Artist: Jethro Tull Album: Crest Of A Knave {1987}

As the moon slips up and the sun sets down
I'm a high-rise jockey and I'm heaven-bound
Do the workboot shuffle, loose brains from brawn
I'm a monkey puzzle and the lid is on

Can you guess my name, can you guess my trade
I'm going to catch you anyway
You might be right, I'll give you guesses three
Feel me climbing up your knee
Guess what I am - I'm a steel monkey

Now, some men hustle and some just think
And some go running before you blink
Some look up and some look down
From three hundred feet above the ground

Well, can you guess my name, can you guess my trade
Well, I won't rest before the world is made
Arm in arm the angels fly
Keep me from falling out the sky
Steel monkey, steel monkey, steel monkey

I work in the thunder and I work in the rain
I work at my drinking and I feel no pain
I work on women, if they want me to
You can have me climb all over you

Now, have you guessed my name, have you guessed my trade
I'm cheap at the money I get paid
In the sulfur city, where men are men
We bolt those beams then climb again
I�m a steel monkey

Nine miles of two-strand topped with barbed wire
Laid by the father for the son
Good shelter down there on the valley floor
Down by where the sweet stream run
Now they might give me compensation
That's not what I'm chasing, I was a rich man before yesterday
Now all I have got is a check and a pickup truck
And I left my farm on the freeway

They're busy building airports on the south side
Silicon chip factory on the east
And the big road's pushing through along the valley floor
Hot machine pouring six lanes, at the very least
Now, they say they gave me compensation
That's not what I'm chasing, I was a rich man before yesterday
Now all I have left is a broken-down pickup truck
Looks like my farm is a freeway

They forgot they told us what this old land was for
Grow two tons the acre, boy, between the stones
This was no Southfork, it was no Ponderosa
But it was the place that I called home
They say they gave me compensation
That's not what I'm chasing, I was a rich man before yesterday
And what do I want with a million dollars and a pickup truck
When I left my farm under the freeway

In the dark of the city backwoods something stirs then slips away
Law and order in darkest Knightsbridge, crime and punishment at play
Hey, Mr. Policeman, won't you come on over
Hook me up to the power lines of your love
Jump start or tow me away
Jump start or tow me away

Through the bruised machinery, the smoking haze of industry
Another day with ball and chain, I do my time, then home again
Hey, Mrs. Maggie, won't you come on over
Hook me up to the power lines of your love
Jump start or tow me away
Jump start or tow me away

Oh, should I blame the officers or maybe I should blame the priest
Or should I blame the poor foot soldier who's left to make the most from least
Hey, Jack Ripper, won't you come on over
Hook me up to the power lines of your love
Hook me up to the power lines of your love
Jump start or tow me away, yeah
Jump start or tow me away

You can blame the newsman talking at you on the satellite T.V.
And if you're fighting for your shipyards, you might as well just blame the sea
Hey, Mr. Weatherman, come on over
Hook me up to the power lines of your love
Jump start or tow me away
Jump start or tow me away

She said she was a dancer - if I believed it, it was my business
She surely knew a thing or two about control
Next to the bar we hit the samovar, she almost slipped right through my fingers
It was snowing outside and in her soul

Well, maybe you're a dancer and maybe I'm the King of Old Siam
I thought it through, best to let the illusion roll
I wouldn't say I've never heard that tale before, my, my frozen little se�orita
But if your dream is good, why not share it when the nights are cold

Hey Moscow, what's your story
Lady, take your time, don't hurry
Maybe a student of the agricultural plan
Hey Moscow, what's your name
If you don't want to say, don't worry
It would probably be hard for me to make it scan

With her phrase book in her silk soft hand she spoke in riddles while the vodka listened
I said, "Let me look up love, if I might be so bold."
She was the nearest thing to rock and roll that side of the velvet curtain
That separates Eastern steel from Western gold

Hey Miss Moscow, what's your story
You needn't speak aloud, just whisper
Am I just the closest thing to an Englishman
You've seen me in your magazines
Or maybe on state television
I'm your Pepsi cola, but you won't take me out the can
She said she was a dancer, so she did

She said she was a dancer - if I believed it, it was my business
It felt like a merry dance that I was being led
So I stole one kiss, it was a near miss, she looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper
She leaned in close. "Goodnight," was all she said
So, I took myself off to bed

You ever had a day like I had today, when things are stacked up bad
Yeah, you look around and every face you see seems guaranteed to send you mad
And you peer into those hallowed institutions and they bark at you from every side
But the bite goes wide

I see them running with their tails hanging low like dogs in the midwinter
Well, the prophets and the wise men and the hard politicos are all dogs in the midwinter
Let the breath from the mountain still the pain
Clear water from the fountain runs sweeter than the rain
Dogs in the midwinter, dogs in the midwinter

The bossman and the taxman and the moneylenders growl like dogs in the midwinter
The weaker of the herd can feel their eyes and hear 'em howl like dogs in the midwinter
Though the fox and the rabbit are at peace
Cold doggies in the manger turn last suppers into feasts
Dogs in the midwinter, dogs in the midwinter

You ever had a day like I had today - dogs in the midwinter
Yeah, you look around and every face you see - dogs in the midwinter
And you peer into those hallowed institutions and they bark at you from every side
But the bite goes wide

