Ana Silvera - Notes From An Opera lyrics

I was in a hotel when the city first fell It was gilded and sullen and neocla**ical I took up with an officer and then his general He bought me almond biscuits and a freshwater pearl And took me to the opera, and after to Pigalle A dancer wearing ta**els ate the rose off my lapel These days I'm wearing Shalimar, no never my Chanel Cos it reminds him of his mother He wears me like he does his duty shoes Immaculately polished, and he keeps my soul In the Paris saloons And he occupies my moods... On the Rue des Abesses We could see violets had Colonised the boulevards in June I walk him down to the station Banners fly from the irons And vapour trails Come rising up Like dove tails... Bridal veils... Sundial creeps its hours Into July Among the ruins Lanternas light I still count his steps On this esplanade Like rosaries... Arms surround me Arms surround me I was in the hotel when the first bomb fell It shook the chandeliers and that old crystal Came tumbling down on the tiles like the steeples Of the St Paul bell I get my pleasures in the dim stairwells In fairground hands I undo myself - Rise and fall like the painted poles Of the carousel And now autumn unthreads Her last dress of gold Upon long lawns Shadows unfurl I still count his steps On this esplanade Where violets grow...