Say Goodbye To The Elephants

The clown sits in the corner, wipes the greasepaint off his face
 By Tuesday afternoon the lot will hardly hold a trace
 Just some cotton candy mingled with the sawdust
 Just an echo of the weekend's rowdy din
 Now the roustabouts have put the tents and poles back on the trucks
 The Orangutan is looking like a bum down on his luck
 The flatbed trucks are sagging with the canvas
 And they're headed down to Gibsontown again
 Say goodbye to the elephants, put away the trapeze
 All the jugglers, clowns and acrobats, will scatter with the breeze
 They'll scatter with the breeze
 I first met Bill and Joni and the Spring of '84
 I was living at the Mission, like I'd often done before
 They came looking for some muscle for the summer
 I was stumbling, but they got me on my feet
 Then the circus troupe because a second family to me
 I was working with the lions by the Spring of '93
 Those big cats never really were as scary
 As the things I saw while living on the street
 Say goodbye to the elephants, put away the trapeze
 All the jugglers, clowns and acrobats, will scatter with the breeze
 They'll scatter with the breeze
 The winters in New England, can be cold enough to freeze
 When the Turnpike's slick with ice, and the wind cuts through the trees
 The cats and I play nightclubs and casinos
 But my heart is really waiting for the Spring
 When I know I'll hear the phone ring and hear Bill's familiar voice
 He'll ask me if I'll meet him, (like I've really got a choice)
 Then we'll pull into some town and raise the Big Top
 And all summer we'll make magic in the ring
 Say goodbye to the elephants, put away the trapeze
 All the jugglers, clowns and acrobats, will scatter with the breeze
 They'll scatter with the breeze