Momma, do you see what I see On your knees and pray for me Mathilde's come back to me Charley, don't want another beer Tonight I'm gonna drink my tears Mathilde's come back to me Go ask the maid if she heard what I said Tell her to change the sheets on the bed Mathilde's come back to me Fellas, don't leave me tonight Tonight I'm going back to fight Wretched Mathilde's in sight My heart, my heart, stop beating so Just make as if you didn't know That Mathilde's come back to me My heart, I don't want you to say She's lovelier than when she went away Mathilde, whols come back to me My heart, stop being overjoyed Remember you were once destroyed By Mathilde, who's come back to me Fellas, please don't go away Tell me that I mustn't stay Mathilde's coming back today My hands, you'll start to shake again When you remember all the pain Mathilde's come back to me You'll want to beat her black and blue But don't do it, I beg of you Mathilde's come back to me My hands, remember all the years Remember when you caught my tears Mathilde's come back to me My hands, you'll want to touch her now But please try and be strong somehow Mathilde's here, she's coming now, now Momma, can you hear me yell Your baby boy's gone back to hell Mathilde's come back to me Charley, champagne right away I know you've been saving it for the holiday But Mathilde's come back to me Go ask the maid if she heard what I said Tell her to put the best sheets on the bed Mathilde's come back to me My friends, don't count on me no more I've gone and crashed through heaven's door My sweet Mathilde's here Once more, once more
In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who sings Of the dreams that he brings From the wide open sea In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who sleeps While the riverbank weeps With the old willow tree In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who dies Full of beer, full of cries In a drunken down fight And in the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who's born On a muggy hot morn By the dawn's early light
In the port of Amsterdam Where the sailors all meet There's a sailor who eats Only fishheads and tails He will show you his teeth That have rotted too soon That can swallow the moon That can haul up the sails And he yells to the cook With his arms open wide Bring me more fish Put it down by my side Then he wants so to belch But he's too full to try So he gets up and laughs And he zips up his fly
In the port of Amsterdam You can see sailors dance Paunches bursting their pants Grinding women to paunch They've forgotten the tune That their whiskey voice croaks Splitting the night with the Roar of their jokes And they turn and they dance And they laugh and they lust Till the rancid sound of The accordion bursts Then out to the night With their pride in their pants With the slut that they tow Underneath the street lamps
In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who drinks And he drinks and he drinks And he drinks once again He drinks to the health Of the whores of Amsterdam Who have promised their love To a thousand other men They've bargained their bodies And their virtue long gone For a few dirty coins And when he can't go on He plants his nose in the sky And he wipes it up above And he pisses like I cry For an unfaithful love
And if one day I should become A singer with a Spanish bum Who sings for women of great virtue I'd sing to them with a guitar I borrowed from a coffee bar Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you My name would be Antonio And all my bridges I would burn And when I gave them some they'd know I'd expect something in return I'd have to get drunk every night And talk about virility With some old grandmother That might be decked out like a christmas tree And no pink elephant I'd see Though I'd be drunk as I could be Still I would sing my song to me About the time they called me "Jacky" If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way And if I joined the social whirl Became procurer of young girls Then I could have my own bordellos My record would be number one And I'd sell records by the ton All sung by many other fellows My name would then be handsome Jack And I'd sell boats of opium Whisky that came from Twickenham Authentic queens And phony virgins I'd have a bank on every finger A finger in every country And every country ruled by me I'd still know where I'd want to be Locked up inside my opium den Surrounded by some china men I'd sing the song that I sang then About the time they called me "Jacky" If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way Now, tell me, wouldn't it be nice That if one day in paradise I'd sing for all the ladies up there And they would sing along with me And we be so happy there to be Cos' down below is really nowhere My name would then be "Jupiter" Then I would know where I was going Become all knowing My beard so very long and flowing If I became deaf, dumb and blind (was: If I could play deaf, dumb and blind) Because I pitied all mankind And broke my heart to make things right I know that every single night When my angelic work was through The angels and the Devil too Could sing my childhood song to me About the time they called me "Jacky" If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way
Naked as sin, an army towel Covering my belly Some of us blush, somehow Knees turning to jelly Next, next I was still just a kid There were a hundred like me I followed a naked body A naked body follwed me next, next I was still just a kid When my innocence was lost In a mobile army whorehouse Gift from the army, free of cost Next, next Me, I really would have liked A little touch of tenderness Maybe a word, a smile An hour of happiness But, next, next Oh, it wasn't so tragic The high heavens did not fall But how much of that time I hated being there at all Next, next Now I always will recall The brothel truck, the flying flags The queer lieutenant who slapped Our asses as if we were fags Next, ne xt I swear on the wet head Of my first case of gonorrhea It is his ugly voice That I forever hear Next, next That voice that stinks of whiskey Of corpses and of mud It is the voice of nations It is the thick voice of blood Next, next And since the each woman I have taken to bed Seems to laugh in my arms To whisper through my head Next, next All the naked and the dead Should hold each other's hands As they watch me scream at night In a dream no one understands Next, next And when I am not screaming In a voice grown dry and hollow I stand on endless naked lines Of the following and the followed Next, next One day I'll cut my legs off Or burn myself alive Anything, I'll do anything To get out of line to survive Never to be next Never to be next.
