stigma_enigma (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} stigma_enigma) wrote,@ 2009-05-06 22:23:00 |
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The Ballad of Madame Xanadu
I entered her parlor
Gazed at the dripping candlewax
Before I could get farther
She stopped me in my tracks
And she said…
“I will tell you all that you don’t want to hear
So you’d best turn around if its truth that you fear
If not, have a seat, and take a deep breath
Clear your heavy head, and the cards will be spread”
And I said…
“Seductress of magicians, let them fall where they may
I’m ready to hear what your cards have to say”
Her hands were like porcelain, her eyes emerald green
I couldn’t imagine all the wonders she’d seen
And she said:
There once was a nymph, her name was Nimue
She visited Merlin, a sweet rendezvous
his powers were many, and made hers seem few
but she would enchant him with all the right moves
Along came a stranger as old as the Earth
Who told her her lover was corrupt and cursed
To carry his kingdom to its violent end
This certain doom she could not comprehend
And sure enough the war came to pass
And Lady Nimue was forced to act fast
She bound the magician with thick heavy vines
And escaped with her life to wander through time
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the wonders I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of an oriental palace, the seer of Kublai Khan
Predicting his great fortunes, and never being wrong
Along came the stranger revealing a plot
To end the Khan’s kingdom, much like Camelot
Our lady succeeding in saving the day
But found with the stranger, Khan sent her away
Out in the desert they spoke for awhile
She and the stranger were one in exile
She hoped to join him in his lonely travels
But he would not bend and the moment unraveled
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of a French revolution, and the heads that would roll
Divining for the rich till their bodies went cold
Along came the stranger, he spoke of their fate
To head to the square where the guillotine waits
Our lady imprisoned begins to decay
So she summons death before she fades away
A card reading later and Death had agreed
To ignore the end that the Gods had decreed
Back in the square the king fell from grace
As the blade hit his neck and the crowd cheered with hate
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of murder and intrigue in the dark streets of Britain
The victims destroyed with a surgeon’s precision
Along came the stranger, but he would not act
Our lady prepared for the coming of Jack
She arrived to the scene just a moment too late
Her friend on the ground, throat slit by a blade
She slapped the stranger for letting Jack go
But he saw a schematic that she didn’t know
The ripper had killed an unborn child
Destined to rule and commit genocide
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of a stranger she bound, who could cross time and space,
Delivering him from his lost hiding place
Now Phantom Stranger you answer to me
How do you live so dispassionately?
Your ways are abhorrent, your heart it deceives
You simply ignore the horrors you perceive
He spoke to her calmly of intentions pure
But she, unconvinced, would not hear out his words
They found no peace and he soon disappeared
Leaving her free of what he engineered
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
I rose from my chair, enchanted and light
Madame Xanadu, I am blessed by your sight
I entered her parlor
Gazed at the dripping candlewax
Before I could get farther
She stopped me in my tracks
And she said…
“I will tell you all that you don’t want to hear
So you’d best turn around if its truth that you fear
If not, have a seat, and take a deep breath
Clear your heavy head, and the cards will be spread”
And I said…
“Seductress of magicians, let them fall where they may
I’m ready to hear what your cards have to say”
Her hands were like porcelain, her eyes emerald green
I couldn’t imagine all the wonders she’d seen
And she said:
There once was a nymph, her name was Nimue
She visited Merlin, a sweet rendezvous
his powers were many, and made hers seem few
but she would enchant him with all the right moves
Along came a stranger as old as the Earth
Who told her her lover was corrupt and cursed
To carry his kingdom to its violent end
This certain doom she could not comprehend
And sure enough the war came to pass
And Lady Nimue was forced to act fast
She bound the magician with thick heavy vines
And escaped with her life to wander through time
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the wonders I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of an oriental palace, the seer of Kublai Khan
Predicting his great fortunes, and never being wrong
Along came the stranger revealing a plot
To end the Khan’s kingdom, much like Camelot
Our lady succeeding in saving the day
But found with the stranger, Khan sent her away
Out in the desert they spoke for awhile
She and the stranger were one in exile
She hoped to join him in his lonely travels
But he would not bend and the moment unraveled
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of a French revolution, and the heads that would roll
Divining for the rich till their bodies went cold
Along came the stranger, he spoke of their fate
To head to the square where the guillotine waits
Our lady imprisoned begins to decay
So she summons death before she fades away
A card reading later and Death had agreed
To ignore the end that the Gods had decreed
Back in the square the king fell from grace
As the blade hit his neck and the crowd cheered with hate
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of murder and intrigue in the dark streets of Britain
The victims destroyed with a surgeon’s precision
Along came the stranger, but he would not act
Our lady prepared for the coming of Jack
She arrived to the scene just a moment too late
Her friend on the ground, throat slit by a blade
She slapped the stranger for letting Jack go
But he saw a schematic that she didn’t know
The ripper had killed an unborn child
Destined to rule and commit genocide
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
Of a stranger she bound, who could cross time and space,
Delivering him from his lost hiding place
Now Phantom Stranger you answer to me
How do you live so dispassionately?
Your ways are abhorrent, your heart it deceives
You simply ignore the horrors you perceive
He spoke to her calmly of intentions pure
But she, unconvinced, would not hear out his words
They found no peace and he soon disappeared
Leaving her free of what he engineered
Now she is known as Madame Xanadu
Ask what you will and she’ll tell you her truths
The future once cloudy is hers to observe
Allow me to share all the magic I’ve heard
She hides a secret a thousand years old
You wouldn’t believe all the stories she’s told
I rose from my chair, enchanted and light
Madame Xanadu, I am blessed by your sight
