Charmed Life Lyrics

One by one they come around at 2

They drink Campari and they take the sun

And everybody drinks a toast to the New Year

And everybody laughs at tales of the old one

And they watch for rain on the streetfront

And they move their lips to the Rolling Stones

And they share cigarettes, newspapers, and bad moods

Just like they shared childhoods

Seven o'clock and they all talk politics

And other evidence of times gone bad

Like the weddings in the smog-stained churches

And the widows in their pristine black

And to someone's camera they're a photo

And to someone's neighbor they're the thankless young

The Old World namesakes of Word War daughters and sons

Still waiting for their liberation

And it seems a charmed life under stone and awnings

But I watch the rising smoke burn off their longings

I came seeking the charmed life and they laugh at my wanderings

But tonight we'll drink to the past, and to dreams of greener grass

Stefano is telling joke in the kitchen

He flips a Zippo and he winks at me

And ashed fly as he throws them a punchline

And the winter wind blows from the balcony

And walls are riddled with postcards

From primitive shores no Pope could tame

Of crumbling temples and gods with hollow eyes

Another city fallen on hard times

And the wine is gone and they're dancing in the bedroom

And the streetlights crowd out the setting sun

And the cars wind past the jagged glass-lined graffitied walls

And I'm a little heartbroken, and a little more in love

With this charmed life

Yes it seems a charmed life under stone and awnings

But I watch the rising smoke burn off their longings

I came seeking the charmed life and they laugh at my wanderings

But tonight we'll drink to the past, and to dreams of greener grass

Andrea talks of going to India

Pack some sandals and an old guitar

Family and traffic are taking all the good air

Family and traffic are pressing down hard

And he talks of pipes and deserts

And I dream of smoke and stone

But, he tells me, The people over there live a charmed life

And I guess he's probably right