Once upon a time in a kingdom ill-defined A dark-eyed prince sat sideways on his throne And he cast aside the thoughts of his princess long and lost And decided he'd live principally alone So he built himself a castle made of stumbling blocks and bricks And he filled the mote with crocodile tears and other tricks But he forgot to build the doorway, he forgot to build the gate So he had to build a catapult just to knock the wall away And he'd venture out at night, bej**eled and erudite And he'd ride from town to town and farm to farm And he'd laugh at all the sheep and at the company they keep And he'd burn down all the churches and the barns Until he'd find a proper damsel, then he'd play the proper prince And he'd lead her home with apples and a promise on a stick Til she'd fall upon the pillow, then he'd fall upon the dawn And he'd close his eyes to hers and then just dream that she was gone So he swore upon the crown that he'd melt desire down And he boarded up his windows and his eyes But he still could hear the sound of the rain upon the ground And he still could feel his face against the sky And how the birds and how the bees, they each took turns upon their knees And how the â??Take me if you dare toâ?? turned to â??Thank you if you pleaseâ?? And how the nectar in the flowers and how the flowers on the vine They'd turn his blood from fever into honey-juice and wine And he knew that it was true, in the crumbs that nature threw And that ever-after always ends the tale And that somewhere in disguise there was a girl with lantern eyes Who could fill the darkest shadows with detail So he'd build another tower just to tear another down And he'd lay a trail of candles from his castle into town But if you go there please be careful, and if you leave there please be quick 'Cause he'll rob your eyes of color and your bones to make more bricks