Exquisite Corpse - Shriekback

Up the stairs, go through the cupboards, secrets are to me

The droppings of the animal I stalk relentlessly

Nothing titillating or deliciously decayed

I guess the truth is nothing special but elusive anyway

Down on the river bank the watchman shines his torch

But he sees no sign of the exquisite corpse

He sees no sign of the exquisite corpse

All the clues are added up to make a wider scheme

The patterns are so intricate like opiated dreams

The characters I see are only actors in a play

A seedy tv drama to be screened around midday

I follow her to price-check

And get the girl to talk about

Her father and his lawyer and the exquisite corpse

Her father and his lawyer and the exquisite corpse

The city murmurs in its sleep incriminating sounds

Its poisons and its weaponry are scattered all around

I know there’s more to all of this than I can touch or see

It’s dead and cold and dangerous, but elegant to me

With burning eyes and coffee breath and then a day in court

Still I lay fifty pences on the eyes of this exquisite corpse

I lay fifty pences on the eyes of this exquisite corpse