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Mad Tom of Bedlam Lyrics
To see mad tom of bedlam
Ten thousand miles I've travelled
Mad maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel
So well that we sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
I went down to satan's kitchen
For to break my fast one morning
And there I got souls piping hot
All on the spits a-turning
So well that we sing sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
A spirit hot as lightening
Did on that journey guide me
The sun did shake and the pale moon quake
Wherever they did spy me
And it's well that we sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
My staff has murdered giants
And my pack a long knife carries
For they slice mince pies from children's thighs
For which to feed the faeries
So well that we sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
Tonight I'll go a murdering
Tthe man in the moon to a powder
His dog I'll shake and his staff I'll break
And I'll howl a wee bit louder
So well that we sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
To see mad tom of bedlam
Ten thousand miles I've travelled
Mad maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel
So well that we sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
Ten thousand miles I've travelled
Mad maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
For to break my fast one morning
And there I got souls piping hot
All on the spits a-turning
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
Did on that journey guide me
The sun did shake and the pale moon quake
Wherever they did spy me
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
And my pack a long knife carries
For they slice mince pies from children's thighs
For which to feed the faeries
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
Tthe man in the moon to a powder
His dog I'll shake and his staff I'll break
And I'll howl a wee bit louder
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
Ten thousand miles I've travelled
Mad maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live in the air
And they want no drink nor money
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This lady is so amazing!
yea this song's a scary vision of madness
This song is actually part of a loose cycle of anonymous songs from Elizabethan/Jacobean England, based on songs sung by actual homeless lunatics while begging for food, about a madman named Tom O' Bedlam (see references in "King Lear," "The Fisher King," and the comic series "The Invisibles," to name a few) who's been confined to an asylum after losing his mind after being rejected by his girl Maudlin, and is now wandering around the countryside looking for her. She's also looking for him, having regretted her treatment of him. So this is Maudlin's song, and it's a bit scarier than Tom's, but no less amazing.
And this cover? Rocks.