Flagpole

Have you come here to bore me

have you come here to adore the

bright girls behind the bar

who won’t tell you who they are

to see them carry someone out

too drunk to know his whereabouts

and be sent off home in a taxi

to show the devil where the axe is

It’s not necessary someone says

somewhere in the middle of the mess

he’s gone and left his wife

and what to do now ‘bout his life ?

she’s probably on welfare

or in her old grandparensts’ care

waiting for it to blow over

get back to crimson and clover

       and the barman knows all stories

       brought them from Texas on a lorry

       he's the bright boy on the pinball

       and he oversees us all

       he’s the flagpole that won’t fall

And I’ve seen the artificial sunrise

burning up God’s very eye

right by the pinball machines

singing the praise of Satan’s dreams

in the bloodhot penny arcades

where the poor are on parade

for the lucky headstrong ones to see

I wonder what it means to me

     Refr.



early 1980's