-Instrumental-

What are you going to say to yourself in the morning
With a song in your heart you know nothing about?
“A hair of the dog”
And you’ll slog through the day…
It’s no wonder you’ll say,
When you’ve got to keep from getting down…

“We painted the town, we painted the town!
… or I really think so…”

Oh what’ll it be?
Straight-no-chaser? A boiler-maker?
I know that it’s been rough today…
And the band’s just starting to play!
It’s time to begin…
You’ll fit right in
Just have another one and it’ll come…
Have another one…

What are you gonna say to yourself when you wake up
And find out your guests have all left you alone?
A moment too soon and you’re out of your room
But you’re still in your gown…
You’ve gotta keep from getting down!

“We painted the town, we painted the town…
Or I really think so….”

But I am just a messenger
You were out of range
You walk across the aisle
I fall off of the stage
I know it’s got to end
I know it’s got to end
But Beatrice you’re just around the bend….

It was all a haze, a literary mess
Sometimes disclaimers are a writer’s best defense…
And were you that blue bird sitting on the fence?
That was out of context
I am out of content too…

And I am just a messenger
You were all the rage…
A recurring theme, you’re there on every page…
I know it’s got to end,
I know it’s got to end,
But Beatrice you’re just around the bend…

I am just a messenger… don’t shoot!
I am just a messenger… don’t shoot the messenger!

It was in the night, my head was on the bar…
You pushed me too far
I pushed you too far too…

And she’s the belle of the ball
But Angelina’s destined to fall…

Angelina, calculating, contemplating Angelina…
Angelina, hesitating… we’re all waiting for Angelina…

And she’s the belle of the ball
But Angelina’s destined to fall…

See her there, her hair all in tangles
Her limbs in opposing angles, Angelina!
Hers was the greatest of numbers!
Now gone, while everyone wonders Angelina…
Can you still hear them roar?
Angelina’s down on the floor….
You can’t see her anymore
Angelina’s down on the floor….

Angelina….

Lay low I may survive
But every lover risks his life while singing, singing
If I go down I’m gonna go down swinging!

Enemies bear gifts to catch your eyes
Their arrows aimed, they’re tipped with hollow lies
Erase their footsteps with their alibis
A clever story or a good disguise…

Look out, they’re at your door!
I’ll take them on and beg for more while singing, singing
If I go down, I’m gonna go down swinging!

Front line mantras ringing “On the move!
Join the ranks or embrace solitude!”
A woman’s love is worth the chance to prove
Twelve labors empty, give me thirty-two

When at war, I can’t complain
Lovers are soldiers, “God bless the campaign!” I’m singing, singing
And if I go down, I’m gonna go down swinging!

-Instrumental-

And Lena you’re no angel
You could drink me beneath the table,
Unbecoming for a mother of forty-three
But it wouldn’t do, to prove a streak of malice in you,
So what’s your plea?

But who will tell, who will tell, who will tell
Lena Baker this time

Ernest Knight, I’d curse the sight of you
For doing the things that you do
You swagger, it’s your way, with a pistol and a temper barely kept at bay
You took her in the mill, you turned the lock and you sprang for the kill,
Was it a thrill? Or a surprise? When you caught that bullet between the eyes?
A grim distinction, but in keeping with the times….
And how time flies!

Judge Worrill what’s the hurry
An all-white, all male jury?
And a case that was tried in a single day…?
Represented by her peers,
She’s serve the better half of 20 years…
But she had to pay…
In your good old fashioned way!

The night that Cuthbert shuttered
At the words that Lena uttered,
She was at peace with the God that gave her life…
And the lights of Cuthbert flickered
And the citizens all snickered “Tonight that Lena Baker fries!”
They strapped her to the chair, a surge went up and through her every hair
Don’t believe the lies…
But it took them three tries!

But who will tell Lena Baker this time…

-Instrumental-

Tout en silence, les têtes tournent ensemble
Quand tu passes, les mains tremblent aussi
Les artistes et charlatans attendent avec espoir
La chance de te voir

Ah Oja, la plus charmante

Je t’en prie, sois à l’heure!
J’attends encore!
Qu’est-ce que je ferais…?
J’attends encore… mais…

Ton image est gravée dans mes yeux
Et ta voix chante dans mes oreilles
Ton nom est dessiné sur mon cœur
Il y sera suspendu toujours

Ah Oja, la plus charmante

Est-ce que je rêve toujours?
Ou est la preuve encore?
Viens, mademoiselle!
Vrai ou faux, oui ou non
Je t’aime…

-Instrumental-

A teacher paid to be so near
A father of the church, it would appear
A noble cause, but blind will lead the blind
A troubled cure for a young and troubled mind…

When our inner demons
Come about
We can let them out…
Or let them in…
And Heloise, where have you been?

But living my philosophy
Confident in man, confident in me
Arguing a point no one could win…
How many fallen angels will dance upon a pin?

The hope of heaven and the fear of hell
An interim, I fear it just as well…
Life and love don’t come with guarantees
Look me in the eye and kiss me Heloise!

When our inner demons
Come about
We can let them out
Or let them in…
And Heloise, Heloise, Heloise
Where have you been?

I lost it all, in a conflict with your kin
Which things define the weaker sex from men…
The first of two profound calamities,
Robbed me of myself, in robbing you from me…

But the rain was pouring on the day we met
A sign perhaps from that great architect
It’s His to give and His to take away…
He did his worst, what else is there to say?

[Instrumental break]

A holy man, a monk, or saint
And a gentle lady lacking in restraint,
May He who made you look upon your sin
Mercifully open up the gates and let you in…

When our inner demons
Come about
We can let them out
Don’t let them in

Like Abelard and Heloise
Abelard and Heloise
Abelard and Heloise
Abelard, Peter Abelard…