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1. |
| 4:05 | 
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Runnin' pell-mell and harum-scarum
Runnin' as hot as they do or dare Stick out your tongue and drink down all the venom Off Cut-Throat Cuthbert and Millicent St.Cy From the real old Macau To the new False Americas In the liberated territories Unusual suspects shake down Shake down, shake down Various dubious characters Mother's in the kitchen pickin' bones for breakfast Boilin' them down by the bushel and the score Pull out your thumb and count what's left on your fist There's a wolf at the window with a ravenin' maw Did you find how to lie? Did you find out how to cheat? The elite bleat, they're obsolete So are your prospects Exact, perfect object? Now if you'd only genuflect They're runnin' wild just like some Childish tantrum Meanwhile we're workin' every day Payin' off the National Ransom Woe betide all this hocus-pocus They're runnin' us ragged at their first attempt Around the time the killin' stopped on Wall St. You couldn't hold me, baby, with anythin' but contempt Letters peal slowly from our speech The Claxton attempts to preach Stretchin' out for stars still out of reach Drownin', flailin', outside Someone's wailin' They're runnin' wild just like some Childish tantrum Meanwhile we're workin' every day Payin' off the National Ransom They're runnin' wild just like some Childish tantrum Meanwhile we're workin' every day Payin' off the National Ransom |
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| 2. |
| 4:15 |
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Third-Class ticket in his pocket
Punching out the shadows underneath the sockets Tweed coat turned up against the fog Slow coaches rolling o'er the moor Between the very memory And approaches of war Stale bread curling on a luncheon counter Loose change lonely, not the right amount Forgotten Man of an indifferent nation Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station Somebody's calling you again The sky is falling Jimmie's standing in the rain Nobody wants to buy a counterfeited prairie lullaby in a colliery town A hip flask and fumbled skein with some stagedoor Josephine is all he'll get now Eyes going in and out of focus Mild and bitter from tuberculosis Forgotten Man Indifferent nation Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station Somebody's calling you again The sky is falling Jimmie's standing in the rain Her soft breath was gentle on his neck If he could choose the time to die Then he would come and go like this Underneath a painted sky She woke up and called him ""Charlie"" by mistake And then in shame began to cry Tarnished silver band peals off a phrase And then warms their hands around the brazier Forgotten Man Indifferent nation Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station Somebody's calling you again It's finally dawning Jimmie's standing in the rain Brilliantine glistening Your soft plaintive whistling And your wan wandering smile Died down at The Hippodrome Now you're walking off to jeers, the lonely sound of jingling spurs, the ""toodle-oos"" and ""Oh, my dears"" down at ""The Argyle"" Vile vaudevillians applaud sobriety There's no place for a half-cut cowboy in polite society Forgotten Man Indifferent nation Waiting on a platform at a Lancashire station Somebody's calling you again It's finally dawning Jimmie's standing in the rain |
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| 3. |
| 4:58 |
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Tempest blows up from a squall
Past the Cape of Bad Conscience into the Gulf of the Cauldron Roars over the coastline to batter and flatten Exposing the roots like in the dyed hair of slattern The scrapper and mauler in a rope ring this small Outside the wind is punchin', there's no one to hear it No one hears the bell ring except the one who comes to fear it And they continue to brawl He's buyin' his way into heaven I suppose He weeps at the blows But down in a location that we cannot disclose He turns the dial slowly Through the Stations of the Cross Crowd done up dandy in diamonds and finery Bayin' and howlin', all blood-lusty callin' Fists like pistons, faces like meat spoilin' Haul, boys, haul, bully-boys, haul Later in the evenin', Molly and her gunman Go down the stairs to the dive like a dungeon Meanwhile in the backroom, there's a girl like a sponge Sayin', "Bring him along as a constable's truncheon" The gunman wants Molly to kingdom come Then blows them all to the hereafter Who's scuttling away now and hidden from our view? Who tightened the tourniquet, turning her blue? They're hurlin' themselves into heaven I suppose Before the gates are closed But down in a location that we cannot disclose They turn the dial slowly Through the Stations of the Cross The gale of hale laughter scales up the ivory Black keys of her fine whine descend into the minor Die away breathless diminishin' behind her Haul, boys, haul, bully-boys, haul The water came up to the eaves You'd think someone had opened a valve It's too soon to stay now and too late to leave So spare your remorse all the way up to Calvary They're hurlin' themselves into heaven I suppose Before the gates are closed But down in a location that we cannot disclose They turn the dial slowly Through the Stations of the Cross Through the Stations of the Cross Through the Stations of the Cross |
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| 4. |
| 2:43 |
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The snitch, the snoop, the tattletale lead a threadbare up the stairs
