Natalie Merchant Ophelia
Ophelia was a bride of God A novice Carmelite In sister cells The cloister bells tolled on her wedding night Ophelia was the rebel girl A blue stocking suffragette Who remedied society between her cigarettes And Ophelia was the sweetheart To a nation overnight Curvaceous thighs Vivacious eyes Love was at first sight Love was at first sight Ophelia was a demigoddess in pre-war Babylon So statuesque a silhouette in black satin evening gowns Ophelia was the mistress To a Vegas gambling man Signora Ophelia Maraschina Mafia courtesan Ophelia was the circus queen The female cannonball Projected through five flaming hoops To wild and shocked applause To wild and shocked applause Ophelia was a tempest cyclone A goddamn hurricane Your common sense, your best defense Lay wasted and in vain For Ophelia'd know your every woe And every pain you'd ever had She'd sympathize and dry your eyes And help you to forget Help you to forget And help you to forget Ophelia's mind went wandering You'd wonder where she'd gone Through secret doors down corridors She wanders them alone All alone fade to different spoken languages
