Arabian Night

Shrieks of sheiks as they run across the movie screen A thousand sand dune soldiers led by an Arabian queen And the harem girls move like fancy dancers in my dirty dream And I wake up on the floor holding a bed lamp Mama, she comes in and screams,"woo! You been out with that tramp again last night That silver sequined ivory black bitch, you know, the one that Mama don't like" You see, but, Mama, she sings me moon time melodies with this great Top 40 hook But Mama don't care, Papa he just stares and says, "Mary, look the girl's alright, yeah, look the girl's alright" And there's a tenseness in the air, don't you know, can't you feel There's something hanging there, pull back the mist and reveal it Even if you fear what you hear, try to conceal it And if what Mama feels is too real, she just claims she don't feel it So come out from behind your bunkers, the liftoff's been a bust Papa's gone and Mama's dead and buried in my rocket dust' You're alone now for the first time, but that's all right Because all fear will completely disappear come the Arabian night The soundman smiles and turns the dials to set the meter reading rising He pulls the singer's voice from out of his pocket to see how the audience likes it And in the very first row sits sweet Jenny Rue with a bell on her shoe, she wants him to mic it He flicks a switch but Jenny moves too fast and the audience sways to the sound of her shotgun blast The manager runs out, "Check the band's arms for bullet holes and make that man roll up his sleeves" The drummer shoots himself with cyanide then asked to be relieved And me, I say, "It's crazy in here, where is the stage door? Which way is out? I gotta get up for work" The man says, "Well, once, once you're in they all lead out, what's the matter, ain't you heard? There's a war going on outside and I'm paying you to sing like a bird So get in and get tough or get up and get out 'cause things aren't too tight" I said, "Don't worry, everything's gonna loosen up come the Arabian Night"