One Beautiful Evening

Laurie Anderson

One beautiful evening in the garden on Eden

A snake came walking in the twilight

He was leaning on his ivory cane

And he said, let me tell you a little secret about life

There's a certain sharpness to a knife, or a diamond

Come here, Watch it glitter

Oh it's another blue day in a nowhere place

We're singin' hey, hey, nonny, hay

I'm a little teapot short and stout

Tip me over and pour me out

You know when the Egyptians built their steam trains

They didn't have any fuel to burn - no wood, no trees anywhere.

But they did have a lot of old mummy rags lying around

So the gathered up all the rags and burned them in their trains

Yeah, they burned their ancestors for fuel.

Ooo, I'm a crocodile floating down the river

I'm a tree catching my own oranges as they fall from my head

I'm a little teapot short and stout

Tip me over and pour me out

And hello to all the people who sent me on the way

A pat on the back for you.

Have fun, it's your moment now

It's your turn to walk along the runway road

And me?

I sent my better self on ahead.

Your attention, please

It's like at the end of the play and all the actors come out

And they line up and they look at you...

And horrible things have happened to them during the play

And they stand there while you clap and now what?

What happens next?

And the fire dies and there were furious winds where he went

We're singin' hey, hey, nonny, hey

We're singin' hey, hey, nonny, hey

It's another blue day in a nowhere place

We're singin' hey, hey, nonny, hey

I'm a little teapot short and stout

Tip me over and pour me out

Oh beauty in all it's forms

Funny how hatred can also be a beautiful thing

When it's as sharp as a knife

As hard as a diamond

Perfect.