image Gallows And A Hanging Man We’re on high stools in a sidewalk café in a run-down part of town, My heart’s pumping like a punk band’s kick-drum but I’m holding that feeling down, There was a time she said she used to ache for me in all the secret places of her heart, But now her smile feels like enemy fire and it’s tearing me apart. She’s dressed in tight brown jeans and a hooker’s blouse, And talking’s pointless ‘cos the jukebox is playing so loud, And there’s firecrackers going off somewhere outside. When she said hello today I knew she meant goodbye…………. The clientele’s a real freakshow, the place smells of stale parmesan, She’s blowing menthol cigarette smoke in the direction of the ceiling-fan. The fruit-machine’s paying out a jackpot, I guess it’s someone’s lucky night, She orders a grenadine and soda and I ask her if she’s alright. There’s a wine-bar across the street called the Sweet Lady Jane, With a flashing neon sign of flapper girls drinking champagne. And on a coaster I drew a gallows and a hanging man, I said Let’s do something tomorrow, she said Look, I don’t know if I can………. When I make it back from the washroom she says she’s ready to go, The barman works the tab out, he reminds me of Fidel Castro, He can’t tear his eyes from her neckline, the bill keeps coming out wrong, I made the walk to the door last as long as I could, I didn’t want to say s’long, There’s a rattle of thunder and I make one last try, “How ‘bout a film? There’s a Tarantino double-bill close by?” And I watch her disappear round the corner of the Euromart, And those flapper girls are raising a toast to my broken heart…… [ Back ]