Thus I Became the Barker Video (MV)

THUS I BECAME THE BARKER

Hurry, hurry step right up for the menagerie of freaks
Promenade among the candy stalls and side shows
Gaze upon the pickled punks and gather round the geek
Marvel as he hypnotizes chickens!

Once there was a time I would ride my Honda Dream
Through the hinterlands south of Greenville
To clear my head and blow off steam, sure I loved my wife and kids
But after punching the clock I needed time to kill

Now I count among my closest friends Tom Thumb and a Siamese Twin
Schlitzie, Grady Stiles and many others
Ms. Besinet once intoned as she gave my hand a squeeze
"I feel the presence of two young lovers!"

One sunny day in 1963
I threw my chain on a quiet country lane
Didn't bother me none I had my whiskey flask and I spied shady tree
Off in a field of grasses gently swaying

I approached unhurried then paused at the sight
Of a couple in flagrante delicto
Oblivious to my presence I watched them writhe in the dappled light
As innocence give way to passion

On the continent they refer to it as "la petite mort"
But when they noticed me and my knife those kids revived
I recall what happened next as a red blur of sorts
Of three who met beneath those boughs only one survived

The pounding of my heart offered a moment of clarity
Illusive as the sounds of a calliope

Further down the hollow, the circus was on tour
Gharish lights eclipsed persistent thoughts of subjects darker
Luck would have it they was looking for a raconteur
And thus I became a Barker

And so, my dear, after all these years you've heard a full account
From which you may take some small consolation
The painted lady's son did not run off with a local tart
I'm sure you realize why I make this final revelation

Though your tattoos have faded your beauty still shines
And my old jack knife was never sharper
As the light in your eyes slowly wanes
So too shall all memories of the Barker