Gold

Jeffrey Lewis

When I got to the golden city

Most of the gold was gone

By that time I had some questions

So I flagged down a race-car bum

He said "Sonny I don't know where it's going,

But I can show you where it all comes from"

And he mopped his red forehead and he pointed

Straight into the setting sun

And people let me tell you

That what I then did saw

It sent such a shock to my system

That I almost fell down dead on the floor

'Cos the sun had a big chunk missing

About 24 carats wide

And I stared into that hole in the golden sun

And you wanna know what I saw inside?

I saw a giant toothpick factory

And it made my very soul feel sick

'Cos when I say I saw a toothpick factory

I mean I saw a factory made out of toothpicks

And that factory was a-hoppin' and a-jumpin'

And a-roaring and letting off steam

And you know that that ain't all now

Let me tell you what else I seen

Behind the factory was a giant mutant monster

With sixty-seven seperate tails

And each one was a-wiggling and a-waving

And each one as long as twenty-three whales

And at the tip of each towering tendrils

Were a dozen tiny pencils of lead

And each word they wrote was in a different language

And when you put them all together they said

"You who have arms to wrestle

And you who have wars to fight

And you who have chips on your shoulders

Must now line up and stand to my right

But you who are meek and lawful

And you who are soft and kind

If you don't want to see something awful

Run and get yourself a rock to hide behind

'Cos these colours are just a signal

And these colours are just about to fade"

And when I read those words I shivered

And I saw exactl what the factory made

Out of a little doorway

At the end of a conveyor belt

In the centre of a ring of fire

Half the size of a postage stamp

Were a million household items

Packed into a metal Dukes Of Hazzard lunchbox

And they were all shut and sealed and f