[Intro] Step right up, the supper’s laid, Crystal mouths and knives displayed, Every guest has learned the art Of laughing with a missing heart. [Verse] Upstairs where the dancers sway, Painted faces waste the day, Someone taps a glass below, Someone waits where rot will grow. Blue-black heavens bend and leer, Every vow tastes sweet with fear, Every hand that begs to stay Leaves a stain it can’t wash away. [Pre-Chorus] Wind the clock and pour the wine, Hide the bruise and call it fine, When the hour bites the bell, Pretty rooms remember hell. [Chorus] Oh, spread the old mantle wide, Let the aching crawl inside, One for hunger, one for shame, One who forgot his own name. If the ballroom starts to bend, If the garden has no end, Keep your eyes on the door, my pet, There’s a king you haven’t met. [Verse] Someone traded bread for truth, Someone sold away their youth, Someone searched the painted air For a mark that wasn’t there. Mother sings a cradle tune, Wrong as rain beneath the moon, Daughter hears the plaster crack, Lovers vanish, masks look back. [Pre-Chorus] Turn the latch and dim the band, Kiss the ring on no one’s hand, When the laughter loses breath, Mercy wears the scent of death. [Chorus] Oh, spread the old mantle wide, Let the aching crawl inside, One for longing, one for lies, One who worships what denies. If the towers start to crawl, If the lake climbs up the wall, Keep your pulse like a marionette, There’s a king you haven’t met. [Bridge] He doesn’t knock, he is invited, Every sorrow signs its part, Every feast becomes divided By the famine in the heart. No blade drawn, no trumpet blown, Only comfort overgrown, Only hands that seem to bless Every wound they gently press. [Chorus] Oh, spread the old mantle wide, Let the broken crawl inside, One for widow, one for bride, One who had nowhere to hide. When the masks are set aside, When the dead man is identified, Do not scream, do not forget That was the king you’d already met. [Outro] Step right up, the supper’s gone, Still the little waltz goes on, Every guest has learned the art Of bowing with a borrowed heart.
