She's a door without a key
He's a guitar without strings
She was lying wide open
Like a bible on a plinth
Came on like a hellfire preacher
Casting out her ghosts
Fell at the first hurdle
Like a Grand National horse

Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife
Oh oh oh oh Circus of life

She tried to rearrange him
But his strings were cut loose
He dangled like a puppet
Crumpled and spooked
He's a whiskey-priest
A punctured beast
Another bar room King
Without his crown

Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife
Oh oh oh oh Circus of lifе

Clowns all juggled
Jugglers told jokes
Lion tamеrs danced
Up on the tightrope
Dancing girls in the lions' cage
He's got the soul of a lover
But his heart is full of rage

He's a soldier with no rifle
A crook without a job
A blind man cane-less
Now he's walking into walls
He's counting his chickens
And the wolves are at the door
He's a convict of love
In his sad sick cell of woe

Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife
Oh oh oh oh Circus of life

Clowns all juggled
Jugglers told jokes
Lion tamers danced
Up on the tightrope
Dancing girls in the lions' cage
He's got the soul of a lover
But his heart is full of rage

The things he believed in
He don't anymore
There's a whore in his hallway
And the Police at the door
He's stranded and helpless
He's shouting in silence
The fruits of the flesh
Are embedded in violence
The lips he once kissed
Are now lips that curse him
And nothing gets better
It only gets worse


Clowns all juggled
Jugglers told jokes
Lion tamers danced
Up on the tightrope
Dancing girls in the lions' cage
He's got the soul of a lover
But his heart is full of rage

He's running from himself
He can never get away
He's masking his feelings
With two bottles a day
He's still looking for salvation
In another's arms
“They're all out to do you in and do you harm”

Oh oh oh oh Circus of life
Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife
Oh oh oh oh Circus of life
Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife

He's out on his own
With the sky and the stars
The wind calls her name
And the memory scars
He disappears her face
With three bottles a day
And his stomach is screaming
And the landlord wants paid
And where has it got him
And where can he go?
When he's stuck at the bottom
And the Ringmaster says…
“on with the show”

He drinks to remember
He drinks to forget
He drinks for the hell of it
And he's not finished yet
Exhalted in company
Melancholic alone
He's nailed to the bottle
He's soaked to the bone
He drinks when he's lonely and that's quite a lot these days
Top shelf Nirvana, rock bottom final phase
He's trying to fill a hole that can never be filled
The more he digs the deeper trouble he's in

Oh oh oh oh circus of life
Oh oh oh oh Kingdom of strife