Adieu, my little ballyhoo, you broke my heart in two And now I haunt the bars and scent those trite affairs She went home to gather her comb and caught him unawares And there was her man enjoying the lay of the land He took a walk in the dark with a dish from the stand Girls and their creations, tight in the brightest grenadine But I'd take all that I've seen for a slow drag with Josephine Josephine, Josephine But I'd trade all that I've seen for A slow drag with Josephine Gavotte, garrotes, Cotillions and slow Arabesques Drum rolls and Farandoles were all made in jest But when you make that move, I can't resist When will you declare your armistice? Josephine, Josephine But I'd trade all that I've seen for A slow drag with Josephine In another time and place, a different fate was cast He tried to skeddle-daddle-do, she might have slapped him Just for saying, "Grant one more chance before you pass Then curse the nurse that named me the first or bury me at last" And in three-quarter time, the true and the false Dancing the 'Hesitation Waltz' Then comes the flirtation and temptation Hip, hip, hooray, listen to what I say Then you can take it away |
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| 5. |
| 4:45 |
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Maybe you'll recognize in time
Maybe one day you will discover All the pain that lies behind You and your unfortunate love Somebody might be more Unsuitable and strange With eyes that offer everything That are capable of danger My mind turns over lies you told Things said to your other lover As sweet as they had been to me You lay there telling them to each other Now I stand outside the door My head is filled phrases Inside someone's calling out Their voices rise in praises Five small words Don't you want me anymore? Five small words Well, who is keeping score? Coward that you are You would faithlessly implore "Baby, please don't leave me Why don't you believe me?" Why did you deceive me? Didn't take some shiny dagger Tattooed fingers grip and hone I walked under stone dark ladder I heard your final loving moan All your indiscretions are So merciful and brief Genteel poison sprinkled on Your Spanish handkerchief Five small words Don't you want me anymore? Five small words Well, who is keeping score? The coward that you are You would faithlessly implore "Baby, please don't leave me Why don't you believe me?" Why did you deceive me? Maybe in time you'll want me more Accidentally like this '45 This '45 |
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| 6. |
| 5:02 |
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She stood spot lit in a plain print dress
Came howling out of the wilderness There beat a cunning and murderous heart Beneath that calm exterior You know my name, you don't know my mind Don't doubt my eyes, they betray the past And I've already forgotten Much more than you will ever know Every word that I have spoken is true Except the ones that have been broken in two Trying to make peace after the long night of pretend Need a pawnbroker or a moneylender Why do you do me down, Mister? Sing "Hallelujah", sister Turn up the volume just to turn it down The trivial secrets buried with the profound It's enough to put a church underground It's enough to put a church underground Deflowered young and then ever since She's tried to wash off his fingerprints So every charlatan and prince Was made to feel inferior She worked for tips in a 10-cent dance Said moving pictures might pay perchance 10,000 one-way tickets to the sparkling coast From the blank interior Everybody's either talking in code Or getting ready to explode And she was singing in a five-piece band Seems that no one really wants this sound Why do you do me down, Mister? Sing "Hallelujah", sister Turn up the volume just to turn it down The trivial secrets buried with the profound It's enough to put a church underground It's enough to put a church underground The shaft of fanlight streaked with rain Poured through the glass, punched through the pain A holy picture hidden in the midden of that poisoned stitch Her lonely voice was just a ruin in these riches She must have been dreaming this all along Could she be redeeming herself in song? I'm no one's martyred, plaster saint Below the grease, beneath the paint I'm rolling like barrel, swinging like a gallows I'm rising up fast like all hell and all hallows Why do you do me down, Mister? Sing "Hallelujah," sister I'll be damned or purgatory bound Before those jokers ever understand It's enough to put a church underground It's enough to put a church underground It's enough to put a church underground |
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| 7. |
| 3:55 |
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The homecoming fanfare is echoing still
Now tapping on tables and sensing a chill Poor families expecting a loved one's return Only son and some charlatan specter, oh, when will they learn? You hung the moon from a gallows in the sky Choked out the light in his blue lunar eye The shore is a parchment, the sea has no tide Since he was taken from my side The lines of the fallen are viewed through the glass You cannot touch them at all Or hear their footfall just as they go past The drunken ground is where they are bound You hung the moon from a gallows in the sky Choked out the light in his blue lunar eye The shore is a parchment, the sea has no tide Since he was taken from my side So slap out his terrors and sneer at his tears We deal with deserters like this From the breech to the barrel, the bead we will level Break earth with a shovel, quick march on the double And lower him shallow like tallow down in the abyss You hung the moon from a gallows in the sky Choked out the light in his blue lunar eye The shore is a parchment, the sea has no tide Since he was taken from my side Since he was taken from my side The homecoming fanfare is echoing still |
