Circus of Life

She's a door without a key

He's a guitar without strings

She was lying wide open

Like a bible on a plinth

Came on like a hellfire preacher

Casting out her ghosts

Fell at the first hurdle

Like a Grand National horse

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

She tried to rearrange him

But his strings were cut loose

He dangled like a puppet

Crumpled and spooked

He's a whiskey-priest

A punctured beast

Another bar room King without his crown

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

Clowns all juggled

Jugglers told jokes

Lion tamers danced

Up on the tightrope

Trapeze girls in the lions' cage

He's got the soul of a lover

But his heart is full of rage

He's a soldier with no rifle

A crook without a job

A blind man cane-less

Now he's walking into walls

He's counting his chickens

The wolves are at the door

He's a convict of love

In his sad sick cell of woe

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

Clowns all juggled

Jugglers told jokes

Lion tamers danced

Up on the tightrope

Trapeze girls in the lions' cage

He's got the soul of a lover

But his heart is full of rage

Things he believed in, he don't anymore

There's a whore in his hallway

The police at the door

He's stranded and helpless

He's shouting in silence

The fruits of the flesh

Are embedded in violence

The lips he once kissed

Are now lips that curse him

And nothing gets better

It only gets worse

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

Clowns all juggled

Jugglers told jokes

Lion tamers danced

Up on the tightrope

Trapeze girls in the lions' cage

He's got the soul of a lover

But his heart is full of rage

He's running from himself, he can never get away

He's masking his feelings with two bottles a day

He's still looking for salvation

In another's arms

They're all out to do you in and do you harm

Oh, circus of life

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

Oh, kingdom of strife

He's out on his own with the sky and the stars

The wind calls her name and the memory scars

He disappears her face with three bottles a day

His stomach is screaming

The landlord wants paid

Where has it got him

Where can he go?

When he's stuck at the bottom

And the ringmaster says

"On with the show"

"On with the show"

"On with the show"

He drinks to remember

He drinks to forget

He drinks for the hell of it

And he's not finished yet

Exhalted in company

Melancholic alone

He's nailed to the bottle

He's soaked to the bone

He drinks when he's lonely and that's quite a lot these days

Top shelf Nirvana, rock bottom final phase

He's trying to fill a hole that can never be filled

The more he digs, the deeper trouble he's in

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life

Oh, kingdom of strife

Oh, circus of life