‘The Igneous Rock’

Well Mount Pelee slept ‘til 1902.
Then she got restless and her top she blew.
The Martinique people took it real slow,
‘Cause there wasn’t any sign of a larva flow.

A viscous spine grew a thousand feet high.
In the next six months nearly punctured the sky.
I got so drunk it made my balance fail.
So they slung me in the bottom of the St. Piere Gaol.

Well Mount Pelee laughed ‘til it busted it’s side.
The larva had the devil on it’s back for the ride.
I was in the gaol under key and lock,
Hid away from the gases and the igneous rock.
The igneous rock, the igneous rock,
A cloud rolled down full of igneous rock.

The cloud was moving; quite a few miles an hour.
And it sure didn’t carry an April shower.
It pushed past statues and it melted glass.
It had levelled the town before it had passed.

It was the only way who see who knew best,
‘Cause the Lord took his children and the devil had the rest.
Well there’s me sweating under lock and key.
They were taking everybody, but neither took me.

The cloud had passed in only a flash.
And the town was buried in cinder and ash.
Twenty eight thousand died, I tell no lie,
And the Lord gave me, yet another try.
(I’m gonna ask some-one what to do as soon as I get dug outta here.)

Composer: Robert Bathurst

Lyricist: Martin Day
© M Day 1982