This Vicious Cabaret
[Verse]
E
They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
E
They say that life's a game, then they take the board away
E
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
E
Then leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret...
B D E D E
In no-longer-pretty cities there are fingers in the kitties
D E F E D E D
There are warrants, forms, and chitties and a jackboot on the stair
E B D B D
There’s Sex and death and human grime, in monochrome for one thin dime
B E
At least the trains all run on time but they don't go anywhere
F# B D
Facing their responsibilities, either on their backs or on their knees
B F# B D
There are ladies who just simply freeze and dare not turn a- way
A B C D C A B C D C
And the widows who refuse to cry will be dressed in garter and bow-tie
A B C D C A B A B
And be taught to kick their legs up high in this vicious cabaret
[Chorus]
B A# B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B A# B
The ballet on the burning stage
B A# B
The documentary seen
B A# B
Up on the fractured screen
B A# A
The dreadful poem scrawled upon the crumpled page...
B D E G E
There's a policeman with an honest soul
D E G E
Who’s seen whose head is on the pole
D E D E D E D E
And he grunts and fills his briar bowl with a feeling of unease
[Verse]
A B D B
Then he briskly frisks the torn remains
A B D B
For a fingerprint or crimson stains
A B C D C A B A
And endevours to ignore the chains that he walks in to his knees
C D E F# B E
While his master in the dark nearby inspects the hands, with brutal eye
B E F# B D
That have never brushed a lover's thigh but have squeezed a nation's throat
A B C D C
And he hungers in his secret dreams
A B C D C
For the harsh embrace of cruel machines
A B C D C
But his lover is not what she seems
A B A B
And she will not leave a note
[Chorus]
B A# B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B A# B
The Situation Tragedy
B A# B
Grand Opera slick with soap
B A# B
Cliffhangers with no hope
B A# A
The water-colour in the flooded gallery...
B D E G E
There's a girl who'll push but will not shove
D E G E
And she's desperate for her father's love
D E D G E D E D E
She believes the hand beneath the glove may be one she needs to hold
[Verse]
A B C D C
Though she doubts her host's moralities
A B C D C
She decides she is more at ease
A B C D C
In the Land Of Doing-As-You-Please
A B A B
Than outside in the cold
B E
But the backdrops peel and the sets give way
F# B D
And the cast get eaten by the play
B E
There's a murderer at the Matinee,
F# B D
There are dead men in the aisles
A B D B
And the patrons and the actors too
A B C D C
Are uncertain if the show is through
A B C D C A B A B
And with side-long looks await their cue, but the frozen mask just smiles
[Chorus]
B A# B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B A# B
The torch-song no one ever sings!
B A# B
The curfew chorus line!
B A# B
The comedy divine!
B A# A
The bulging eyes of puppets strangled by their strings!
E
There's thrills and chills and girls galore, sing-songs and surprises!
E
There's something hear for everyone, reserve your seat today!
E
There's mischief and malarkies but no queers or yids or darkies
E
Within this bastard's carnival, this vicious cabaret!