Race To The Bottom

Slidin' along by the Seine, it's May Day
This song’s in my head once again

It's a long way down to the bottom we've been racin'
Coughing my lungs up on rue des Irlandais
Becoming a risk to myself

It's a long way down to the bottom and we're racin'
The radio silence and the anarchists
Are gathering names, dates and lists for burnin'

It's a long way down to the bottom that we've been racin'
Oh, how you move me, truly
Oh, how you set my heart aglow
I'm shadowing in with the crowds unnoticed
Somebody painted an X on my back

It’s a long way down to the bottom and we're racin'
There's piss on the streets after dark in Paris
Even our dear Joan of Arc, she knows

It’s a long way down to the bottom and we've been racin'
Even the gods as they gaze down on us
Know that there's no one to be saved among us
They keep turning away, turning away
We're singin' along with the righteous people
The bullets will rain down from the mosques and steeples
They keep turning away, turning away
A taste for the wine and a woman's forgiveness
Her man's in decline, oh, it's a nasty business
It's a long way down to the bottom that we've been racin'
Our blood is no thicker than this water, my brother
You'll find out soon one way or the other

It's a long way down to the bottom that we've been racin'
Even the clouds that send the rains down on us
See a horizon that goes way beyond us
They keep driftin' away, driftin' away
While down in the dark in the tick-tock alleys
Time's running out and there's still bills to tally
We keep chippin' away, chippin' away, oh
Slidin' along with the bouquinistes
Baldwin and Brecht and the distance between us

It's a long way down to the bottom that we've been racin'
I'm rising up strong like a snake that's charmed
A handsome Parisienne on my arm

It's a long way down to the bottom that we've been racin', yeah