The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar

Prayed in the ghetto with my face in the cement

Heard the last moan of a boxer, seen the massacre of the innocent

Felt around for the light switch, became nauseated

She was walking down the hallway while the walls deteriorated

East of the Jordan, hard as the Rock of Gibraltar

I see the burning of the page

Curtain risin' on a new age

See the groom still waitin' at the altar

Try to be pure at heart, they arrest you for robbery

Mistake your shyness for aloofness, your shyness for snobbery

Got the message this morning, the one that was sent to me

About the madness of becomin' what one was never meant to be

West of the Jordan, east of the Rock of Gibraltar

I see the burning of the stage

Curtain risin' on a new age

See the groom still waitin' at the altar

Don't know what I can say about Claudette that wouldn't come back to haunt me

Finally had to give her up 'bout the time she began to want me

But I know God has mercy on them who are slandered and humiliated

I'd a-done anything for that woman if she didn't make me feel so obligated

West of the Jordan, west of the Rock of Gibraltar

I see the burning of the cage

Curtain risin' on a new stage

See the groom still waitin' at the altar

Put your hand on my head, baby, do I have a temperature?

I see people who are supposed to know better standin' around like furniture

There's a wall between you and what you want and you got to leap it

Tonight you got the power to take it, tomorrow you won't have the power to keep it

West of the Jordan, east of the Rock of Gibraltar

I see the burning of the stage

Curtain risin' on a new age

See the groom still waitin' at the altar

Cities on fire, phones out of order

They're killing nuns and soldiers, there's fighting on the border

What can I say about Claudette? Ain't seen her since January

She could be respectably married or running a whorehouse in Buenos Aires

West of the Jordan, west of the Rock of Gibraltar

I see the burning of the stage

Curtain risin' on a new age

See the groom still waitin' at the altar