The gymnast, high above the ground Limbers up and falls timbers down Ankles splayed and all tied The gymnast long has arrived Lazy, your long sister lays Waiting out this long light brigade Prayed for snow a long time And lazy, it long has arrived Through the tarlatan holes You've been slipping, been slipping away And the weather will hold It's been ever so, ever so gray But here as we're coming down And we're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide As it lights upon your eye But there on the motorway reeks of marmalade It's a chemical, chemical kind As it lights upon your eye Lights upon your eye The bosun calls upon the quay Compass gone, he long has lost his way To lighthouse shine, to calm tide The bosun long has arrived Through the tarlatan holes You've been slipping, been slipping away And the weather will hold It's been ever so, ever so gray But here as we're coming down And we're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide As it lights upon your eye But there on the motorway reeks of marmalade It's a chemical, chemical kind As it lights upon your eye Lights upon your eye