John Wesley Harding - Bridegroom Blues

Album:

The streets are doing a wardance
As their sight is restored to the blind
And I'm sifting trash on the offchance
That there might be something to find
And Mary lets her fingers do the walking
Her baby's nearly due
She's listening but no-one's talking
At the citizen's advice bureau
And Joe is down on the dole-queue
He should have signed on yesterday
Even if he was a carpenter and she was his lady
He still wouldn't be able to make it pay
No

And he don't believe in Angels
She's been seeing another man
Infidelity runs in the family
But that wasn't a part of the plan
And shepherds watch the flicks by night
At the King's Cross all night show
Something's trying to catch their eyes
But they're too grossed out to know
And the three kings travel like three ships a-sailing
They've got some gifts he'll need
Cocaine for sniffing, money for corruption, and a whole load of videos of I Love Lucy


But the king of the country he's getting frightened
He doesn't want to be another man's pawn
And he crushes the beer can between his hands
He sees his fate, the clown yells Checkmate
And another star is born


But the baby is killed in an instant
As though his whole life were a dream
Though his book sells well and he pulls out the stops
Everyone knows he's a hyped-up hasbeen


And the t-shirts just embarrass
And thought become memories after a while
He's looking so much older now
It's hard to belive that that was style
And he throws his cloak out to his fan
It's his last chance sacrifice
The girls are crawling a cut-glass sea
No-one even wants to look twice
Cos the circle's all but full now
But the stalls are empty for the latest son
Who just smiles and says
Give my regards to Fleet Street, I've gotta run


The streets are doing a wardance
As their sight is restored to the blind
And I'm sifting trash on the offchance
That there might be something to find...