Before The Fame

The skulls met the pythons
Down at the first street station
Alliance has been made in alleyways
All across the nation
These boys live off the milk of a silver jet
And the love of sweet young women
The pythons are down from old englishtown
And they 're looking to do some living

Well the leader of the pythons
Is a kid they just call zero
Now terry's pop says these kids
Are some kind of monsters
But terry says "no, pop
They're just plain heroes"

Zero and terry had found a love
That burned like wild fire
Now terry's dad understood
That this zero was no good
A tramp, a thief and a liar

Well from out of the darkness
That breaks the dawn
Zero rode like twilight
He said "tonight's the night
Blind terry come on
Terry come on
Tonight is the night
Pack your bags baby"

And together they ran like reindeers
Through the streets
Well like tomorrow the earth
Is gonna catch on fire

Now terry's dad hired some troopers
To kill zero and bring terry back home
They caught up in the night, like firelightthem starlight troopers....
Zero marches through terry's field
They met the pythons down on route nine
But they refused to yield
Now the pythons fought with blazed guns
And the troopers with swords of light
And zero and terry they ran away
And the gang fought all through the night

Now some folks say
Zero and terry got away
Other said they were caught and brought back
Ah, still young pilgrims to this day
Go to that spot way down by the railroad tracks
Where the troopers met the pythons
Old timers cry on a hot august night
If you look hard enough, if you try
You'll see zero and terry and all the pythons
Just hiking them streets up in the sky.

Bishop danced with a thumbscrew woman
Did a double-quick back-flip and slid across the floor
The catholic traffic flowed freely across the river
And fiddlestick fiddled quick out the front door
Baby dumpling, mama's in the back tree
If the bough breaks mama might fall
Little sad and only, baby don't be lonely
Mama knows 'rithmetic, knows how to take a fall
Mama knows 'rithmetic, knows how to take a fall
And the kids are crying
Flapjacks, make'em fat, early in the morning
Little jack, grab your hat
Hear the breakfast call
Muskrat, bad old cat, kick him in the fireplace
There's someone in the kitchen blowing dinah on their
Horn
There's someone in the kitchen blowing dinah like they're
Born

Maverick daddy got one-night prize
The glides like a monkey-mule kickin' on the backslide
Over hill, over hill, daddy don't you spill now
Papa got a switch-stick, he's pumping little bill
Papa got a switch-stick, he's pumping little bill
And bill, he's crying
Tomahawk, tomahawk, daddy better duck out
The mohawks, the mohawks, they're still out there in the woods
Molatar, okenah, running through my dreams now

With fire on their fingertips and injun's screams
Fire on their fingertips and feathers made of moonbeams
Early in the morning the cannoneer cried
I seem the sailor's warning in the western sky
Oh mountain man, if you can, cut me down a fir tree
Branches full of candlesticks for baby and me
And my darling cried, she said, honey, the weather vane
Lately it's been pointin' the way to heaven
Scatterbrains, scatterbrains, watch out where you fall champagne, champagne,
A round for all the old choirboys
They're bustin' off the altar chasing
Dinah through the hall
They're bustin' off the altar chasing
Dinah through the hall

And like kids they're crying
Flapjacks, make 'em fat, early in the morning
Little jack, grab your hat
Hear the breakfast call
Muskrat, bad old cat, kick him in the fireplace
There's someone in the kitchen blowing
Dinah on their horn
There's someone in the kitchen blowing
Dinah like they're born.

In a place where outlaws abound from the range
???on a day mountains has fallen to falls???
In a land where boys are forbiden to grow
And mell is the only master
Were the higway ends and the desert breakes
And buildings are bendt from great earthquackes
And statesmen crawl on their bellys like snakes
And feed of the public hunger
In a land were sky-scrapers scratch the sky
And delinquent daughters to their mothers still lie
Papa stands on the corner he ???waitin' to beat the drum???
Welcome home my prodigal son
When rivers run raging through city streets
And great eagels have fallen from their loofty peaks
And policemen moonlight the sideshow freeks
For the final crime is commited
When presidents ride in ford mustangs
And the black man releases his caddilac ???fangs???
And your chech died in bed as the landlord thanks the young girl next door
For the rent
Where telegraph wires are atached to your mind
Delinquent daughters to their mothers still lie
Papa stands on the corner ???waitin to beat the drum???
Welcome home my prodigal son
When the telephone rings and falls of the hook
And your legs have been stolen by some defense department crook
And you startin' to think about writing a book
But now you won't pledge allingence to anything
And the maid comes in with coffee and cake
In a low-cut dress she wore just for your sake
You explain your not dead and she takes it as a compliment
And sticks out her tounge and asks for requests
In a land were skyscrapers scrapes the sky
And delinquent daughters to their mothers still lie
Papa stands on the corner ???waitin' to beat the drum???
Welcome home my prodigal son

Well, what power of god does a nun use to hold up parish priests
And what makes a good cop let go a beautiful theif
Oh, and how does the queen know she got hold that manna honey
Oh and what makes an old woman give a young man all her money
Well late in the night 'neath that pale moonlight the power comes over me
And its all elouise yeah
I'm turning into elvis (and there's nothing i can do)

...kissed the babysitter. she screamed and i told her it was just the beast in me.
And on my way out of the house i shot out my tv
I went down to the corner luncheonette and said sally "fried peanut butter and banana will do(?)"
I'm turning into elvis and there's nothing i can do

