Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like black-face
minstrel song
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like carnival
barkers’ con
He ain’t no general
and he ain’t French
he ain’t for
and he ain’t against
He got a bleeding nose
bleeding heart demeanour
a motorised glass jaw
much obscener
Huge invisible balls
a rebel with enough clues
to get himself killed
win or lose
A pool-hall hustler
will always throw you the first game
he’s a set of dice laughing bones
what’s his name
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like
carnival barkers’ con
Sometimes fate pretends
to be a cat
leaves you a dead bird
says what do you think about that
He gets drunk on sanctified
bottles of Jesus Christ’s blood
kneels at the feet of harlots
talks of love
In back alley ways
back seats of cars
under the watchful eyes
of aluminum tin foil stars |
|
In obscurity of blackness
city dangerous night
gasoline rainbow orbs
on fire refracting light
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like black-face
minstrel song
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like
carnival barkers’ con
He ain’t no general
and he ain’t French
he ain’t for
and he ain’t against
All wrapped in second hand
black trench coat night
a cat’s eye in the dark
gleaming bright
A burnt offering on Sunday
self-ordained hierophant
all hallowed and holy
he don’t care what you think about that
Tall Napoleon impostor
these words he spoke
this is all just part
of some cosmic joke
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like black-face
minstrel song
Tall Napoleon, tall Napoleon
he comes on like
carnival barkers’ con |
