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night work - exhumed lyrics

(in which dr. knox makes the acquaintance of misters burke and hare, resurrectionists by trade)

“the bulk of the work was done at night, using wooden shovels… and a “dark lanthorn” – a device commonly used by burglars: designed to shed light where necessary, but not to attract attention… a hole would be dug at the head of the grave, down to the coffin, and hooks or a crow-bar inserted under the lid. the weight of earth on the rest of the lid acted as a counter-weight, so that when pressure was exerted lid invariably snapped across, and the body could be hoisted out of the grave with ropes.” – ruth richardson death, dissection, and the dest-tute 1987

“the corporation of corpse-stealers, i am told, support themselves and families very comfortably, and that no-one should be surprised at the nature of such a society, the late resurrectionists in st. saviours, st. giles’s and st. pancras churchyards, are memorable instances of this laudable profession.” anonymous a view of london and westminster 1728

“blest be ye man [that] spares these stones, and curste be ye [that] moves my bones” – william shakespeare’s epitaph 1616

hare: welcome to our nocturnal vocation
disembalming we grimly extract the expired
disinterring by lanthorn illumination
to fulfill anatomists’ cadaverous desires –

dr. knox: giving nightw-tchmen fits with the mortsafes you’ve picked finding fresh graves to dig, i must say it’s a h-ll of a gig

chorus: night work be done, the lifeless made graveless. our prize to be won
exhumed by torchlight, dead weight dead to rights
this night work, an unholy sight, undertaken tonight

hare: a livelihood in death we scr-pe
your casket vacant, corpse taken forthwith
from our fell spades you will not escape
second coming ignominious, unclean and sick –

dr. knox: wooden shovels and picks, from your tomb you’ll be nicked
sink to new depths of sick, compunction cut to the quick

chorus: night work be done, the lifeless made graveless our prize to be won
exhumed by torchlight, dead weight dead to rights
this night work, an unholy sight, undertaken tonight

solo – matthew harvey

dr. knox: it’s a dirty job, finding fresh graves to rob
solo – michael burke

dr. knox: these are dirty deeds, six feet of dirt, dug dirt cheap

solo – matthew harvey

dr. knox: it’s a dirty job, finding fresh graves to ro
toil as the casket’s slaves, death is our living wage

chorus: night work be done, the lifeless made graveless our prize to be won
exhumed by torchlight, dead weight dead to rights
this night work, an unholy sight, undertaken this –
night work be done, the lifeless made graveless our prize to be won exhumed by torchlight, dead weight dead to rights
this night work, an unholy sight, undertaken tonight

- exhumed lyrics

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