Black Honey on the Altar

Lyrics

Verse 1
You walk in
Sunday suit
Friday sin
Candle smoke on your skin
Like you’ve been touched by something cruel and kind

You bow low
But those eyes say “take me slow”
In the pew where shadows grow
I taste a prayer I never learned to write

Chorus
Lay your black honey on the altar
Let it drip down
Drip down my throat (oh)
If this is wrong
Then let me falter
I only feel saved when you’re this close
Bruised little halo ‘round your shoulders
Roses pressed tight under your coat
Lay your black honey on the altar
Let it burn right through my holy ghost

Verse 2
Choir sings
But I’m watching how your fingers ring
Tapping time on the wooden seat
Like you’re knocking on my rib cage door

Your breath hits
Like a curse wrapped up as a gift
Every “amen” from your lips
Feels like you’re dragging me onto the floor

Chorus
Lay your black honey on the altar
Let it drip down
Drip down my throat (yeah)
If this is wrong
Then let me falter
I only feel saved when you’re this close
Bruised little halo ‘round your shoulders
Roses pressed tight under your coat
Lay your black honey on the altar
Let it burn right through my holy ghost

Bridge
[Choir humming low
Wordless]
Hands in my hair
Knees on the ground
You say my name
Like a lost-and-found

Sweat on your neck
Cross on your chest
You whisper “brother
Come confess
Confess” (oh)

Chorus
Lay your black honey on the altar
Let it drip down
Drip down my throat
If this is sin
Then make me softer
Break me in half
Then hold me close
Bruised little halo ‘round your shoulders
Roses pressed tight under your coat
Lay your black honey on the altar
Til every last law in me
Comes undone and chokes

Outro
[Choir swells
Deep and distant]
Black honey
On the altar
Your shadow
In my bones (yeah)

Black honey
On the altar
I’m falling
And I don’t want home