Brutal Youth

She wears a wedding ring her sister lent
To throw them off the scent
Just let them guess, it's what they expect
Who in the world has bitten her neck?
She's discovered wearing last night's dress
The carnal and cunning, she couldn't express
Who do you think she's trying to impress?

Chorus:
I think you'd better hold your tongue
Although you've never been that strong
I'm sorry to say that i knew all along
You're no match for that sulky girl

She left her european town
Before she let the family down
She couldn't stand the massacre game
So she dyed her hair and adopted another name
With the evidence of passing out stamped on her hand
She glows in the dark
He thinks she's from another planet

Chorus

Sulky girl
I'm sure you look a picture when you cry
Threatening the silent treatment doesn't qualify
It's like money in the bank
Your expression is blank
But while the chance appears
You'll be nearer to tears
Sulky girl [2x]

He said "hello, my pretty flower"
Just trying out his tycoon power
Avoiding the mirror, her pitying stare
She said "you're mistaken, your money's no good in here"
Just some stupid little know-it-all
Who thought she looked easy; he's not that astute
He'll pay for the distance
Between cruelty and beauty

Chorus

So i won't tell you again
What do you gain
By blackening her name
She's smarter than you
Oh isn't it a shame
You're gonna lose that sulky girl

Sulky girl
I saw you practising your blackmail faces
Suddenly you're talking like a duchess
But you're still a waitress
I saw through your pretence
But in my defence
There are a few events
I think will spare the censor
Sulky girl [4x]

1-2-3,2-2-3

The twitching impulses to speak your mind
I'll lend you my microscope and maybe you will find it
Is it in that ugly place that's just behind your face
Where you keep my picture still despite the fact
That you had me replaced

Chorus:
Say "goodbye"
Baby can't you act your age?
You know why
I'm going to give it to you straight
Although i'll never be
Unhappy as you want me to be
Still it's all the rage

I'll probably play along
Left to my own devices
Spare me the drone of your advice
The sins of garter and gin
Confession may delay
You know the measuring pole
The merry boots of clay
I've heard it all before
You'll say it anyway

Chorus

Alone with your tweezers and your handkerchief
You murder time and truth, love, laughter and belief
So don't try to touch my heart, it's darker than you think
And don't try to read my mind because it's full of disappearing ink

Chorus

Although i'll never be
Unhappy as you want me to be
Still it's all the rage

She lives on pony street
And they should scatter flowers at her feet
But when they come calling i think it's appalling
They're sober and they're polite
They're deeply respectful when i would expect them
To keep her out all night

That little martinet
Will get her own way yet
If you need instruction in mindless destruction
I'll show you a thing or two
You used to adore me but now my life flashes before me
For you to view

Oh mother, oh mother, sometimes you are so mortifying
From the hole in your leopard skin tights i can tell you've been spying
But your generation confesses before it transgresses
Those super-8 movies of daddy in your disco dresses

If you're going out tonight
I won't wait up
Reading "das kapital"
Watching "home shopping club"
While you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down pony street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down pony street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on, that lives on, that lives on
Pony street

Daughter, oh daughter, you know i will love you forever
But spare me the white ankle socks with the lace and the leather
For you and your cartoon threat do no good to resist me
For i am the genuine thing but for you it's just history

If you're going out tonight
How can you be sure
Where you lay your pretty head
Mother may have been before
So you're flogging a dead horse
All the way down pony street
Where you live after a fashion
All the way down pony street
The life and the soul of every indiscretion
That lives on [5x]
She lives on pony street [2x]
She lives on, she lives on [2x]

The chains from the bridle and the reins fell from my hands
The engines are idle and the ship sails on dry land
I stood there stupefied, i thought i recognized
Walking down rocking horse road, getting lost

Shot through vaseline, he picks up the paper from the lawn
And tucks "the suburban assassin" underneath his arm
He smiles weakly and turns away
I know you'll never come to harm
Walking down rocking horse road, it's so peaceful

It's like a photograph
From the other side of the world
I said "i want you only"
And then i left you alone
Crying on rocking horse road, or somewhere quite like it

The cemetery gardens, there are names not numbers on the gateposts
And the eyes in the curtain follow you like a smirking ghost
I know i must not look back
'cause part of me is waiting still

There on rocking horse road for you
In a little dream house made for two
Well you were the one that made your escape
In your stocking feet and your sticky tape

All the way down [repeat to fade]

Outside my window
Not long before sleep arrives
They come with their sirens
And they sweep away all the boys
Busy draining the joy from their lives
They never said their prayers out loud

And while i'm dreaming
There's a passing motor car
That broadcasts a popular song
And a girl appears to be saying
"do you think that i'm going to go far?"

