Text: Thea Gilmore. Rules For Jokers. Seen It All Before.
Kerosene Kathy is bringing in the mail
Its a 50/50 choice, pass Go or go to jail
You can see her with her matches on the pavement in the rain
Glowing by the light of this southbound train
She's shouting ?good Christian soldiers stamp their ration book with failure
?And twinkle little Stalin's hung his hat up on my nail you're
?Gonna wish you had of fought when your last breath comes
?Cos we never want for nothing 'cept a little freedom?
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Well they brought me to the bars when I was fourteen
A sexy little girl and a seedy little magazine
The painted out my life on a page of black and white
Cos there's no call for justice when you're dealing in spite
And I landed on a tightrope on the hookline of a dare
A little ragged at the edges but not beyond repair
With a hole in every pocket and half a bag of tricks
But it was nothing that a tenner and a bullet couldn't fix
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
My money is on anger, they say the form is good
They say the odds are stacked
And this side of Birmingham's a good place to be
When they finally light the match
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Just wait till they see me out on the front page
Just wait till they remember how they stroked this rage
Shining like a penny in the back slum gutter
Like a single note sonata in the train conductors stutter
Make sure they get to see me when I'm hanging from the ceiling
Get each detail of exactly how they're feeling
Cos Five have got the rights to the docu-soap shows
They'll buy the truth off with some donuts and a sweet red rose
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
My money is on anger, they say the form is good
They say the odds are stacked
And this side of Birmingham's a good place to be
When they finally light the match
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Its a 50/50 choice, pass Go or go to jail
You can see her with her matches on the pavement in the rain
Glowing by the light of this southbound train
She's shouting ?good Christian soldiers stamp their ration book with failure
?And twinkle little Stalin's hung his hat up on my nail you're
?Gonna wish you had of fought when your last breath comes
?Cos we never want for nothing 'cept a little freedom?
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Well they brought me to the bars when I was fourteen
A sexy little girl and a seedy little magazine
The painted out my life on a page of black and white
Cos there's no call for justice when you're dealing in spite
And I landed on a tightrope on the hookline of a dare
A little ragged at the edges but not beyond repair
With a hole in every pocket and half a bag of tricks
But it was nothing that a tenner and a bullet couldn't fix
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
My money is on anger, they say the form is good
They say the odds are stacked
And this side of Birmingham's a good place to be
When they finally light the match
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Just wait till they see me out on the front page
Just wait till they remember how they stroked this rage
Shining like a penny in the back slum gutter
Like a single note sonata in the train conductors stutter
Make sure they get to see me when I'm hanging from the ceiling
Get each detail of exactly how they're feeling
Cos Five have got the rights to the docu-soap shows
They'll buy the truth off with some donuts and a sweet red rose
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
My money is on anger, they say the form is good
They say the odds are stacked
And this side of Birmingham's a good place to be
When they finally light the match
And I've seen it all before
And I've seen it all before
Thea Gilmore