Mysterious Skin

You know I wish I was back in Paris, mate
That was the last time I was really happy
Walking the streets from morning 'till night
In Gare de l'Est station drinking coffee
Watching soldiers duck behind pillars to kiss
The pigeons looking for what the lowlifes might have missed

I waited for
The morning train
The morning train

From Paris to Charlesville-Mezieres
200 miles north of here, through the winter Ardennes
The fields have turned brown earth and frozen farmlands
That you crossed on foot sixteen years old
Sixteen years old,
Just trying to, just trying to poke a hole in the world

And it seems a long way,
It seems, seems such a long way
It seems a long way,
Seems, seems such a long way.
And I promise to be good
I, I, I promise to be good
And it seems a long way,
But not, not such a long way
It seems a long way,
But not, not such a long way

A nineteen year old boy arrives in London, Waterloo
What does he find?
He finds a beautiful, empty building and a big sky in mind

You know, when I was fourteen years old
I slept with a boy who was 21
And out of the clear blue sky the other day
I ran into a mutual friend who told me he's dead and gone
Strange to think
Strange to think he's dead and gone and I'm still here
In London, dreaming of Paris and Charleville-Mezieres
The town where you were born, raised, ran away from
To Paris, to Belgium, to London, across Europe on foot,
Alexandria, into Africa,
Almost gone, almost out,
Almost gone, almost out

Do you ever get the urge to just run,
And get gone, gone?
Do you ever get the urge to just run,
Run, get gone, gone?
And a lot of things get abandoned along the way, don't they
A lot of things get abandoned along the way, don't they
Do you ever get the urge to just run, run,
And get gone, gone?
Do you ever get the urge to just run,
Run, get gone, gone?

Oh, what's a bunny rabbit do?
Hop!
What does an axe do?
Chop!
What d'you do when you see a green light?

Someone told me it was all happening in France
Je parle Francais, pas de chance
Well, excuse my French but here's a story that'll make you laugh
I took a girl - I took a boy -
I took a girl - I took a boy -
I took a girl back the night before last
Did you give her your number? Ha!
I didn't even give her my name

But when she came - When he ca-
When she ca- When he ca-
Oh, he was a pretty little thing
He had blonde hair over his ears
I was hiding in the meth room
When the light burst through the window
It shattered on the mirror
And that's when it all happened
One minute I'm here, the next I disap-
But when he, when he came- When he ca-
When she ca- When, when he came
When he came, when he came, when he, when he finally came
When he came, when he came, when he, when he finally came
And I promise to be good
And a lot of things get abandoned along the way, don't they
When he came, when he came, when he finally came
When he came, when he came, when he finally came
When he finally came,
He came all over me!
All over me!

Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
Sha la di da da
There, there, go to sleep now
There, there, now go to sleep now
There, there, now, go to sleep
Go to sleep now

The Sacred Heart is up on the hill tonight
The Sacred Heart is up on the hill tonight

It's raining tonight in Newcross
Coming down from the dirty purple skies behind the clocks of King's Cross
These streets are on wheels
They turn like the workings of clocks
It's cold in Euston. I wish it was not
I wish I was somewhere I was hot
And I see that photograph of you in Africa
And it's a grainy picture, but there is a figure in the centre
But the face has been obscured and blurred
There's no-one there, yet there is someone
There's no-one there, yet there is someone
There's no-one there, yet there, there's no-one there, yet there is someone

Ooh, la di da x several

And I was in my hotel room in Paris
And all the lights were off
And the window was open and to the view
And I know what I'm gonna do

Ah, ah, ah x lots

I wrote a poet through the streets tonight
I wrote a poet, wrote a poet through the world tonight

You know, I wish I was back in Paris, man
And walking through the Metro station
Dusty shafts of sunlight on the platform
Where it falls through a grate in the pavement
By the fountain at Pigalle
And down the road to Montmartre and the cemetery
The cats and the empty flowerpots and gravestones stare at me
Sheets of rain across a park in Bloomsbury
It knocks the pink blossom of the cherry blossom tree
It forms rivers on the pavement and streams past me
And then
In a darkened room, lost on the weekend,
I may meet the mystery

You know, I hate to leave you here
But I've gotta go
I hate to leave you here in an ugly graveyard in Charlesville-Mezieres
But your shirt's covered in blood
It's speckled on your neck and below your ear
And your mountains are covered in snow
And on the train back from Charlesville to Paris
I wonder if life in London has changed
If a tree falls in a forest,
If a tree falls in a forest..
When I get back, decisions must be made

You know,if you get far enough into
the boys, and the bars, and the booze, and the girls, and the drugs, and the clubs,
and the boys, and the bars, and the booze, and the girls, and the drugs, and the clubs,
boys, the bars, the booze, the girls, the drugs, the clubs

Oh, ain't none of that stuff for you, but
If you play your cards right,
You'll find

That violence won't be far behind
Violence won't be far behind