Verse 1 He says he’s just a quiet man A shadow standing by the wall But give him five short minutes And he’s talking to them all He knows the cook, he knows the stranger He knows the man behind the door He calls himself a lonesome drifter While he’s ruling every floor Chorus Where the hell is Hasse? He was standing over there He said he’d only fetch a little something Now he’s vanished into air Where the hell is Hasse? That’s the way it’s always been Follow all the sound of laughter And you’ll find him in the middle once again Verse 2 He throws a line with perfect timing With a face as still as stone You don’t know that he is joking Till the whole damn room has known And if you think you’ve won the battle If you think you’ve proved him wrong He’ll keep turning every answer Till you wonder where you started all along Chorus Where the hell is Hasse? He was standing over there He said he’d only fetch a little something Now he’s vanished into air Where the hell is Hasse? That’s the way it’s always been Follow all the sound of laughter And you’ll find him in the middle once again Verse 3 He fell down from the scaffolding And broke his back one afternoon The doctors said, “Now take it easy” He was restless much too soon He nodded like a man of reason Like a saint who understood But somewhere on the road back homeward He was planning what he’d build from steel and wood Bridge Ten espressos before sunrise While the sleeping world lies still There’s a motor in his bloodstream And a hammer in his will He’ll fix the thing you called impossible He’ll taste, rebuild and rearrange And if you tell him that it can’t be done You have only given him another game Chorus Where the hell is Hasse? He was standing over there He said he’d only fetch a little something Now he’s vanished into air Where the hell is Hasse? That’s the way it’s always been Follow all the sound of laughter And you’ll find him in the middle once again Breakdown He says: “I am shy I keep away I like the edges I never stay” But everybody knows the truth When the evening starts to roll He’s the king of every gathering With a disappearing soul Final Chorus Where the hell is Hasse? Is he underneath the stars? Is he talking food and engines With some stranger by the cars? Where the hell is Hasse? Don’t you worry, don’t you fear When the laughter starts exploding You can bet your life that Hasse must be near Outro And if you cannot find him Someone else already has They are standing somewhere laughing While the universe goes past
