Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls - Anaïs Mitchell

I could tell you stories like the government tells lies

Oh, but no one listens any more

In the rooms the women come and go Talking on the mobile phones

And the television talks about the war

When I was a baby there was laughter in my house

And my daddy smoked domestic cigarettes

Thursday nights on the radio live in concert

Live from Cairo, mother of Egypt

Mama, mama

Be with me With the music in your breast

In your glittering evening dress

And the white flag in your fist trembling

I could tell you stories like the past was dead and gone

But I know nothing changes in this world

Every day the muezzin calls

Sun comes up and Baghdad falls

Before the eyes of storytelling girls

She was just a poor man’s daughter

Going down into the sultan’s bed

He was desert, she was a water

And he remembered every word she said

She said and I say

Grandma, grandma

Be with me In your tragic wedding gown

With your long hair hanging down

And the stories tumbling out

Tumbling

I could tell you stories like the government tells lies

Oh, but no one listens any more

In the rooms the women come and go Talking on the mobile phones

And the television talks about the war

About the war

And the television talks about the war