City Ghosts Version 1

There was a time, a time for secrets

We'd walk together in the forest, hand in hand

We'd look uneasy, cold and pallid

Then we'd find some magic mushrooms

And we'd skip across the clouds

We danced for the old gods

Danced for the new gods

Danced for the ones we never heard about

Danced for the old days, danced for the new ways

Danced for the phase no one talks about

Tonight I feel nostalgic, feeling happy

And the powder in my pocket's crying,

"Eat me! Eat me! Eat me!"

Could be my age, I could be going crazy.

'Cause I know you feel the same way

I can see it in your eyes.

I got my crown, I got my scepter

Letters on my buttons spell Napoleon

I'll give you money, give you power

I'll give you a palace in the Amazon

Do you think that they'll lock us away?

Padded cells, packet-soup on alternate days?

Maybe we should behave in a normal way

Face facts, face the real world

A shadow rests, suggests no entry

A tramp complains, collapses weeping gently

A figure smiles and shines a blade discretely

And the drains ad-libbed a soundtrack

As he picked his victim out

He sang in the rain, he danced in the thunder

Bowed as we bellowed from the balcony

Stepped on a hand, set fire to a handbag

Slipped as the sparks

Skipped across his knees.

The song decayed in suits of amber

Coughing as they burned in glowing embers

A priest held up his hands, said "It's over."

We nodded wisely

Scooped the ash and cast it to the wind.

We played in the neon, bade out the paeons

Slobbering in tongues to the subway gods

Just like the old days, rituals and red wine

Hair all tangled and covered in blood

Do you think that they'll lock us away?