I threw out my wife and family i took off my wedding ring
I told my friends and neighbors to refer to me now as "king"
I put a chainlink fence around my ranch house and on the gate a sign that reads "graceland ii"
I'm turning into elvis and there's nothing i can do

I visited my mama's grave and i headed out to hollywood and i signed a picture with mgm
I play a rebellious beachboy racecar driver who fucks a nun in the end
In the last scene i whip out my big guitar and show her a little memphis-style kung-fu
I'm turning into elvis and there's nothing i can do

But i drove on straight to vegas and i stopped in the first old stripper bar.
Found me a little hooker that looked just like ann-margaret and we rumba'd in my sports car.
Well me and my drinking buddies turned my lovin' home into a frikkin' zoo.
I'm turning into elvis and there's nothing i can do

Well he came to me last night in a dream looking just like he did in '57.
He said "son that guitar is a wonderful thing but it can be the living devils' friend.
On the other hand there's sex-starved women, millions of dollars, and anything you want to do."
I'm turning into elvis and there's nothing i can do

Part of the hammond demos.
(recorded by allan clarke on solo album in 1975) written by bruce

Well there's a light on yonder mountain
And it's calling me to shine
There's a girl over by the water fountain
And she's asking to be mine
And ain't that jesus, he's standing in the doorway
With a buckskin jacket, boots and spurs, so really fine
He says "we need you up in dodge city, son
'cause there's oh so many bad boys (just too many outlaw)
Tryin' to work the same line"

Well now if jesus was the sheriff and i were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my mama was a thief
Oh and papa rode shotgun for the fargo line
There's still too many outlaws
Tryin' to work the same line

Now old sweet virgin mary
She runs the holy grail saloon
Where for a nickel they'll give you whisky
And the personally blessed balloon
And the holy ghost, he's the host with the most
He runs the burlesque show
Where they let you in for free
But oh hit you for your soul when you go
And mary serves mass on sunday
And then she sells her body on monday
To the bootlegger who will pay the highest price
But he don't know he got stuck with a loser
Mary's a stone junkie, what's more she's a boozer
And she's only been made once or twice
By some kind of magic

Well things ain't been the same in heaven
Ever since big bad bobby came to town
He's been known to down eleven
And then ask for another round
And me i got scabs on my knees
From kneeling way too long
I gotta take a stand, be the man, up where you belong
And forget about the old friends and the old times
Because there's just too many new boys
Tryin' to work the same line

Well now if jesus was the sheriff and i were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my mama was a thief
Oh and papa rode shotgun for the fargo line
There's still too many bad boys
Tryin' to work the same line

Now there's a light on yonder mountain
And it's calling me to shine
There's a girl by the water fountain
And she's asking to be mine
And jesus, he's standing in the doorway
With his six-guns drawn, and ready to fan
He says "we need you son, up in dodge city"
But i'm already overdue in cheyenne

Well the first frame finds her running
But the night pushes her deep within the tunnel
She camouflages herself in dayglo paint
And she sings her love songs through a funnel
And she clings to the walls like a cat who calls
The shots for life and for death
Wearing nothing but the make-up she uses
To try and cover up for herself
Well if she can't hide her sword
She gives no terms for surrender
'cause she's living the third world war

The tunnel police, they steadily increase
The search for where she hides her kid
She swings on a vine across the state line
They measured the length of her skid
She never goes back to do something she didn't
Or undo something she did
Smoke streams from the street
And the night is complete
With a long and fiery belch
She's just another orphan annie cartoon and a raquel welch

She rides like caesar, brandishing a whip
On the hood of his squad car
As the siren wails she silently sails
Leaving footprints in the tar
Oh she breaks with the dawn
And by morning she's gone
Leaving nothing but another night
She returns to her home
Like a dog returns to a bone
Another unsatisfied wife

And there's little booth
Secure from the truth
He wants her more than he's got the guts to say
'cause as she needs to be real
He needs to conceal
The realness of his place
So he sings a little song
And in a chiffon sarong
She performs a black ballet in space
But she's another flop with a fancy name
And he's just another cop with a pretty face
So together they commit the ultimate crime
Two hearts locked in true waltz time

It was on the day the cowboys were abandoned from the ranch
Middle touch world as a master
They rode their ponies down in the cities of gold
To leave them for ever after
Now the sun was swollen red and old
The earth it was windy, dark and cold
Were the highway ends the desert takes its toll
Sodusty, red and angry
It was a time when men died out on the praire
From not having a decent friend
At nights the ghosts to the more of riders
Was a howl in the candid winds

You can here them crying
Good god, i think they're dying

When them rangers down in dallas
Had all, but given it up and left
And those that hang on hoping
Was trying their best to, to forget
The way those outlaws and desperadoes
Right from the cheapest to the best
Rode in on ponies made of skin and bones
Keep up their rusty guns and went back home
And the governor was sent down from population control
And marshall all was past
Riverboat gamblers put their money on faith
For the time for hope they passed

In the cold blue light of the desert night
There was a thousand starry ships
And men came down from still i don't now where
With death on their fingertips
Now there's no more kings in texas
I swear they rounded up each and everyone
And old atlanta canastoga
Reached from the rocky mountains into the old dead sun
Now anna maria walks the blames alone
The last of a struggling people
She thinks of all those outlaws who wanted to reach for the skies
And got stuck up on a steamboat
Oh, you can hear them crying
Good god, i think they're dying
In the wind you can hear them sighing