Vic Chesnutt - Nathan lyrics

The great grandfather, with his pious beard Bathed in the river, all his years Many books, that lined his walls Jews and gentiles, held him in awe Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated He had four sons, all healthy and proper One was converted, became a christian doctor His daughter filled with typhus and succumbed He grew quiet his wife fell dumb Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated His granddaughter recalled, the day he died She was six years old, frosted with fright She clutched the toe, the stiff cold toe And renounced the wrongs only she could know Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated Nathan stepped through the broken window And looked to the river where his mother once floated