The Last Big Top

MP3 Audio File

[Spoken, perhaps over music, a beat, or percussion:]
Julie, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt.
I want to move my feet
like I’ve never moved them before.
Look at that little bird there, dancing on that branch!
I want to move my feet and flap my wings
like that little bird there.
Look out, Julie, I’ve got popcorn in my pants!

[Song begins]
Prelude intro:
I was trudging through the days
Lost and lonely in the maze
Then it happened, big top spinning
No more losing, let’s start winning!

They say it was discovered way down in Mexico
In a dark and dangerous cave with flying bats and guano
I don’t know if that’s some wild yarn from above
But I bless that day and I swear it must be loooooooove!

Chorus:
There’s popcorn,
Popcorn in my pants
Got my crazy legs a movin’,
Jumpin’ like there’s ants
But it’s popcorn
From my waist down to my toes
Yes it’s popcorn
The hull’s ‘bout to explode

You can take your jumping beans
and throw ‘em in the sea
Cotton candy, peanuts are not the treats for me.
I’m flying through the night and landing just to dance
Shake that thang with joy sublime
and popcorn in my pants

Bridge:
Five’s too low, let it go
Turn that heat to ten
Six is bleak, way too weak
Turn that heat to ten
Seven’s better, don’t upset her
Turn that heat to ten
Eight is close, heaven knows
Turn that heat to ten!
Nine’s gettin’ there, feet beware
Turn that heat to ten!
Heat’s been turned to ten!
Heat’s been turned to ten!

There’s popcorn,
Popcorn in my pants
Got my crazy legs a movin’,
Jumpin’ like there’s ants
But it’s popcorn
From my waist down to my toes
Yes it’s popcorn
The hull’s ‘bout to explode

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MP3 Audio File

An elephant came calling
A big and wondrous creature
It filled my world with magic
It pulled me from my tomb.
With excitement, awe and fire
I spent my days beside her
Lifting me high, then higher.
The elephant in the room

In time my mind would wander
Through storms of agitation
I lost her in a blizzard
And was blinded by the gloom
I couldn’t hear the rain
I did not feel the wind
I could not see the sky
Or the elephant in the room

Then one day dawned like a candle
And with it warmth and hope
At last I returned
My former life I did resume
But something was missing
So I set out to retrieve it
Following the footprints
Of the elephant in the room

The bridges that I crossed
Seemed to lead to nowhere
The hope that I had felt
Seemed to lose its bloom
So I gave up on the footprints
And went back to my home
And there it was; it never left
The elephant in the room

In time my mind would wander
Through storms of agitation
I lost it in a blizzard
And was blinded by the gloom
So I gave up on the footprints
And went back to my home
And there it was; it never left
The elephant in the room

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MP3 Audio File

Hey what's that pole
Lightning struck that pole
And left a hole

Hey where's that pole
Down at the graveyard
You can't miss it

Could've got buried in a mudslide
Killed by a jealous lover
Drowned in a river

But this one has a mark
And that pole was his mark
It was Charlie's mark

The show must go on
And if those three are gone
We'll know about them

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MP3 Audio File

It's a blast and it won't take long
So hold fast - cut loose and come along
I don't care what's real or not
I'll just stare at the Hottentot

You've all been bored and complaining all day
Couldn't care less what anyone says
So you should do fine at the heart of the fray
Just take a look, take a look, take a look, take a look... hey!

So we go into the big top
And we know that our heart might stop
We look up at the flying ace
And look out at the frantic pace

The do what they do and they love it too
They want you to know that they do it for you
the could be Houdini or Jesus Alou
Take a look, take a look, take a look.... hey!

