Damn it all—everything
But the circus

Wonder who said that?
Somebody told us what we wanted to be
It was candy for the mind
Look behind them—you’ll see
It was circusy

It was hi diddle diddle
It was cat and the fiddle
It was safe as can be
It was right down the middle
It was fantasy—fantasy galore
It was everything we ever wanted
It was that and so much more

Who was it that said—damn it all
Damn everything—but the circus




Lyrics submitted by sillybunny

Hi Diddle Dee Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) song meanings
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    General Comment

    from The Best Of Word Jazz, Vol. 1... by Tom Waits 1990)

    Ken Nordine, yea I know that guy, I heard his voice 1000 times, he's the guy in the bus station that says "go ahead I'll keep an eye on your stuff for you," and you see him the next day walking around town wearing your clothes. He broadcasts from the boiler room of the Wilmont Hotel with 50,000 watts of power. I know that voice, he's the guy with the pitchfork in your head saying go ahead and jump, and he's the ambulance driver who tells you you're going to pull thru. He's the guy in the control tower who talked you down in a storm with a hole in your fuselage and both engines on fire. I heard him barking thru the Rose Alley Carnival strobe as samurai firemen were pulling hose. Yea he's the dispatcher with the heart of gold, the only guy up this late on the suicide hotline. Ken Nordine is the real angel sitting on the wire in the tangled matrix of cobwebs that holds the whole attic together. Yea Ken Nordine, he's the switchboard operator at the Taft Hotel, the only place in town you can get a drink at this hour. You know Ken Nordine, he's the lite in the icebox, he's the blacksmith on the anvil in your ear.

    sillybunnyon September 02, 2006   Link

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