there I had the strangest dream
And down by Brennan's Glenn there grows
A briar and a rose

There's a tree in the forest
But I don't know where
I built a nest out of your hair
And climbing up into the air
A briar and a rose

I don't know how long it has been
But I was born in Brennan's Glenn
And near the end of spring there grows
A briar and a rose

I picked the rose one early morn'
I p____ed my finger on a thorn
They'd grown so close
Their winding wove
The briar around the rose

I tried to tear them both apart
I felt a bullet in my heart
And all dressed up in spring's new clothes
The briar and the rose

And when I'm buried in my grave
Tell me so I will know
Your tears will fall
To make love grow
The briar and the rose

And when I'm buried in my grave
Tell me so I will know
Your tears will fall
To make them grow
The briar and the rose

Your tears will fall
To make them grow
The briar and the rose

Written by: Tom Waits
Published by: Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993
Official release: The Black Rider, Island Records Inc., 1993
(Transcribed by Ulf Berggren. Raindogs Listserv discussionlist. November, 1999)
Further reading: The Black Rider Full Story

The Briar And The Rose
(Alternate early version)

Oh blood and bone, and clocks and trains
My coat will keep you from the rain
Alas our love is all in vain
The briar and the rose

I will not wait, I cannot fret
The tenor of the things you said
My love is true and we must wed
The briar and the rose

I don't know how, I don't know why
I never meant to make you cry
My love is blind and so are yours
The briar and the rose

Out in the meadow, a place we'd dream
Our love was meant to be
Oh tell me have you ever seen
A briar without the rose

Our love will tear us both apart
I'll never change my farmer's heart
And I will cry and you must go
The briar and the rose

And when I'm buried in my grave
And November's wind will blow
Your tears will fall
To make them grow
The briar and the rose

And when I'm buried in my grave
November's wind will blow
And your tears will fall
To make them grow
The briar and the rose

Your tears will fall
To make them grow
The briar and the rose

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