If you go away On this summer day Then you might as well Take the sun away All the birds that flew In the summer sky When our love was new And our hearts were high And the day was young And the night was long And the moon stood still For the night bird's song
If you go away
But if you stay I'll make you a day Like no day has been Or will be again We'll sail the sun We'll ride on the rain And talk to the trees And worship the wind
Then if you go I'll understand Leave me just enough love To fill up my hand
If you go away As I know you will You must tell the world To stop turning, turning 'til you return again If you ever do For what good is love Without loving you? Can I tell you now As you turn to go I'll be dying slowly 'til the next hello
But if you stay I'll make you a night Like no night has been Or will be again I'll sail on your smile I'll glide on your touch I'll talk to your eyes That I love so much
But if you go I won't cry Though the good is gone From the word goodbye
If you go away As I know you must There'll be nothing left In this world to trust Just an empty room Full of empty space Like the empty look I see on your face And I'd have been the shadow Of your shadow If it might have kept me By your side
Oh I can see them now Clutching a hankerchief And blowing me a kiss Discreetly asking how How came he died so young Or was he very old Is the body still warm Or is it already cold All doors are open wide They grope around inside At my desk my drawers my trunk There's nothing left to hide Some love letters are there And an old photograph They've laid my poor soul bare And now all they do is laugh
Oh I can see them all So formal and so stiff Like a seargant at arms At a policeman's ball And everybody's pushing To be the first in line Their hearts upon their sleeves Like a ten cent valentine The old women are there Too old to give a damn They've brought along the kids Who don't know who I am They're thinking about the price of my funeral bouquet What they're thinking isn't nice For now they'll have to pay
Oh I see all of you All of my phoney friends Who can't wait for it ends Who can't wait till it's through Oh I see all of you You've been laughing all these years Now all that you have left Are a few crocodile tears Ah you don't even know That you're entering your hell As you leave my cemetary You think you're doing well With that one who's at your side You're as proud as you can be Ah she's going to make you cry But not the way you cried for me
Oh I can see me now So cold and so alone As the flowers slowly die In my field of little bones Oh I can see me now I can see me at the end Of this voyage that I/m on Without a love without a friend Now all this that I see Is not what I deserve They really have a nerve To say these things to me No girls just bread and water And your money you must save For there'll be nothing left for us When you're dead and in your grave
Sons of the thief, sons of the saint Who is the child with no complaint Sons of the great or sons unknown All were children like your own The same sweet smiles, the same sad tears The cries at night, the nightmare fears Sons of the great or sons unknown All were children like your own...
So long ago: long, long, ago...
But sons of tycoons or sons of the farms All of the children ran from your arms Through fields of gold, through fields of ruin All of the children vanished too soon In tow'ring waves, in walls of flesh Among dying birds trembling with death Sons of tycoons or sons of the farms All of the children ran from your arms...
So long ago: long, long, ago...
But sons of your sons or sons passing by Children we lost in lullabies Sons of true love or sons of regret All of the sons you cannot forget Some built the roads, some wrote the poems Some went to war, some never came home Sons of your sons or sons passing by Children we lost in lullabies...
So long ago: long, long, ago
But, sons of the theif, sons of the saint Who is the child with no complaint Sons of the great or sons unknown All were children like your own The same sweet smiles, the same sad tears The cries at night, the nightmare fears Sons of the great or sons unknown All were children like your own...
