One Night Only (Studio)

Lyrics

[Verse 1] He got shafted in Bradford for his out-of-date routines up there And the trouble for the southern summer season Was more than his fair share He's been running for thirty slow years And he would have settled down Every new town he appears in Just wanna put a red nose on the clown [Verse 2] You can buy the old showbills and frame 'em They're nearly antiques And you trip up on his big clown shoes as you're starting to speak And he squirts the flower, hurts your hand Those tricks will always catch you The big clown tears, they're sketched so deep That they might as well be tattooed [Chorus] The one man circus is coming to town Put the banners up, take your trousers down Paint on a smile, wipe off the frown Heaven knows it won't hurt us The loose, the lovely and the lonely One night only, one night [Verse 3] He says, "I played Chaplin for Hitler in March '44 Been a black and white minstrel Before that whole thing was outlawed And I've dragged it on every single pier In every one of your seaside towns There aren't any tea dances any more And the pavilions, they've all been pulled down" [Verse 4] "I came over straight after the war and they hijacked my name Made it easier to get your tongue round but my wife never came I've been learning these lines every day Since the cold winter of 1945 I'll be glad to learn 'em every day I still wish that I was alive" (He's coming, he's coming) [Chorus] The one man circus is coming to town Get the dogs out, tear the posters down Paint "Go home" on the walls till he is elsewhere bound Heaven knows he could hurt us The loose, the lovely and the lonely One night only, one night [Post-Chorus] He's tripping over backwards, taking off his clothes No one stops to helps him, everyone knows We laugh at the misfortune of others He's tripping over backwards, taking off his clothes No one stops to helps him, everyone knows We laugh at the misfortune of others [Verse 5] Every time the glass empties, the lions they all get set free On a town full of unsuspecting tourists Who scream when they're happy And the scarecrow's on probation All he did was make faces into a mirror The past finally caught up with him Put a hand on his shoulder and drowned him in tears [Verse 6] Now he ushers and watches the movies where children don't age As the dancing horse stole all the keys taking charge of the stage Now the freaks are on the razzmatazz They're all fuelled by four-star gin And the downcast cast-out's on the street where he's always been And we've already let him in [Chorus] The one man circus is coming to town Put the banners up, take your trousers down Paint on a smile, wipe off the frown Heaven knows it won't hurt us The loose, the lovely and the lonely One night only, one man circus One night [Post-Chorus] He's tripping over backwards, taking off his clothes No one stops to helps him, everyone knows We laugh at the misfortune of others Here he comes We laugh at the misfortune of others We laugh at the misfortune of others We laugh