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| 8. |
| 3:35 |
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No one looks in this place for motive or any hope
But for the dead shot of an amber glass, the blue light of a votive Rain obscured the window as the pain was dulled by the grains Absolved by spoons in flames and fear in time dissolving It's not for the faint of pulse or anybody false Those amateurs who simply shed their skins So where are those traitors now, we once called patriots? Just like those saints who seem to revel in their sins Oh, my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging After our assassin's work was done The bells and hands were only there for the wringing And we were bringing bullets for the new-born king The trumpet sound lamenting, tramping down the blooms of the deceased The double agent girl and the fallen priest were heading for the border Somewhere in the high command, there stayed the palest hand That saw the order countermand, erased a tape recorder And then they hung him from a window cord Swallow down that voodoo vial and stay your breath a while Before we spill the tale that we have spun And now I shall confide all that I have denied Oh, I'm so sorry for the things I've done Oh, my eyes were filled with tears that were stinging After our assassin's work was done The bells and hands were only there for the wringing And we were bringing bullets for the new-born king |
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| 9. |
| 2:56 |
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I lost you, I lost you
You slipped from your costume Like an actress in this tragedy You're just an apparition in this haunting mystery I fear that you've passed over me And there's nothing I can do because I lost you Just like a rich man who is careless of his change I took you for granted and then you went to strangers From deep within my heart I feel a distant fading pulse A poor woman looking for last coin in her purse I lost you, I lost you You slipped from your costume Like an actress in this tragedy You're just an apparition in this haunting mystery I fear that you've passed over me And there's nothing I can do because I lost you Just like a counterfeit, you pass from palm to palm I chased the one I surely loved to someone else's arms I mislaid my senses, now that's easy to say A fool who took his pleasure and then threw his love away I lost you, I lost you You slipped from your costume Like an actress in this tragedy You're just an apparition in this haunting mystery I fear that you've passed over me And there's nothing I can do because I lost you I lost you I lost you |
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| 10. |
| 3:40 | 
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| 11. |
| 3:37 |
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Raining slapping on the window pane
An hour or more of teeming Storm punching like a hurricane That tore him out of dreaming Air screaming through the slightest gap Rattling between the frame and the sill Drapes hanging from the final act When I had you still One lonely bird is singing Lower the hood hung of his lament Dash him down on cold cement One Bell Ringing Flies buzzing round strip search light They've got him down on his knees He thinks of honey dripping from a spoon Girls whispering in Portuguese Between muzzle and the black site Electrical contact Deny your name and then carry the blame Somewhat after the fact One lonely bird is singing Lower the hood hung on that last lament Dash him down on cold cement One Bell Ringing |
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| 12. |
| 2:31 |
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The spell that you cast
Seems to be wearing off fast (The spell that you cast) Come back baby, cos I don't know if I can last (The spell that you cast) And I wonder whether You got some other kind of lover That you like to please Better than me I don't think I can take it How am I going break it? The Spell That You Cast The spell that you've woven Seems to be coming undone (The spell that you cast) Come back, Baby or at least tell me where you are going (The spell that you cast) 'Cos you know quite well I'm not a jealous kind of feller But they look in your eyes And they're all hypnotized I'm going to miss you madly 'Cos I love you sadly The Spell That You Cast Jimmy come quickly 'cos I feel quite sickly (The Spell That You Cast) You're like a gangster's Molly with a cannonade volley (The Spell That You Cast) I don't think I can take it How am I going break it? The Spell That You Cast |
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| 13. |
| 4:43 |
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I have a friend
She's just a friend I tried to comfort and defend I gave her what you might call advice But nothing like that comes without a price The rumour was a cruel surprise And she dissolved before my eyes I offered my hand and hers and mine entwined I thought about back then when I wished that she had been mine There's no use in shedding any tears He's no good to you the way he is He's beyond forgiving and believing Half of his heart is torn like paper It's sweet as the syrup from the maple But that's not the part of him you're leaving In time they're bound to wonder why It's just a thrill you can't deny I offered my shoulder right away Now people will talk about what I can't say And yet the whispers still persist They're getting harder to resist How am I supposed to stop loving you now I've begun? And I'm sorry for what I might do more than what I have done There's no use in shedding any tears He's no good to you the way he is He's beyond forgiving and believing Half of his heart is filled with pain That's sweet as a lick of sugarcane But that's not the part of him you're leaving Love is a many splintered thing That only cuts roses and ribbons that cling But that's not the part of him you're leaving |