(Let's go see the peanut man)

It's a blast and I told you so
It's a blast and I want you to know
And we'll go and we'll go and we'll go and we'll go
And we'll do it all 'til we can't do it more

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MP3 Audio File

She got a bright red jacket
A black top hat
Long leather boots
And shiny satin pants
She’s a spitfire whip-cracking
Amazon queen
The Ringmaster of the Circus of Love
She got blood red lips
And violet eyes
A temptress smile
A promise and a lie
Skin as smooth as a
Porcelain dream
The Ringmaster of the Circus of Love

Chorus
In ring number three is the flying trapeze
The high wire act and the chimpanzees
In ring two are the lions, tigers and bears
The lion tamer left but nobody cares
And there in the one ring, at the center of it all
She stands straight and she stands tall
She spins around on a pedestal of mirrors
And cracks her whip so everyone can hear

I ran away
To join the circus
But something’s going on
Just beneath the surface
I gave her my soul, oh heavens above, to
The Ringmaster of the Circus of Love
The Ringmaster of the Circus of Love

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MP3 Audio File

Oh come little man from Fishkill
With your belligerence and your whip
Now you have me where you want me
As I watch for just one slip

You stand there in your toga
They call you Lion King
But I know what you really are
With all the pain you bring

Chorus:
I wait with furied patience
As the beatings feed my rage
Your lord may have saved Daniel
But he’s nowhere near this cage

The hunger drives me crazy
Blows worsen my condition
Your eyes filled with power
As you bring me to submission

Crowbar in one hand, bible in the other
You enter thru my door
In time I lick your boots
As I crouch there on the floor

Chorus

You say your good book gives you
Dominion over all
As the big tent fills with gawkers
Who want to see me crawl

Not a breath is heard as you open the jaws
Of a creature you never asked
One day the view from the lion’s maw
Will be your very last

Chorus

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MP3 Audio File

On a couple of infinite cosmic strings
And a metallic hydrogen bar
She flew across the big top sky
From a place neither near nor far
With bangles and spangles and fractals and angles
She was clothed in equations and dreams
And I gave my heart to her that night
To that thing on the flying trapeze

Chorus
First you come closer then you fly away
Faster than light through the air
If you have lips, maybe one day we’ll kiss
For a split second suspended there

Of course I’m afraid of you being so strange
But the heart is a vexatious beast
That leads me across this event horizon
To the singularity’s heat
Quantum entangled the charms that you dangle
Have me under your spell
Maybe you just want to suck out my brain
It’s yours for the taking, O can’t you tell?

Chorus

Matter don’t matter ‘cause we’re something else
We’re sailing on particle beams
The bosons are singing, the quarks they are ringing
With color, and strange and charm and gleam
Eleven dimensions just may be enough
With a couple of extra, yes please
I’ll go anywhere in the infinite worlds
For that thing on the flying trapeze
I’ll go anywhere, be it Heaven or Hell
With that thing on the flying trapeze
That thing on the flying trapeze

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MP3 Audio File

Did it seem like a spotlit dream?
Or a sickness that stole their sight,
Still they gasped, and their eyes did gleam
As they took it all in every night

And Barnum never really saw them as suckers
Just a crowd all bored to tears
With their jobs, or their folks, or the pigshit muckers
They just needed an hour away from here

Chorus:
The last big top will be struck today
Though the strikers will have nothing more to say
No more will it spin, and no more hum
But fall on its side and fade away

There’s no need for subtlety here
Or trumped up professions of glory
We’re just going to sell them some magic and fear
For the cost of a dime-novel story

If they folded in ‘56
The buck couldn’t bring ‘em back alive
And the toy outfit’s toy had no tricks
But a donut box in a suburban drive

Chorus

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MP3 Audio File

The final show was over
The big tent was torn down
Said our goodbyes; some people cried
And everybody was running around
I lit a candle
Watched it burn for hours
Old friends walked by
As we pulled out
Then I heard that sound

Big black bell, let the tolling wash over me
May the birds fly high in a cloudless sky
Let the water flow
Big black bell, was there ever a sound so sweet?
When I make my peace, when I find my sight
When the last big top spins out into the night
When the last wagon rolls

I gave you some thrills and made you laugh
With the biggest show under the sun
Sometimes the days weren’t filled with joy
But we had a decent run
At the end I lit a candle
Watched it burn for hours
Old friends walked by
As we pulled out
Then I heard that sound

