Gala Lyrics

Gala hangs from the window frame
Dressed in black and white
Her face is colourless
In the moonlight
She turns around and her lips move
But the words just drop away
She leans on the back of a chair
And her arms begin to sway
She and I can hear voices
Talking in the room next door

Saying things we used to say
That we don't believe in any more
We've seen too many castles crumble,
Made too many mistakes
Who could have known that one house
Could hold so much heartbreak ?
Then the clockbell rings,
The wind blows in
Gala makes for the door
Her eyes blaze,
Her hands are shaking
She opens her mouth and roars
"Gala doesn't want !
Gala doesn't need !"
She claws at her face with her nails
Till it bleeds
She runs downstairs in her poor bare feet
She's too woman to cry or go down on her knees
Then her mother is there
And her voice is soft
As she pulls Gala close
She soothes Gala's cuts
And gently chides
And Gala knows
That Gala needn't worry
No, she needn't be afraid
For there are sailors on the sea tonight
In ships that God made
Look ! They cast out a line
With a heave-two-three-four
And they sing as they pull
Our lost souls aboard

Edinburgh 1981

On "The Waterboys"