Nemo James

Vanity Fair

From the Album  The Gate

It was late at night in the kitchen
At the end of a long and cruel day
She sits all alone in the darkness
because her candle has just burned away

And she’s told that she can’t have another
because her master is going through hard times
Yet her hands are still sore and bleeding
from the silver and gold she must shine

She knows that she should go to bed now
tomorrow is just four hours away
But for seven days a week, all she has
Are these hours at the end of the day

When her mind is left free to wander
Through a life that she can call her own
Not chained to the whims of a master
Who tries to get blood from a stone

Chorus
Vanity fair, you have more than your share
Much more than you ever could need
When you stand in your church
While your soul you do search
Don’t you think he’s aware of your greed

Vanity fair, how can you bear
To look in the mirror each day
While you’re wasting the lives
Of your servants who strive
To keep you in the luxury
You never worked for
It’s your hands in the fire
But theirs that get burned

There’s just one thing in her life that is good
The young man she rushes to see
On her afternoon off by the river
When the world is so happy and free

Where they dream of a life together
In a place that they can call their own
But they know in their hearts it can’t happen
They are two birds that never have flown

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG