[Title: Tea with the Monsters] [Intro — music box, spoken] Put the kettle on, darling. The ghosts are staying. And somebody’s taught the skeletons to swear. [Verse 1] Black lace caught on the garden gate, Moon’s come out and I’m running late. Boots in the mud, stars in my hair, Something with horns’s in my favourite chair. Storm rolls in off Shark Island Bay, Blows my very best plans away. I shake my umbrella out into the hall— “Well, that’s bloody typical. Welcome, all.” [Pre-Chorus] They’ve brought their thunder, brought their teeth, I’ve brought biscuits and somewhere to sleep. Come as you are, pull up a seat, There’s room for your shadows here with me. [Chorus] We’re having tea with the monsters, Dancing when the lights go out. Turn it up for the lonely hearts Who were told to turn it down. I’ve got love beneath this black lace, Got a laugh that wakes the moon. We’re having tea with the monsters— And there’s a place for you. [Verse 2] There’s a vampire sulking by the cake, Says he’s had all the daylight he can take. A little bat’s asleep inside my sleeve, So I’m staying quite still till he wants to leave. Purple light through the windowpane, Someone’s singing out there in the rain. I throw them a towel, leave boots by the door, They drip through the chorus; we ask for one more. [Pre-Chorus] Bring your oddness, bring your doubt, You don’t have to sort it out. Take the cushion, take your time, Tonight you don’t have to say you’re fine. [Chorus] We’re having tea with the monsters, Dancing when the lights go out. Turn it up for the lonely hearts Who were told to turn it down. I’ve got love beneath this black lace, Got a laugh that wakes the moon. We’re having tea with the monsters— And there’s a place for you. [Post-Chorus — gang vocals] Oh-oh, let the old floor shake! Oh-oh, another slice of cake! Oh-oh, we’re a peculiar crew— And there’s a place for you. [Bridge — quiet piano, intimate] Some nights I can’t join in the singing, Every little sound comes through too loud. I leave my tea beside the window, Watch the moon slip in and out of cloud. You come and sit a little nearer, Ask if I want quiet, and I do. No grand speech and no great rescue— Just the rain, the room, and you. [Build — drums and strings rising] Then a laugh comes through the doorway, And I feel one start in me. “Shall we go back in?” “In a minute. Save a little cake for me.” [Final Chorus — full band] We’re having tea with the monsters, Dancing when the lights go out. Turn it up for the lonely hearts Who were told to turn it down. I’ve got love beneath this black lace, Got a laugh that wakes the moon. We’re having tea with the monsters— And there’s a place for you. We’ve got candles in the windows, We’ve got thunder on the roof. You can sing until you’re breathless, You can sit and listen too. Let the whole world call us strange, love, We’ve got better things to do. We’re having tea with the monsters— And there’s a place for you. [Outro — music box, spoken] Same time next haunting? Lovely. Who’s put a rubber duck in the teapot?
