I'm laying on the pavement And the last thing I recall Picked up by the arms and legs And taken from the hall For squaring up to culture In the circle and the stall
All because they're playing Wagner at the opera All because they're playing Wagner at the opera
Hurt can make you act without Apology or regret Over half a century But still I can't forget Ideology makes a mockery Of the string quartet
All because they're playing Wagner at the opera All because they're playing Wagner at the opera
When they came to take me I was standing on a chair I can't keep quiet I have something to declare Listen to my rattle For my rattle says "Beware"
All because they're playing Wagner at the opera All because they're playing Wagner at the opera
A rattle for remembering The rattle of the chains A rattle for remembering The rattle of the trains From Warsaw down the decades To hell and home again
All because they're playing Wagner at the opera All because they're playing Wagner at the opera
For everyone we lost I swing the rattle loud and long I swing it 'til I drown out All the music and the songs This tattoo will last forever And my memory is long
Here's to no more playing Wagner at the opera Here's to no more playing Wagner at the opera Here's to no more playing Wagner at the opera