Big black bell, let the tolling wash over me
May the birds fly high in a cloudless sky
Let the water flow
Big black bell, was there ever a sound so sweet?
When I make my peace, when I find my sight
When the last big top spins out into the night
When the last wagon rolls

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MP3 Audio File

The one with the butterflies, that faded dress,
Was always the one I liked the best
And that was the one you wore that morning
When they brought us in to give the warning
Like a punch in the gut when the news came
We’re gonna join the circus; we’re gonna stop the pain

How many years to build a life
And have it slashed with a fateful knife
We rode through streets that once were kind
And now were littered with fun house lies
The storm was building, thunder and rain
We’re gonna join the circus; we’re gonna stop the pain

Joining the circus, leaving this behind
Laughing with the strong man and his bearded wife
Flying through space with the greatest of ease
From planet to planet on a solar trapeze

Staring at the sky, praying for some order
Holding you close at the zig zag border
As it tore and slashed and ripped around
With fading light and a crashing sound
Shrieking out at someone to blame
We’re gonna join the circus; we’re gonna stop the pain

Bridge:
Face the storm
The burning lash
Crimson sunset
Calm at last

When that day dawns to take our rest
We won’t love this world any less
Who’d ever guess that we would find
A way to be happy and a way to be kind
Raise your hands; break the chains
We’re gonna join the circus; we’re gonna stop the pain

Joining the circus, leaving this behind
Laughing with the strong man and his bearded wife
Flying through space with the greatest of ease
From planet to planet on a solar trapeze
We’re gonna join the circus; we’re gonna stop the pain
We’re gonna join the circus and stop the pain

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MP3 Audio File

Seems Oberon Zell
had this crazy, crazy thought
What the world needs now
Is something like a Lancelot
So he helped himself
to Belle’s first born
And awhile later had a unicorn

Lance wandered up to a
Brothers Ringling tent
Where sweet Heather Harris
Took that poor thing in
She fed him hay and made some plans
Then introduced him
to his (newfound) fans

Chorus:
Outside town at the B and B
And B and B
They’re cooking up crazy dreams
for you and for me
How many kids had to go around
So that Lancelot could come to town?

There were some dismal folks
Who weren’t any too happy
Thought the circus should stop
Once and for all
And they better make it snappy
Felt they should speak
for those that can’t
For the dingo and the donkey
and the goat and the ant

If Lancie were here today,
you know that they oughta
Use his mighty mystical powers
to save the water
Bring him up to Flint
the way they should
Where his magic horn
coulda done some good

Chorus

Stitchin' up those precious little nubs
Sure did cause a big bad hubbub
Some say he’s real;
some say he’s fake
Some say they made a big mistake

Is a unicorn made or
is a unicorn born?
Who really cares
As long’s it’s got one horn
Lance lived out his days
with his pointy dome
At the unicorn retirement home

Chorus

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MP3 Audio File

They called her Little Miss One Five Six Five
She was lost in the smoke and the flame
On a bright Summer day in Forty Four
Death came to the Big Top that day

Six thousand made for the exits
As the band played Stars and Stripes
The fire rained down from the canvas
And dozens of rubes fell and died

How quickly joy turns to horror
As death roars in like a beast
How a day that should have been bright as a dream
Ends in wailing and grief

There goes poor Weary Willie
With a single bucket in hand
Still in his clown face makeup
He only does what he can

Six thousand made for the exits
As the band played Stars and Stripes
The fire rained down from the canvas
And dozens of rubes fell and died

How quickly joy turns to horror
As death roars in like a beast
How a day that should have been bright as a dream
Ends in wailing and grief

And yet Little Miss One Five Six Five
Was found with barely a mark
Her breath stolen by the panicked mob
She was left all alone in the dark

Six thousand made for the exits
As the band played Stars and Stripes
The fire rained down from the canvas
And dozens of rubes fell and died

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MP3 Audio File

Ladies and gentlemen and none of the above
From Mercury please welcome Swan
As she reveals her astonishing visions
From the asteroids she’s been on

And over here, direct from Venus
Mr. Napier will amaze
With feats of daring; you can bet

A fair damsel will be saved

Chorus:
Come see The Space Circus Follies
Tralfamadorians and more
Be amazed at that thing on the flying trapeze
And old Lancelot the unicorn

And in ring number three, if you please
A showcase of beauty and sweat:
Direct from their latest tour of Mars
The Bradbury City Rockettes!

