The Traitor

Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Yeah, the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
And the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother, "Mother, I must leave you
Preserve my room but do not shed a tear
And should rumors of a shabby ending reach you
Yeah, it was half my fault and half the atmosphere"
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
And the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
Y'know she said at last I was her finest lover
And if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
Yeah, raise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah, the dreamers ride against the men of action
You can see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
Yes, I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
Oh my falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralyzed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
That they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I'm listed with the enemies of love
But long ago she said "I must be leaving,
Oh but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I'm sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan"
So daily I renew my idle duty
Oh I touch her here and there, I know my place
Yeah, I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
And people call me traitor to my face