Dar Williams This Was Pompeii Lyrics

This Was Pompeii Lyrics

I am thinking about the woman in a century of peace
On a bright mosaic she is
washing on her knees
And she looks up at the black sky beyond the mountain
tall
She says, "Oh good, the rain is finally going to fall today."
This
was Pompeii.

And everyone has memories of the night that melted
stone
The neighbour's nightgown, the screaming on the phone
And the tired
man at the station says, "We can't tell who's alive
All we ever know is that
the tourists survive."
"Tra la, tra la," they say, they say
"Let's Go
Pompeii."

And as for my own kingdom, not a table leg was charred
I
simple lost my kindgom cos I held it much too hard
Once I had a sadness, the
sadness turned to trust
The trust turned into ashes and to lawyers and
dust
A century, a day
This was Pompeii.