He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
On the lam from the law
On the steps of the capitol
You shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o'clock
And I saw momentarily
They flashed a photograph, it couldn't be you
You'd been abused so horribly
But you were there in some anonymous room
And I recall that fall
I was working for the government
And in a bathroom stall off the National Mall
How we kissed so sweetly
How could I refuse a favor or two
For a trist in the greenery
I gave you documents and microfilm, too
And from my ten floor tenement
Where once our bodies lay
How I long to hear you say
No, they'll never catch me now
No, they'll never catch me
No, they cannot catch me now
We will escape somehow
Somehow
Ah ah
It was late one night
I was awoken by the telephone
I heard a strangled cry on the end of the line
Purloined in Petrograd
They were suspicious of where your loyalties lay
So I paid off a bureaucrat
To convince your captors they're to secret you away
And at the gate of the embassy
Our hands met through the bars
As your whisper stilled my heart
No, they'll never catch me now
No, they'll never catch me
No, they cannot catch me now
We will escape somehow
Somehow
Ah ah
And I dreamt one night
You were there in fours
Head held high
In uniform
It was ten years on
When you resurfaced in a motorcar
And with the wave of an arm, you were there and gone
On the steps of the capitol
You shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o'clock
And I saw momentarily
They flashed a photograph, it couldn't be you
You'd been abused so horribly
But you were there in some anonymous room
And I recall that fall
I was working for the government
And in a bathroom stall off the National Mall
How we kissed so sweetly
How could I refuse a favor or two
For a trist in the greenery
I gave you documents and microfilm, too
And from my ten floor tenement
Where once our bodies lay
How I long to hear you say
No, they'll never catch me now
No, they'll never catch me
No, they cannot catch me now
We will escape somehow
Somehow
Ah ah
It was late one night
I was awoken by the telephone
I heard a strangled cry on the end of the line
Purloined in Petrograd
They were suspicious of where your loyalties lay
So I paid off a bureaucrat
To convince your captors they're to secret you away
And at the gate of the embassy
Our hands met through the bars
As your whisper stilled my heart
No, they'll never catch me now
No, they'll never catch me
No, they cannot catch me now
We will escape somehow
Somehow
Ah ah
And I dreamt one night
You were there in fours
Head held high
In uniform
It was ten years on
When you resurfaced in a motorcar
And with the wave of an arm, you were there and gone
Lyrics submitted by Imposs1ble, edited by andrew2811, joemama666
The Bagman's Gambit Lyrics as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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^^^^^^^^^^^^I forgot to mention this but, another argument for alliteration ( repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables) being the reason behind calling St. Petersburg "Petrograd" is that "tenth floor tenement" is also an alliteration... And repetition is again found, in the form of consonance, in the repetition of the "all" sound in Recall/Fall/Mall/Stall.
Alliteration and consonance really do help build the memorability of a song and I applaud The Decemberists for doing it in a manner that doesn't seem forced.
Also, I want to add that the reason some people (me included) believe that there is a POSSIBILITY that the lover is a male is because of the connection between bathroom stalls and homosexual sex. A quick search on Google does reveal that this is a widspread connection. In fact, here is a QUOTE from some forum user (not myself!!!) confirming this widespread concept: "I don't know how true it is but .I have a gay guy friend who says that there is a common pick up bathroom in every city .You can just walk in there and have sex with whomever. In Charolotte, it's the downtown bus station, Savannah, it's the ogerthorpe Mall. It's also at a Mall in Columbia (not sure which one) . I heard that the pick up spot in DC is the courthouse." (AGAIN, THAT IS NOT MY COMMENT. I found it via Google.) Another reason that bathroom sex makes people think of homosexuality is because of the Larry Craig scandal. This really imprinted the social consciousness with the idea that bathroom stalls were where gay men go when they want a quick hookup... or tryst. ;)
@harwelr I hate to burst your bubble, but in the final singing of the chorus (at least in the live version, if not others), there is a duet between the main singer and a female one.