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| 14. |
| 2:31 |
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She attracts dark rumours
Travels in blue and other humours Each time she walks in the room Brings in much more than you'd assume Ooo, I looked in her eyes and out through that window I fell She's My Lovely Jezebel She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well She suspects your sweet confection When you talk in contradictions Then she walks without detection Overrules all your objections Ooo, I looked in her eyes and through that window I fell She's My Lovely Jezebel Man is miserable ape and sad pile of sticks He comes out swinging, gets in a few licks The longest of drumrolls for the shortest of tricks So she attracts bad intentions She distracts all my attention With her ways and her wild inventions The facts of life they forgot to mention Ooo, I looked in her eyes and down through that window I fell She's My Lovely Jezebel She neglects you and then ransacks you so very well |
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| 15. |
| 5:54 |
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Mistreat me darling, and I might just disappear
Upon freighter running dark out of Algiers Put tiny grains in children tears While taking twenty five percent Of all the flashbulbs and mementos From the mechanized divisions rolling over your frontiers I saw my baby talking to a man today Speaking softly in a confidential way I saw a shadow pull his glove off As a bluebird flew over, life's no pleasure When you doubt the one you love Who are all these strangers? I never will go back again, go back into the past For the flood is rising fast You can break your window and look down Into the muddy glass, it's a mirror or a lens to burn Now there was a deal done in Benghazi and Belgrade Upon a scimitar or other crooked blade Ransacks and loots, vacated suits And a pistol points but never shoots An army sitting in a locomotive yard without their boots Upstairs, your man is painting rain out in the street Imagines woman that he's destined still to meet He's trying to sidetrack one to count on Caught somewhere between a countess and a courtesan And it's only love to feign and then it's gone Who are all these strangers? He's a privateer as dusk gets near A brigand after dark, his victim lined with chalk A corsair filled with horsehair to the core Dashed on your eyes of Adamantine You despised his stripling whine That little smudger and the mouthpiece that he's with Using his clause just like a practiced finger smith I dreamed I took his digit prints And then I sewed them on a villain's hands Watched him ransom and demand and then called the flatfoots in I never will go back again, go back into the past The flood is rising fast You can break your window and look down Into the muddy glass, it's a mirror or a lens to burn Who are all these strangers? All these strangers Sat upon a narrow bed Thought about the things she said All these strangers How I wished the night would end Tried to stop the days ahead I'd carve her name down in the wood Some small remembrance if I could |
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| 16. |
| 3:33 |
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You can read right through a book of matches
But that won't make you smart You can laugh in the face of watches But time will only break your heart Kings reign beneath umbrellas Hide pennies down in cellars And money pours down and yet No everyone gets soaking wet When bores and bullies conspire To stamp out your spark Listen for... A Voice In The Dark Not a moment too soon as we blue the moon And a wolf begins to howl in tune I announced for all mankind A boon Stand aside you big baboon Now I'm the a prize invention You're the image of yourself Forget your cares And disapproving stares I'm not here to try to jump your borders Just ask your nieces and daughters I'm flat as sole, I'm happy as a clam But they don't know the kind of man I am Little fish swimming in a jealous shoal Now my net is overflowing And I suddenly seem to be all seeing and all knowing I've got something right there They you need to hear But have no fear Lend a hand Lend an ear If your rent-money is in arrears We'll be striking up a symphony bandstand Long of hair and loose of tooth There'll be pirouettes and startling handstands And who but acrobats know how to tell the truth When is said that then redundant They gallivant in peg-leg pants I'll be your servant You'll be my pal I'll be ever faithful you know I shall There's no fool like an old fool Who blames it all upon his youth When times are tough and you find you're down Without a star to wish upon Just listen for... A Voice In The Dark I was striking through a box of matches Hoping that one would spark I heard somebody calling to me A voice in the dark A sound both wild and gentle Daring and confidential I thought there was music playing But it was all and only talk When liars and bullies conspire to stamp out spark Fill up that empty space in your heart Listen up, when the herald says, "Hark" Believe in just a voice in the dark... |
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