Billy Boy

What did you see at the fair little Billy, Were there pretty girls there, my Billy? Maybe it was the colors and the lights all ablaze They painted their faces with a candy apple glaze The motorcycle girl put a spell on me The fortune teller said she'd tell on me Everything was spinning and it carried me away To a place for a while I thought I wanted to stay What took you so long to get home my Billy? Did you stay til you were there all alone little Billy? Yeah I stayed 'til the lights begin to go dim My friends had all left I couldn't find them I didn't mind at the time cause I didn't think That the rides would stop and the lights would quit blinkin' Or that the booths where the men who talk through their noses Would seal themselves tight like a rose when it closes I didn't think that the color that was all in the air Could disappear so fast and leave nothing there I never dreamed that the music that the caliope Could change to the noise of men raking the streets It all turned so strange and it all went so quick And the only friend left with me was the sound of a cricket With my fantasy gone the dark seemed so real I was left there to feel what I didn't want to feel No one wants to see, when it comes to the end The still ferris wheel, when it quits spinnin' No one want to hear, the sound is too intense When the Midway closes, and leaves nothing but silence When your soul goes swirlin' and the world is in a spin Your heart will never be the same again That's when I got scared and I thought I was lost And that's when I heard the sword swallower cough I listened like a rabbit, I stopped in a freeze And that's when I heard the fat man sneeze And there was a light in the trailer and I crept to the door And I pressed my ear close, to try to hear more I heard many voices, but they weren't the kind That I'd heard in my life, or any other time At the back of my coat, there blew a cold wind And that's when the Siamese twins took me in The people inside, I couldn't believe They weren't like the kind that you see on the street They brushed off my hat, dusted my coat And offered me milk that came from a goat I liked them at once, they treated me good So I told them my story, like I thought I should When your soul is swirlin' and the world is in a spin Your heart can never be the same again I told them how different that the Midway feels When the lights go out on the ferris wheel And I said to them, how you must feel all alone When the music quits, to call this your home The tatooed man looked at me in the face And said we couldn't feel right in any other place We'll be here 'til the day we die When I understood, I had a tear in my eye I knew this was their home and though it seemed lonely It was made for them, and for them only I left them there, holding back the tears And I told them I hoped I would see them next year They laughed and said "You can bet on that" And gave me my coat and pulled on my hat They all gathered round the trailer house steps And no one was counting anyone's bills When your soul is swirlin' and the world is in a spin Your heart can never be the same again