From the recording Riddle in My Suitcase
Lyrics
Headed out for fortune
headed out for dreams
but the telephone is ringing
and its calling me obscene
the operator’s German,
and I can’t hear her well
but she’s talking so sweetly,
casting a wicked wicked spell
Writing on the table
Waiter ain’t comin back
the bartender’s dreaming
about flowers turning black
there’s a riddle in my suitcase, but I don’t give a damn
because I’m running out of money
in this god forsaken land
Rode the train from Boston
rode the train all night
with memories of her spinning
in a foreign kind of light
she’s off to join the circus
where the animals stay wild
but she’ll always be avoiding
the worried eyes of her child
streets are dark and lonely
shadows shuffle by
their tongues all clank and rattle
with the same old dirty lie
and it’s written on my forehead,
I can see you’ve got one too,
we gotta wear it like we want it,
that’s the best that we can do.
(From the album Seven Years Now)
music & lyrics by James Houlahan
published by Gumbo Luvah Music