If you go away On this summer day Then you might as well Take the sun away All the birds that flew In the summer sky When our love was new And our hearts were high And the day was young And the night was long And the moon stood still For the night bird's song
If you go away
But if you stay I'll make you a day Like no day has been Or will be again We'll sail the sun We'll ride on the rain And talk to the trees And worship the wind
Then if you go I'll understand Leave me just enough love To fill up my hand
If you go away As I know you will You must tell the world To stop turning, turning 'til you return again If you ever do For what good is love Without loving you? Can I tell you now As you turn to go I'll be dying slowly 'til the next hello
But if you stay I'll make you a night Like no night has been Or will be again I'll sail on your smile I'll glide on your touch I'll talk to your eyes That I love so much
But if you go I won't cry Though the good is gone From the word goodbye
If you go away As I know you must There'll be nothing left In this world to trust Just an empty room Full of empty space Like the empty look I see on your face And I'd have been the shadow Of your shadow If it might have kept me By your side
If time were not a moving thing And I could make it stay This hour of love we share Would always be There'd be no coming day To shine a morning light And make us realize our night is over
When you walk away from me There is no place to put my hand Except to shade my eyes against the sun That rises over the land I watch you walk away Somehow I have to let you go Cause it's over
If you knew just how I really feel You might return and yet There are so many times That people have to love and then forget Oh there might have been a way somehow I have to force myself to say It's over
So I turn my back, Turn my collar to the wind Move along in silence Trying not to think at all I set my feet before me Walk the silent street before me Now it's over
If time were not a moving thing And I could make you stay This hour of love we share Would always be There'd be no coming day To shine a morning light And make us realize our night is over
Joanna I cant forget the one they call joanna We own the summer hand in hand joanna And now she"s always just a tear awayGoodbye you-you long lost summerLeaving me behind youRepeating things for loversThat may find youI still hang on to every word that dayYou passed my way Joanna you made the man a child again so sweetlyHe breathed your smileLooked in your eyes completely
And on his heart theres still a trace of you I loved you but nothing in this world could make you mineYet still in time joanna ----joanna you may remember me and change your mind----musical break I loved you but nothing in this world could make you mineBut still in time joanna Joanna you may remember me and change your mind
Mama, do you see what I see On your knees and pray for me Mathilde's come back to me Charley, don't want another beer Tonight I'm gonna drink my tears Mathilde's come back to me Go ask the maid if she heard what I said Tell her to change the sheets on the bed Mathilde's come back to me Fellas, don't leave me tonight Tonight I'm going back to fight Wretched Mathilde's in sight
My heart, my heart, stop beating so Just make as if you didn't know That Mathilde's come back to me My heart, I don't want you to say She's lovelier than when she went away Mathilde, who's come back to me My heart, stop beating overjoyed Remember you were once destroyed By Mathilde, who's come back to me Fellas, please don't go away Tell me that I mustn't stay Mathilde's coming back today
My hands, you'll start to shake again When you remember all the pain Mathilde's come back to me You'll want to beat her black and blue But don't do it, I beg of you Mathilde's come back to me My hands, remember all the years Remember when you caught my tears Mathilde's come back to me My hands, you'll want to touch her now But please try and be strong somehow Mathilde's here, she's coming now, now
Mama, can you hear me yell Your baby boy's gone back to hell Mathilde's come back to me Charley, champagne right away I know you've been saving it for the holiday But Mathilde's come back to me Go ask the maid if she heard what I said Tell her to put the best sheets on the bed Mathilde's come back to me My friends, don't count on me no more I've gone and crashed through heaven's door My sweet Mathilde's here Once more, once more
And if one day I should become A singer with a Spanish bum Who sings for women of great virtue I'd sing to them with a guitar I borrowed from a coffee bar Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you My name would be Antonio And all my bridges I would burn And when I gave them some they'd know I'd expect something in return I'd have to get drunk every night And talk about virility With some old grandmother That might be decked out like a christmas tree And though pink elephants I'd see Though I'd be drunk as I could be Still I would sing my song to me About the time they called me "Jacky"
If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way
And if I joined the social whirl Became procurer of young girls Then i would have my own bordellos My record would be number one And I'd sell records by the ton All sung by many other fellows My name would then be handsome Jack And I'd sell boats of opium Whisky that came from Twickenham Authentic queers And phony virgins If I had banks on every finger A finger in every country And every country ruled by me I'd still know where I'd want to be Locked up inside my opium den Surrounded by some china men I'd sing the song that I sang then About the time they called me "Jacky"
If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way
Now, tell me, wouldn't it be nice That if one day in paradise I'd sing for all the ladies up there And they would sing along with me And we be so happy there to be Cos' down below is really nowhere My name would then be Junipher Then I would know where I was going And then I would become all knowing My beard so very long and flowing If I became deaf, dumb and blind (was: If I could play deaf, dumb and blind) Because I pitied all mankind And broke my heart to make things right I know that every single night When my angelic work was through The angels and the Devil too Would sing my childhood song to me About the time they called me "Jacky"
If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way
It's raining today and I'm just about to forget the train window girl That wonderful day we met She smiles through the smoke from my cigarette It's raining today But once there was summer and you And dark little rooms And sleep in late afternoons Those moments descend on my windowpane I've hung around too long Listenin' to the old landlady's hard-luck stories You out of me, me out of you We go like lovers To replace the empty space Repeat our dreams to someone new It's raining today And I watch the cellophane streets No hang-ups for me 'Cause hang-ups need company The street corner girl's a cold trembling leaf It's raining today It's raining today
Mist falls and his voice cracks from the morning Flowers and my body feels like lead Someone should have stopped the birds from singing today Hammers from striking nails into clay
Her face penetrates the blue gray morning Her eyes pregnant pools produce a tear Someone should have shouted you had gone in her ear That summer was stolen away
Such a small love Such a little tear You would laugh so loud If you could see us here
With my one suit Badly pressed and worn Like a child left In the world alone
He speaks I don't hear a word he's saying Hang on to the pine trees and the snow Reach out grab the memories that are left for your hand They'll help you get by for a while
Such a small love Such a little tear Is this all that's left On your cheek so pale
His shallow half lit eyes His rotted teeth grown on Our drunken madman nights Ending up in jail
Midnight mornings Drenched in day-glo red Words colliding Things we left unsaid
Perfumed pillows Girls that clung so near Such a small love Such a little tear