Now the bough breaks.
Now the bough breaks.
Now the bough breaks.

Now the bough...

Now the bough breaks.

Now the bough breaks.
Now the bough breaks.
Now the bough...


The books I read
Said you were a fragile kid.

Just as I imagined it,
Your story goes,


Another nosebleed,
Roses on the pillowcase.
The fever breaks and you're

Back on Earth again.

You rehearse

In the living room.
The nursemaid comes mid-afternoon
To say you've practiced long enough today.


She takes your bow.
It's suppertime.

But oh, your only appetite
Was fixed on the chaconne you'd hoped to play.


So soon you're off
To the academy.
The honors

And the accolades.

First a darling,

Then a marvel.
When we met,
I was still a young girl.


But you had changed, already famous.
Your name was a contagion.

You were vain and hard to take.
All the same, I was brazen.


How the tides rise. (How the tides rise.)
How the tides rise. (How the tides rise.)
How the tides rise. (Oh, how the tides...)

How the tides...

I don't suppose you'd tell the truth,

So I won't ask you anymore.
Oh, the things that we all do
To pass the time between the wars.


I don't regret a single day.
Heard your chaconne on every stage.

But your love sleeps in a velvet case,
So what'd you bring me,


Bring me for?
What'd you bring me,
Bring me for?


I hear you keep your pretty wife alive
On only brie.

They say a dozen years ago
She could have passed for me.


She doesn't trust you with the baby.
May be better that way.
Safe in your study,

Going grey.

You're at your best

When you're alone.
Above the fray
With your chaconne.

Now the bells toll.

Now the bells toll. (Now the bells toll.)
Now the bells toll.
Now the bells... (Oh, how the bells toll.)

Now the bells toll.

Now the bells toll.
Now the bells toll.
Now the bells...

Now the bells toll. (Oh, how the bells...)

Now the bells toll.
Now the bells toll.
Now the bells...