Torn between the lure of a belly-full existence In the candlelight, within my lover's arms Where all is safe and all is well and all is warm And then the stifling head, upon the sleeping streets Where children go down without a trace In rows of ten, with gappy teeth and their beautiful faces And I can fetch me an axe and I can fell me a tree And you can take a pan of sand but I can carry three I can flick you pennies, if you'll only laugh for me It keeps you young and it keeps you free, they said When you're walking a thin line between the quick and the dead I have sat like stone, buried in my riches And I've got two amazing diamonds where my eyes should be And I've got strips of sterling silver for a tongue And I never stand to protest or shout against injustice Cos my arse is made of marble and I've got lead instead of lungs I am a stunning work of are, I should be hung And they dance on grand pianos in a honey sweet hotel In my mind entrenched a wave of sense my skin remembers still And with an automatic flash I've brought them half-way round the world And they're camping in my garden of remembrance And I can fetch me an axe and I can fell me a tree And you can take a pan of sand but I can carry three I can flick you pennies, if you'll only laugh for me It keeps you young and it keeps you free, they said When you're walking a thin line between the quick and the dead