Procol Harum

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the Pale

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Heartbreak House

Words by Keith Reid, outside Procol Harum


Heartbreak House (Keith Reid / Michael Saxell)

Released August 2008 on the album The Common Thread by The Keith Reid Project
 

She always did the best she could
She tried each day to do something good
'cos the Devil makes work for idle hands
She gave her faith to a military man
He was sharp an' tall with a permanent tan
And her parents couldn't understand
Now she lives each day in the heartbreak house
She pines away in the heartbreak house
She's going grey in the heartbreak house
The dogs run stray in the heartbreak house

There's a war being waged in a foreign country
In a far off land 'cross a stormy sea
There's a price to pay that she just can't see
You shouldn't love a fighting man
They'll take you hostage if they can
There's a price to pay, you just don't understand
Now the lights are low in the heartbreak house
The nights go slow in the heartbreak house
The cobwebs grow in the heartbreak house
You just don't go to the heartbreak house

The army took her man to war
They didn't say what they were fighting for
But they gave his life for an age-old score
The army gave away his life
And sent a telegram to his wife
Thanking her for her sacrifice
Now she lies away in the heartbreak house
she mourns her fate in the heartbreak house
Too much to take in the heartbreak house
Even the floorboards ache in the heartbreak house.
Yes even the floorboards ache in the heartbreak house.


More non-Procol songs by Keith Reid


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