Jenny Hval Is There Anything on Me That Doesn't Speak? song lyrics

Joan of Arc follows me around Australia

I hear her voice in my head

And catch bits of nature in my mouth:

Rotting leaves, bird shit, mud, flood water

I can smell what's there on the inside. Oslo, March: Quiet

Words enter me from everywhere. In Brisbane

In December it was rain, the rain was still rain

We couldn't hide from it. I sought comfort between supermarket shelves and in cafes

But the water followed us everywhere

And we put on the fan in the hotel room

And it sounded like a shower, possessed

My leather shoes crumbled

Fabrics unravelled around our bodies

My skin breathed in and out

I woke in the night to hear our pores heave

I was a thousand little mouths, a thousand baby birds

Eggs hatching, skin breaking

I ran my hands over my body to hush them

I cut my finger nails and cut off their beaks

Is there anything on me that doesn't speak?

One night I spat in my sleep. During the daytime

I kept everything in, smoking cigarettes to dry

A struggle, inhaling in your honour

My body is an effigy, a hearth of some kind

I reach for the lighter

Flames rise and press against my lips

When I speak, I hear your voice and catch

Twigs and pieces of coal in my mouth

When I speak I catch your disease