Scott Walker - The Bridge lyrics

I've watched her from the river banks I knew her when she danced with dreams White doves were there to dress her hair And so was Madelaine At night the people's faces danced Like pearls colliding on the breast Of fat Marie whose thunder laugh Was just a thread from crying Her sailors stained her cobblestones With wine and piss and d**h desire And sometimes blood for Madelaine Whose laughter was the night Her girls would lift their dresses high and breathe the stars and kiss the sky She'd smother them with whispers then Embrace them with her sighs Before the bottle dulled my eyes And made me so I couldn't stand I'd overact and play the clown When Madelaine would cry And now I watch from riverbanks I watch it weave it's memories White doves turned gray and flew away And so did Madelaine