Rows of lights in a circle of steel
Where you place your bets on a great big wheel
High windows flickerin' down through the snow
A time you know
Sights and sounds of the people goin' 'round
Everybody's in step with the season

A child is born to a welfare case
Where the rats run around like they own the place
The room is chilly, the building is old
That's how it goes
The doctor's found on his welfare round
And he comes and he leaves on the double

Deck The Halls was the song they played
In the flat next door where they shout all day
She tips her gin bottle back till it's gone
The child is strong
A week, a day, they will take it away
For they know about all her bad habits

Christmas dawns and the snow lets up
And the sun hits the handle of her heirloom cup
She hides her face in her hands for a while
Says look here child
Your father's pride was his means to provide
And he's servin' three years for that reason

Rows of lights in a circle of steel
Where you place your bets on a great big wheel
High windows flickerin' down through the snow
A time you know
Sights and sounds of the people goin' 'round
Everybody's in step with the season


Lyrics submitted by redundantman

Circle of Steel Lyrics as written by Gordon Lightfoot

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Circle of Steel song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    Game of life, where the losers lose their life, in a figurative sense.

    Using a roulette wheel and a time for giving (Christmas) to show the plight of the poor. The father's in prison for stealing to provide. Jean Valjean! No one cares, no one gives a damn, and this is how the poor are treated year around. . .expecially when it's Christmas time!

    sammyblueon June 20, 2006   Link

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