Midweek and we reached scarlet town   I was almost dying of thirst   We parked the car in some old schoolyard   The windscreen caked in dirt   There was no water in the engine left   No tread upon the tyres   The electrics were broke cos you went mad   You ripped out all the wires   Across the road, a small cafe   In this state of disrepair   You went for papers and a shave   So I saved you a chair   I knew it wasn't the journey's end   And that your dream was incomplete   But I just could not stand anymore   I was dead upon my feet   I was dead upon my feet      There's nothing there in the market square   But the ghost of the scarlet town crier   I was dead upon my feet   I sing the red rose and the briar   I sing the red rose and the briar      The waitress told me her life story   She'd always meant to up and go   She wiped a cup on her red pinafore   As we waited for you to show   And I told her just a little of you   But left the picture incomplete   You still weren't there to paint it in person   So I skipped out on the street   I skipped out on the street   The newsagent grinned, he said yes you'd been in   You bought a local paper and some shades   The washroom attendant said that you'd freshened up   That you'd left but you hadn't paid   And I couldn't figure out where you were   So I went back just to look near the car   There was nothing there where it should have been   Just oil on dirt and tar   Just oil on dirt and tar      There's nothing there in the market square   But the ghost of the scarlet town crier   And there was nothing there where it should have been   I sing the red rose and the briar   I sing the red rose and the briar      I saw it parked way down the street   In a garage off on the right   And a man said 'get your hands off son'   I just traded that wreck for a motorbike   There was nothing left of mine inside   Not even the broken radio   And I couldn't figure out where that left me   So I went back to look for rose   The cafe rouge was a lunchtime rush   Of regulars yelling for food   The service in there left a lot to be desired   And all the regulars were getting rude   I saw an apron thrown over a chair   A note said 'hey john we're gone, we're gone'   And I just smiled cos I loved you both   So I put the apron on   I put the apron on      There's nothing there in the market square   But the ghost of the scarlet town crier   And I just put the apron on   I sing the red rose and the briar   I sing the red rose and the briar