Back in the day you had been part of the smart set
|
You'd holidayed with kings, dined out with starlets
|
From London to New York, Cap Ferrat to Capri
|
In perfume by Chanel and clothes by Givenchy
|
You sipped camparis with David and Peter
|
At Noel's parties by Lake Geneva
|
Scaling the dizzy heights of high society
|
Armed only with a cheque-book and a family tree
|
|
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
|
Until the light of youth became obscured
|
And left you on your own and in the shade
|
An English lady of a certain age
|
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
|
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
|
"You wouldn't think that I was seventy"
|
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!"
|
|
You had to marry someone very very rich
|
So that you might be kept in the style to which
|
You had all of your life been accustomed to
|
But that the socialists had taxed away from you
|
You gave him children, a girl and a boy
|
To keep your sanity a nanny was employed
|
And when the time came they were sent away
|
Well that was simply what you did in those days
|
|
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
|
Until the light of youth became obscured
|
And left you on your own and in the shade
|
An English lady of a certain age
|
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
|
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
|
"You wouldn't think that I was sixty three"
|
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!
|
|
Your son's in stocks and bonds and lives back in Surrey
|
Flies down once in a while and leaves in a hurry
|
Your daughter never finished her finishing school
|
Married a strange young man of whom you don't approve
|
Your husband's hollow heart gave out one Christmas Day
|
He left the villa to his mistress in Marseilles
|
And so you come here to escape your little flat
|
Hoping someone will fill your glass and let you chat about how
|
|
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
|
Until the light of youth became obscured
|
And left you all alone and in the shade
|
An English lady of a certain age
|
And if a nice young man would buy you a drink
|
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
|
"You wouldn't think that I was fifty three"
|
And he'd say,"no, you couldn't be!
|
|
-----------------
|
A Lady Of A Certain Age
|
| The Divine Comedy |
