It's opening night

let's give them their money's worth

may this show run and run

till it falls off the edge of the earth

put on your make-up

powder puff adder of mine

dusk is upon us

switch on that shining sign



I am a major prophet

I'm heaven and hell bent strong

I am the height of a sign

wide of the mark

deep as the Amazon



I must impress on them

this opportunity

it'll be too late

by the time they put me on TV

I feel sharp

I feel blunt

a precision instrument

I really gleam

watch me bite on a bullet

and spit out a limousine



I am a major prophet

I'm heaven and hell bent strong

I am the height of a sign

wide of the mark

deep as the Amazon



Feel my wild sadness blowing down

feel my wild sadness blowing

all the way down



I stand before you

in full possession of the facts

I make no use of effects

no use for clever counterbalancing acts

I've broken every bone of meaning

in this body and this soul

I've bought knowledge

at the cost of a complete loss of self-control



All the truth you can bear

is yours to take away tonight

- the longer you leave it

- the more there's to leave

like you, I once saw

those pretty colours in black and white

- you've got to get it over with

- stop being naive

strangers to truth and to fiction

you will remain

- if I meet you at the fountainhead

- I'll win you downstream

walk away if you like

you've only yourself to blame

- I'm not talking eyewash

- I'm talking strychnine



I am a major prophet

I'm heaven and hell bent strong

I am the height of a sign

wide of the mark

deep