We're all running on a tightrope, wearing slippers in the snow, we're all dogs in the midwinter
Well, the ice is ever thinner, be careful how you go like dogs in the midwinter
And it's hard to find true equilibrium
When you're looking at each other down the muzzle of a gun
Dogs in the midwinter, dogs in the midwinter

I think she was a middle-distance runner, the translation wasn't clear
Could be a budding stately hero - international competition in a year
She was a good enough reason for a party, well, you couldn't keep up on a hard track mile
While she ran a perfect circle and she wore a perfect smile
In Budapest, hot night in Budapest

We had to cozy up in the old gymnasium, dusting off the mandolins and checking on the gear
She was helping out at the back-stage, stopping hearts and chilling beer
Yes, and her legs went on for ever - like staring up at infinity
Through a wisp of cotton panty along a skin of satin sea
Hot night in Budapest

You could cut the heat, peel it back with the wrong side of a knife
Feel it blowing from the sidefills, feel like you were playing for your life if not the money
Hot night in Budapest

She bent down to hold the ice box, she stuffed some more warm white wine in
Like some weird unearthly vision wearing only T-shirt, pants and skin
You know, it rippled, just a hint of muscle, but the boys and me were heading west
So we left her to the late crew and a hot night in Budapest, oh, oh, oh
It was a hot night in Budapest

She didn't speak much English language
She didn't speak much anyway
She wouldn't make love, but she could make good sandwich
She poured sweet wine before we played
Hey, Budapest - cha, cha, cha
Let's watch her now

I thought I saw her at the late night restaurant, she would have sent blue shivers down the wall
Yeah, but she didn't grace our table, in fact, she wasn't there at all
Yeah, and her legs went on forever - like staring up at infinity
Her heart was spinning to the westlands and she didn't care to be
That night in Budapest, it was a hot night in Budapest
Hot night in Budapest, hot night in Budapest, hot night in Budapest
Hot night in Budapest, hot night in Budapest, hot night in Budapest
Hot night in Budapest, hot night, hot night in Budapest, hot night in Budapest

The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in the night
A thin moon slips behind them as they pull the net with no betraying light
And later on the coast road, I meet them and the old man winks a smile
Hey, and who am I to fast deny the right to take a fish once in a while
I walk with them, they wish me luck when I ship out on the Sunday from the kyle
And from the church I hear the singing as the ship moves sadly from the pier
Oh, poacher's daughter, Sunday best, two hundred brave souls share the farewell tear

Well, there's a house on the hillside where the drifting sands are born
Lay down and let the slow tide wash me back to the lands where I came from
Where the mountain men are kings
And the sound of the piper counts for everything

I did my tour, did my duty, I did all they asked of me
Died in the trenches and at Alamein, died in the Falklands on T.V.
Going back to the mountain kings
Where the sound of the piper counts for everything

Long generations from the Isles
Sent to tread the foreign miles
Where the spiral ages meet
Felt naked dust beneath their feet
Future sun called winds to blow
And the past and present hard-eyed crow
Flew hunting high and circling low
Over blackened plains of Eden

There's a child and a woman praying for an end to the mystery
Hoping for a word in a letter, fair wind-blown from across the sea
To where the mountain men are kings
And the sound of the piper counts for everything

There's a house on the hillside, where the drifting sands are born
Lay down and let the slow tide wash me back to the lands where I came from
Where the mountain men are kings
And the sound of the piper counts for everything
Where the real mountain men are kings
And the sound of that piper counts for everything

Feel the naked dust beneath my toes
While the future sun calls winds to blow
And the past and present black-eyed crow
Flies hunting high and circling low
Between dream mountains of our Eden

As I wake up in a room somewhere
Dawn light not yet showing
There's just a thin horizon between me and her
The edge of a half-dream glowing

Well, you know, I felt her in my dream last night
Strange how the sheets are warm beside me
Now, how do I catch the waking edge
As it slips to the far and wide of me

Hey, didn't I try to hold it down
Freeze on the picture, hang sharp on the sound
Catch the waking edge another time

Familiar shadows in my hotel room
Are still here for the taking
They seem to linger on as the street lights fade
And the empty dawn is breaking

Hey, didn't I try to hold it down
Freeze on the picture, hang sharp on the sound
Catch the waking edge another time

Private movie showing in my head
What button do I press for rerun
And how do I catch the waking edge
The edge of a dream about someone

Well, you know, I felt her in my dream last night
Now the sheets are cold beside me

Over high plains, through the snow
Roll those tracks out, don't you know I'm raising steam
Thin vein creeping, hot blood flow
Spill a little where the new towns grow
I�ve got my whole life hanging in a sack
Heading out into that wide world wide
You got your locomotive sitting on your track
And I don't care which way I ride
I may not be coming back

Left a lady with a heart
All in pieces come apart, raising steam
That engine up front must
Have a heart big enough for the both of us
Riding shotgun on the sunset, stare it in the eye
Rocking on my heels out to the west
Funny how the whole world, historically
Feels the urge to chase the sun to rest
We may not be coming back

Let me be your engineer
Have you smiling ear to ear, raising steam
And will you tell me how it feels
When you're up and rolling on your driving wheels
I got my whole life hanging in a sack
Heading out into that wide world wide
I'll be your locomotive blowing off its stack
And I don't care which way I ride
I may not be coming back

Raising steam, raising steam, raising steam
I�m raising steam, raising steam, raising steam
Raising steam, raising steam