Lyrics for the album "Countdown To Ecstasy" by Steely Dan

Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand
Can you show me the shine in your Japan,
The sparkle of your China, can you show me
Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva

I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva, I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there, I'll shine in your Japan
I'll sparkle in your China, Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva

Repeats above verses ad nauseum (well not quite)

Boston Rag

Any news was good news, and the feeling was bad at home
I was out of my mind and you were on the phone
Lonnie was the kingpin back in nineteen sixty five
I was singing this song when Lonnie came alive

Bring back the Boston Rag,
Tell all your buddies that it aint no drag
Bring back the Boston Rag

You were Lady Bayside, there was nothing that I could do
So I pointed my car down Seventh Avenue
Lonnie swept the playroom and he swallowed up all he found
It was fourty eight hours till Lonnie came around

[chorus]
[chorus and fade]

King of The World

Hello one and all; was it you I used to know?
Can't you hear me call on this old ham radio?
All I've got to say, I'm alive and feeling fine
Should you come my way you can share my poison wine

No marigolds in the promised land,
There's a hole in the ground where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world as far as I know

I won't take your bread; I don't need no helping hand
I can't be no savage; I can't be no highwayman
Show me where you are; you and I can spend this day
Driving in my car through the ruins of Santa Fe

[chorus]

I'm reading last years papers, although I don't know why
Assassins, cons and rapers might as well die

When you come around, no more plain regrets
Watch the sun go brown smoking cobalt cigarettes
There's no need to hide, taking things the easy way
If I stay inside I might live till Saturday

No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground where they used to grow
Any man left of the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world, king of the world as far as I know

My Old School

I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September when your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs
When I heard about the whole affair
I said "Oh no, William and Mary won't do"

Well I did not think the girl could be so cruel
And I'm never going back to my old school

Oleanders growing outside her door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can't stand her doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said "Oh no, Guadalajara won't do"

California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you about Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said "Whoa no, Guadalajara won't do"

Pearl Of The Quarter

On the water down in New Orleans,
My baby's the pearl of the quarter
She's a charmer like you never seen,
Singing voulez, voulez, voulez, vous?
Where the sailor spends his hard earned pay,
Red beans and rice for a quarter
You can see her almost any day
Singing voulez, voulez, voulez, vous?

And if you hear from my Louise,
Won't you tell her I say hello
Please make it clear when her day is done
She got a place to go

I walked alone down the Miracle Mile;
I met my baby by the shrine of the martyr
She stole my heart with her Cajun smile,
Singing voulez, voulez, voulez, vous?
She loved the million dollar words I say;
She loved the candy and the flowers I bought her
She said she loved me anad was on her way
Singing voulez, voulez, voulez, vous?

And if you hear from my Louise,
Won't you tell her I love her so
Please make it clear when her day is done
She got a place to go

Razor Boy

I hear you are singing a song of the past; I see no tears
I know that you know that it may be the last for many years
You'd gamble or give anything to be n qith the better half,
But how many friends must I have to begin with to make you laugh

Will you still have a song to sing when
The razor boy comes and takes your fancy things away
Will you still be singing it on that cold and windy day

You know that the coming is so close at hand, you feel all right
I guess only women in cages can stand this kind of night
I guess only women in cages can play down the things they lose
You think no tomorrow will come when you lay down you can't refuse

[chorus]

Showbiz Kids

Background: Go to Las Wages, Los Wages, go to Las Wages
(continues throughout)

While the poor people sleep with the shade on the light
While the poor people sleep all the stars come out at night
While the poor people sleep with the shade on the light
While the poor people sleep all the stars come out at night

After closing time at the Guernsey Fair,
I detect the El Supremo from the room at the top of the stairs
Well I've been around the world, and I've been in the Washington Zoo
And in all my travels as the facts unravel, I've found this to be true

[chorus]

They got the house on the corner, with the rug inside
They got the booze they need, all that money can buy
They got the shapely bodies, they got the Steely Dan T-shirts
And for the coupe de grace, they're outrageous
Honey let me tell you

[chorus]

Show bus'ness kids makin' movies of themselves
You know they don't give a fuck about anybody else

You know you go to Las Wages, Las Wages, go to  Las Wages

Your Gold Teeth

Got a feeling I've been here before
Watching as you cross the killing floor
You know you'll have to pay it all
You'll pay today or pay tomorrow
You fasten up your beaded gown
Then you try to tie me down
Do you work it one by one
Or played in combination

You throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll?

I have seen your iron and your brass
Can't you see it shine behind the glass?
Your fortune is your roving eye
Your mouth and legs your gift for the runaround
Torture is the main attraction
I don't need that kind of action
You don't have to dance for me
I've seen your dance before

Do you throw out your gold teeth?
Do you see how they roll?

Tobacco they grow in Peking
In the Year of the Locust you'll see a sad thing
Even Cathy Berberian knows there's on roulade she can't sing
Dumb luck my friend, won't suck me in this time

Got a feeling I've been here before
Won't you let me help you find the door
All you got to do is use your silver shoes
A gift for the runaround
Use your knack darling
Take one step back darling
There aint nothing in Chicago
For a monkey woman to do

Do throw out your gold teeth?
Do you see how they roll?