From Jupiter comes Gerry Carlyle
Toe to toe with her fierce thunder dragon
See them tango with flair in a fiery whirl
In the cage on her flying space wagon

Chorus
Come see The Space Circus Follies
There’s Vogon and Daleks and more
Be amazed at that thing on the flying trapeze
And old Lancelot the unicorn

Now turn your attention, dear patrons
To the gasbag at center stage
From the good ship Ringmaster and Cirocco Jones
On Saturn; it’s the latest rage!

And fresh from lovely Uranus
The planet that’s better than best
Join Buck Rogers fighting Cybermen robots
For our last act; it’s truly the best!

Chorus
Come see The Space Circus Follies
There’s Andorians and Goa’uld galore
Be amazed at that thing on the flying trapeze
And old Lancelot the unicorn

Come to The Space Circus Follies
Hear Ambiguous Puzumas roar
Be amazed at that thing on the flying trapeze
And old Lancelot the unicorn

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MP3 Audio File

We sent the clowns out
And so now they're flush
And our tent's a memory
And our show a bum's rush

We'll just take our time
No act to tune
We had lots of laughs
That ended too soon

chorus:
It's a poster of things too bright
And weapons that could only go slow
And though we left the spotlight
Our heads hold the noise of the show

(the future it came too fast)

Let's get back in touch each year
And open our chests
The hats, and whips, and the paint
The stories and all the rest

It really is rich
Those clowns and their plan
When they finally folded
Was when we stood most grand

chorus

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MP3 Audio File

Batholomew the barker had a very bad day
He forgot all the words he was going to say
His mind was blank, his tongue was tied
To say the least it was a shocking surprise
Standing outside that peep-show tent
Bartholomew the barker turned a very bright red

With the gift of gab and a showman’s flair
Bart could weave a sentence from the very air
Metaphors were easy, his similes were swell
He could toss bon mots like ringing a bell
But now he`s in a pickle, now he`s up a creek
Words have finally failed him and he can’t speak

Chorus
What you got to say?
Bartholomew the Barker
Is it time to pray?
It sure seems darker
Ain’t got all day
And you ain’t getting smarter
Better just go away
Gonna call in your marker
Bartholomew the Barker
You’re playing the rube
Just get on that train
Back to Kalamazoo

A crowd had gathered to jeer and guffaw
At the plight of a barker who just can’t jaw
He waved his arms and started to dance
Looking like a clown who just dropped his pants
The ladies from the girly show were giving him the rib
But he stayed dumb no matter what he did

That was almost the end of Bartholomew’s career
But to leave show business was the greater fear
Not the time for dignity or self-respect now
He needed a new act, some way somehow
Finally found a place though it made him sicken
As the star of the geek show biting heads off chickens

Chorus

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"I remember in the circus learning that the clown was the prince, the high prince. I always thought that the high prince was the lion or the magician, but the clown is the most important."
- Roberto Benigni

"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end."
- David Niven

"Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town."
- George Carlin

"It was for Alec she made the wings.

It was the only gift she ever gave him; it was the only gift she has ever given to someone without a new name attached, the only gift she's ever given without killing someone first."
― Genevieve Valentine, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night."
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

But I'd like to hammer this ring into a bullet
And I wish I had some whiskey and a gun
My dear
- Tom Waits, Circus

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In alphabetical order:

• William Fuller
• Jack Hastings
• Spencer Kimball
• Gary Sears