THE BACKING SINGER

Running through chairs and rows, sizing up the meaning
Smiles for the camera and cries, her pot was always steaming
But he won't ask her again, for to him she is lumber
Storms on that horizon have blown, her lips rest on the tumbler

She decides to head down below to omit the danger
Flowers in her dressing room again and all from a stranger
To bite the bullet and mourn would take too much pain
She's leaving to do it all on her own and out in the street rain

Now that you're out on your own
For the needs you once had they have grown
The lights and applause weren't your own and will go away
You pulled your own weight all the same
With your hunger, your voice and a chain
Your talent was never the fame
This will all go away

There is nothing more pure than love you said in a drunken fling
Three years later you're back with your mother, and you eat what she brings
You're making your living in bars and tied to street corners
You're a hit with the junkies and cleaners and one for the mourners

Your voice never clutches at straws, you could bury the morning
But, things were never the same after you had left without hearing fair warning
Things shouldn't have turned out this way, not even in your deepest fears
You can't ever go back to the crowds and to the good old years

Now that you're out on your own
For the needs you once had they have grown
The lights and applause weren't your own and will go away
You pulled your own weight all the same
With your hunger, your voice and a chain
Your talent was never the fame
This will all go away
This will all go away
This will all go away