The higher that the monkey can climb
The more he shows his tail
Call no man happy 'til he dies
There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God builds a church
The devil builds a chapel
Like the thistles that are growing
'Round the trunk of a tree
All the good in the world
You can put inside a thimble
And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say about Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world

The higher that the monkey can climb
The more he shows his tail
Call no man happy till he dies
There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God tempers all the winds for the new shorn lambs
The devil knows the bible like the back of his hand
All the good in the world
You can put inside a thimble
And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say about Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

For want of a bird
The sky was lost
For want of a nail
A shoe was lost
For want of a life
A knife was lost
For want of a toy
A child was lost

And misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Everybody row, everybody row
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Everybody row, everybody row
Everybody row, everybody row
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Everybody row, everybody row
Everybody row, everybody row
Everybody row
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Misery's the river of the world
Everybody row, everybody row
Everybody row

Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There's a few things that I never could believe

A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when you're good
And everything goes to hell, anyway

Laissez-faire mi amour, ce la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to sea?
The world don't care what a sailor does in town
It's all hanging in the windows by the pound
I don't believe you go to heaven when you're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway

I only want to hear you purr and to hear you moan
You have another man who brings the money home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Don't ask me what I feel or what I think
There's a few things that I never could believe

A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when you're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway

Everything goes to hell, anyway
Oh, everything goes to hell, anyway

Every night she comes
To take me out to dreamland
When I'm with her
I'm the richest man in the town
She's a rose, she's a pearl
She the spin on my world
All the stars make their wishes on her eyes

She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl

She's a princess in a red dress
She's the moon in the mist to me

She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl

Every night she comes
To take me out to dreamland
When I'm with her
I'm the richest man in the town
She's a rose, she's a pearl
She the spin on my world
All the stars make their wishes on her eyes

She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl

She's a princess in a red dress
She's the moon in the mist to me

She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl
She's my Coney Island Baby
She's my Coney Island Girl

I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life
Marie you are the wild blue sky
Men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

The face forgives the mirror
The worm forgives the plow
The questions begs the answer
Can you forgive me somehow?
Maybe when our story's over
We'll go where it's always spring
The band is playing our song again
And all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
Can we bring back the old days again?
And all the world is green

The moon is yellow silver
On the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green
He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green

I'd sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch
You're out of luck, you're out of luck

Ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking

There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pick
It's a job, it's a job
Bloody moon rising with a plague and a flood
Join the mob, join the mob
It's all over, it's all over
It's all over

There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away on business, business

Godddamn there's always such a big temptation
To be good, to be good
There's always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby
It's a deal, it's a deal

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby
Let her ring, let her ring

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

Bougainvillea's bloom and wind
Be careful mind the strangle vines
The roses climbing through the blind
Cause the sun is on the other side
The bees will find their honey
The sweetest everytime
Around a red rose
I see a red rose
Red rose blooming on another man's vine

Golden Willies gone to war
He left his young wife on the shore
Will she be steadfast everyday?
While Golden Willie is far away
Along the way her letters end
She never reads what Willie sends

I see a red rose
I smell a red rose
A red rose blooming on another man's vine

INSTRUMENTAL

Sun is red, moon is cracked
Daddy's never coming back
Nothing's ever yours to keep
Close your eyes, go to sleep
If I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep

Nothing's ever as it seems
Climb the ladder to your dreams
And if I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep
Nothing's ever yours to keep
close your eyes, go to sleep

Life is whittled
Life's a riddle
Man's a fiddle that life plays on
When the day breaks and the earth quakes
Life's a mistake all day long
Tell me, who gives a good goddamn
You'll never get out alive
Don't go dreaming
Don't go scheming
A man must test his mettle
In a crooked ol' world

Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale

Don't take my word
Just look skyward
They that dance must pay the fiddler
Sky is darkening
Dogs are barking
But the caravan moves on
You tell me, who gives a good goddamn
You'll never get out alive
Don't go dreaming
Don't go scheming
A man must test his mettle
In a crooked ol' world

Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale
Oh we're starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale

As the crow flies
It's there the truth lies
At the bottom of the well
E-o-Leven goes to heaven
Bless the dead here as the rain falls
Don't trust a bull's horn
A doberman's tooth
A runaway horse or me
Don't be greedy, don't be needy
If you live in hope
You're dancing to a terrible tune

Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale
Oh starving in the belly
Starving in the belly
Starving in the belly of a whale

You dance real slow
You wreck it down
Then you walk away you turn around
What did that old blonde gal say?
That is the part you throw away

I want that beggar�s eyes
A winning horse
A tidy Mexican divorce
St. Mary�s prayers, Houdini�s hands
And a barman who always
Understands

Will you loose the flowers
Hold on to the vase?
Will you wipe all those teardrops away from your face?
I can�t help feeling as I close the door
I have done all of this
Many times before

But the bone must go
The wish can stay
The kiss don�t know what the lips will say
Forget I've hurt you
Put stones in our bed
And remember to never
Mind instead

But all of your letters burned up in the fire
And time is just memory mixed with desire
That�s not the road t is only the map, I say
Gone just like matches
From a closed down cabaret

In a Portuguese saloon
A fly is circling around the room
You�ll soon forget the tune that you play
Cause that is the part
You throw away
Oh that is the part
You throw away

INSTRUMENTAL

The ribbon round your neck
Against your skin it's pale as bone
It is my favorite thing you've worn
The band is playing our song
And we won't go home till morn

Well I always play Russian Roulette in my head
Seventeen black, Oh twenty-nine red
How far from the gutter? How far from the pew?
I'll always remember to forget about you

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
And my favorite words are goodbye
And my favorite color is red

A long dead soldier looks out from the frame
No one remembers his war, no one remembers his name
Go out to the meadow, scare off all the crows
It does nothing but rain here, nothing will grow

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
And my favorite words are goodbye
And my favorite color is red
My favorite color is red
My favorite color is red