Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E) Difficulty: Intermediate This Vicious Cabaret Verse: E They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway E They say that life's a game, then they take the board away E They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story E Then leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret...
B D E D E In no-longer-pretty cities there are fingers in the kitties D E F E D E D There are warrants, forms, and chitties and a jackboot on the stair E B D B D There’s Sex and death and human grime, in monochrome for one thin dime B E At least the trains all run on time but they don't go anywhere F# B D Facing their responsibilities, either on their backs or on their knees B F# B D There are ladies who just simply freeze and dare not turn a- way A B C D C A B C D C And the widows who refuse to cry will be dressed in garter and bow-tie A B C D C A B A B And be taught to kick their legs up high in this vicious cabaret Chorus: B A# B At last! The 1998 Show! B A# B The ballet on the burning stage B A# B The documentary seen B A# B Up on the fractured screen B A# A The dreadful poem scrawled upon the crumpled page... B D E G E There's a policeman with an honest soul D E G E Who’s seen whose head is on the pole D E D E D E D E And he grunts and fills his briar bowl with a feeling of unease Verse: A B D B Then he briskly frisks the torn remains A B D B For a fingerprint or crimson stains A B C D C A B A And endevours to ignore the chains that he walks in to his knees C D E F# B E While his master in the dark nearby inspects the hands, with brutal eye B E F# B D That have never brushed a lover's thigh but have squeezed a nation's throat A B C D C And he hungers in his secret dreams A B C D C For the harsh embrace of cruel machines A B C D C But his lover is not what she seems A B A B And she will not leave a note Chorus: B A# B At last! The 1998 Show! B A# B The Situation Tragedy B A# B Grand Opera slick with soap B A# B Cliffhangers with no hope B A# A The water-colour in the flooded gallery... B D E G E There's a girl who'll push but will not shove D E G E And she's desperate for her father's love D E D G E D E D E She believes the hand beneath the glove may be one she needs to hold Verse: A B C D C Though she doubts her host's moralities A B C D C She decides she is more at ease A B C D C In the Land Of Doing-As-You-Please A B A B Than outside in the cold B E But the backdrops peel and the sets give way F# B D And the cast get eaten by the play B E There's a murderer at the Matinee, F# B D There are dead men in the aisles A B D B And the patrons and the actors too A B C D C Are uncertain if the show is through A B C D C A B A B And with side-long looks await their cue, but the frozen mask just smiles Chorus: B A# B At last! The 1998 Show! B A# B The torch-song no one ever sings! B A# B The curfew chorus line! B A# B The comedy divine! B A# A The bulging eyes of puppets strangled by their strings! E There's thrills and chills and girls galore, sing-songs and surprises! E There's something hear for everyone, reserve your seat today! E There's mischief and malarkies but no queers or yids or darkies E Within this bastard's carnival, this vicious cabaret!