First chorus:
Just look at me
I'm having the time of my life
Or something quite like it
When i'm walking out and about
In london's brilliant parade

She's one of those girls that you just can't place
You feel guilty desiring such an innocent face
But of course they knew that when they cast her
Along with the red routemaster
And the film takes place in an mgb
And a perfect re-creation of "the speakeasy"
Everybody looks happy and twisted
Though she probably never existed
For old times' sake
Don't let me awake

I wouldn't want you to walk across hungerford bridge
Especially at twilight
Looking through the bolts and the girders
Into the water below
You'll never find your answer there

They sounded the "all-clear" in the occidental bazaar
They used to call oxford street
Now the bankrupt souls in the city
Are finally tasting defeat

Second chorus:
Don't look at me
I'm having the time of my life
Or something quite like it
When i'm walking out and about
In london's brilliant parade
When i'm walking out and about
In london's brilliant parade

From the gates of st. mary's, there were horses in olympia
And a trolley bus in fulham broadway
The lions and the tigers in regents park
Couldn't pay their way
And now they're not the only ones

At the hammersmith palais
In kensington and camden town
There's a part that i used to play;
The lovely diorama is really part of the drama, i'd say

First chorus [2x]

My science fiction twin
Is doing better than expected
He captured a little blonde trophy wife
Who's really very well connected
And when he calls home with his alibi
She says "is this really necessary?"
But she knows that a man can't be a man
Unless he's punishing his secretary
He sips in the glow of a '61 vintage
Just as the day is dimming
With every intention of surrendering
To fifty-foot women
Who put the fascination back into my science fiction twin

My science fiction twin
Decided to become invisible
He has my eyes, my face, my voice
But he's only happy when i'm miserable
The words flew from his mouth
And they were gently gathered by reporters
Trying to frame his once infamous flame
With tattered pictures of her daughter
Her hair is all made out of porcupine
Her figure is fantastic
But as you know, they corrupted her
So they're being sarcastic
Who put the fascination back into my science fiction twin

He'll scream and shout
Everything is working out just as he predicted
Pride and position in the gallery of attempted people
Oh and the pain is so sweet
Better stamp his little feet
And you'll even have time to pity me
How can you feel content?
You wonder where this fellow went

My science fiction twin
Escorted by his lovely nieces
Filled up his purse dictating verse
While painting masterpieces
His almost universal excellence
Is starting to disturb me
They asked how in the world he does all these things
And he answered "superbly"
He's trapped in his own parallel dimension
That's why i'm so forgiving
But how could i possibly forget to mention those fifty-foot women
Who put the fascination back into my science fiction twin

My science fiction twin [4x]

Take your tiny feet out of your mother's shoes
Or there is going to be a terrible scene
It's not just the lipstick drawn on crooked
When they find how wicked we are
How wicked we have been
How i've been tempted

Chorus:
How you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step
How you tripped at every step

There's a merry tune that starts in "i"
And ends in "you," like many famous pop songs do
You would sing along with little tell-tale staggers
While balancing on daggers
Though they were killing you
You looked so deadly

Chorus

And i would try to catch you
Anytime you call
Only you drank that potion
And went out of control
There's nothing to stop you
So how can you fall?
Let me take your hand
Put down that frying pan

Darkness would become me underneath the table
As the fury raged around the house
Your despairing tread was angry and unstable
You never suspected
Just as that cartoon mouse
Went undetected

So you tripped at every step

In another world of gin and cigarettes
Those cocktail cabinets put mud in your eye
Maybe that is why you find it hard to see me
And if you don't believe me
Before you start to cry
"don't ever leave me"

As you start to lose your grip
(once you start losing your grip)
You will stumble as you slip
(and you will stumble and slip)
As you tripped at every step
You tripped at every step, you tripped at every step
As you tripped at every step