full lyrics:


you bite your thumb at me

cuz you’re afraid

while I’m ready

you’ve brought along your brawn

but left behind the gall

ya need lead balls much as muskets

when you answer

midnight horseman’s call

the readiness, the readiness is all

oh the readiness, the readiness is all


by what metric do you measure

how you’ve fared amid the storm

shrewdly sheltering

you’ve managed to stay dry

I stand before you dripping

drenched from romance in the rain

with a story sure to shock and mystify


why you worried feet might get wet

we’re in barrels floating

t’ward a waterfall

and the readiness, the readiness is all

oh the readiness, the readiness is all


it’s futile waving white flag

once the bugle player blows

there’s no sense surrendering

there’s no refund for rained out shows


for those lamenting rules unfair

there’s monthly meetings

down in the town hall

but I advise you open eyes

and recognize the scrawl

written ‘fore you arrived

on the ancient wall

to Spartans go the spoils

and the readiness, the readiness is all

oh the readiness, the readiness is all


I strum and sing like Orpheus

but I’m more vile than virtuous

my truth expressed

as crooned confessional

like every Springtime sparrow

learning flight by risking fall

the tolling bell it terrifies us all

and the readiness, the readiness is all

oh the readiness, the readiness is all