Oscar Wilde Gets Out

Freedom for the scapegoat leaving Reading Jail Rheumy eyes just pierced his heart like crucifixion nails Shaking fists and razors gleamed, you never stood a chance When the ink ran red on Fleet Street You turned your eyes to France Humbled far from Dublin, chased across the waves Your biting wit still sharp enough To slice through every page Destitute and beaten by the system of the crown The bitter pill you swallowed Tasted sweeter going down And looking back on the great indifference Looking back at the limestone wall Thinking how beauty deceives you Knowing how love fools us all A golden boy in velveteen landed in New York The past was so seductive When they paid to hear you talk Baccarat and champagne flutes Tobacco from Virginia Long before the lords and law Branded Oscar Wilde a sinner And looking back on the cold bleak winter Looking back on those long dark days Felt like the head of John the Baptist In the arms of Salome Don't turn around it's a white gull screaming Don't cry out loud you never know who's listening You've seen it all the exiled Unforgiven From the stately homes of England to her prisons And looking back at the hardened lifers Looking back on the wretched poor Thinking maybe they were my saviors Strange to think I'll miss them all Strange to think I'll miss them all And looking back on the great indifference Looking back at the limestone wall Thinking how beauty deceives you Knowing how love fools us all