Gee, Greycap, I hadn't paid attention to this one before. Scary song, isn't it? Sorry, can't do chords. I don't play guitar. -Joe Offer-
BLOOD ORANGES (Tom Russell)
It was an old hotel in Morocco Caruso sang through the walls Beat North African hipsters Were muttering outside in the halls An American waits for his interpreter-guide Caffeine makes his hands itch and shake She enters the room and calls with her eyes Like a snake charmer summons the snake
"Blood Oranges, a copper buys you ten. Come and see the dancing clown who lives with the Blue Men"
He said, "I came here to study the language Of a very rare nomadic tribe" She chortled and clucked and hissed through her teeth And motioned him to follow her outside He wondered about the scars on her forehead And the secrets behind her dark veil As she led him out through the walls of the city Through the moonlight on an old camel trail
They came upon a circle of nomads Camped far from the lights of the town Blue men with scars and malarial eyes And teeth that were pointed. . . filed down He said: "These are the people I've been searching for, This is more than I ever could have hoped!" As they threw him down on a blanket And tied him up with a hand-braided rope
They cut out his tongue and blinded his eyes With coals from a cous-cous fire Tied empty tin cans to his arms and his legs That rattled on long copper wires Now he's forgotten his name and why he came to the desert As they lead him through oasis and town And the people stare, throw coins and laugh wildly At the Blue Men and their white dancing clown.