Lizard

King Crimson Lizard Lyrics
1.Cirkus

Night:her sable dome scattered with diamonds,
Fused my dust from a light year,
Squeezed me to her breast, sowed me with carbon,
Strung my warp across time
Gave me each a horse, sunrise and graveyard,
Told me only i was her;
Bid me face the east closed me in questions
Built the sky for my dawn . . .

Cleaned my feet of mud, followed the empty
Zebra ride to the cirkus,
Past a painted cage, spoke to the paybox
Glove which wrote on my tongue-
Pushed me down a slide to the arena,
Megaphonium fanfare.
In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster
Bid me join the parade . . .

'worship!' cried the clown, 'i am a t.i.
Making bandsmen go clockwork,
See the slinky seal cirkus policeman;
Bareback ladies have fish.'
Strongmen by his feet, plate-spinning statesman,
Acrobatically juggling-
Bids his tamers go quiet the tumblers
Lest the mirror stop turning . . .

Elephants forgot, force-fed on stale chalk,
Ate the floors of their cages.
Strongmen lost their hair, paybox collapsed and
Lions sharpened their teeth.
Gloves raced round the ring, stallions stampeded
Pandemonium seesaw . . .
I ran for the door, ringmasters shouted,
'all the fun of the cirkus!'


2.Indoor Games

Indoor fireworks amuse your kitchen staff
Dusting plastic garlic plants
They snigger in the draught
When you ride through the parlour
Wearing nothing but your armour-
Playing indoor games.

One string puppet shows amuse
Your sycophantic friends
Who cheer your rancid recipes
In fear they might offend,
Whilst you loaf on your sofa
Sporting falsies and a toga-
Playing indoor games, indoor games.

Your mean teetotum spins arouse your seventh wife
Who pats her sixty little skins
And reinsures your life,
Whilst you sulk in your sauna
'cos you lost your jigsaw corner-
Playing indoor games, indoor games.

Each afternoon you train baboons to sing
Or swim in purple perspex water wings.
Come saturday jump hopper, chelsea brigade,
High bender-trender it's all indoor games.

No ball bagatelle incites
Your children to conspire,
They slide across your frying pan
And fertilize your fire;
Still you and jones go madder
Broken bones-broken ladder-
Hey ho . . .


3.Happy Family

Happy family, one hand clap, four went by and
None come back.
Brother judas, ash and sack, swallowed aphrodisiac.
Rufus, silas, jonah too sang, 'we'll blow our own
Canoes,'
Poked a finger in the zoo, punctured all the ballyhoo

Whipped the world and beat the clock, wound up
With their share of stock.
Silver rolls from golden rock, shaken by a knock,
Knock, knock.
Happy family, wave that grin, what goes round
Must surely spin;
Cheesecake, mousetrap, grip-pipe-thynne cried out,
'we're not rin tin tin.'

Uncle rufus grew his nose, threw away his circus
Clothes
Cousin silas grew a beard, drew another flask of
Weird
Nasty jonah grew a wife, judas drew his pruning
Knife.
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none
Came back

Happy family, pale applause, each to his revolving
Doors.
Silas searching, rufus neat, jonah caustic, jude
So sweet.
Let their sergeant mirror spin if we lose the barbers
Win;
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none
Came back


4.Lady Of The Dancing Water

Grass in your hair stretched like a lion in the sun
Restlessly turned moistened your mouth with your
Tongue.
Pouring my wine in your eyes caged mine glowing
Touching your face my fingers strayed knowing.
I called you lady of the dancing water.

Blown autumn leaves shed to the fire where you laid
Me
Burn slow to ash just as my days now seem to be.
I feel you still always your eyes glowing
Remembered hours salt, earth and flowers flowing
Farewell my lady of the dancing water.


5.Prince Rupert Awakes

A:prince rupert awakes
Farewell the temple master's bells
His kiosk and his black worm seed
Courtship solely of his word
With eden guaranteed.
For now prince rupert's tears of glass
Make saffron sabbath eyelids bleed
Scar the sacred tablet of wax
On which the lizards feed.

Wake your reason's hollow vote
Wear your blizzard season coat
Burn a bridge and burn a boat
Stake a lizard by the throat.

Go polonius or kneel
The reapers name their harvest dawn
All your tarnished devil's spoons
Will rust beneath our corn.
Now bears prince rupert's garden roam
Across his rain tree shaded lawn
Lizard bones become the clay-
And there a swan is born

Wake your reasons' hollow vote
Wear your blizzard season coat
Burn a bridge and burn a boat
Stake a lizard by the throat.

Gone soon piepowder's moss-weed court
Round which upholstered lizards sold
Visions to their leaden flock
Of rainbows' ends and gold.
Now tales prince rupert's peacock brings
Of walls and trumpets thousand fold
Prophets chained for burning masks
And reels of dream unrolled . . .

B:bolero - the peacock's tale (instrumental)

C:the battle of glass tears
Night enfolds her cloak of holes
Around the river meadow.
Old moon-light stalks by broken ploughs
Hides spokeless wheels in shadow.
Sentries lean on thorn wood spears
Blow on their hands, stare eastwards.

Burnt with dream and taut with fear
Dawn's misty shawl upon them.
Three hills apart great armies stir
Spit oat and curse as day breaks.
Forming lines of horse and steel
By even yards march forward.

D:big top (instrumental)


6.Bolero - The Peacock's Tale


7.The Batle Of Glass Tears


8.Big Top