The Chaconne

now the bough breaks

the books I read
said you were a fragile kid
just as I imagined it
your story goes:

another nosebleed
roses on the pillowcase
the fever breaks, 
and you're back on earth again

you rehearse 
in the living room
the nursemaid comes mid-afternoon
to say "you've practiced long enough today"

she takes your bow
it's suppertime
but oh, your only appetite
was fixed on the chaconne you'd hoped to play

so soon you're off 
to the academy
the honours
and the accolades

first a darling
then a marvel
when we met
I was still a young girl

but you had changed, already famous
your name was a contagion
you were vain and hard to take
all the same, I was brave

how the tides rise
oh, how the tides rise

I don't suppose you'd tell the truth
so I won't ask you anymore
all the things that we do
to pass the time between the wars

I don't regret a single day
heard your chaconne on every stage
but your love sleeps in a velvet case
so what'd you bring me for?
what'd you bring me for?

yeah, oh

I hear you keep your pretty wife alive 
on only brie
they say a dozen years ago
she could have passed for me

she doesn't trust you with the baby
maybe better that way
safe in your study
going grey

you're at your best
when you're alone
above the fray
with your chaconne

now the bells toll