Lights are bright in the circus  The geeks and the freaks all light cigarettes and laugh at your misery  While the white of the curtain closing crushes your heart  The inertia of loneliness tears your flesh apart  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  Down  Once the neon is gone  There's still that golden splinter at your side  His manners are charming  But who are you fooling  You're still nobody's bride  And Bukowski's widow  Haunts each empty seat on the ferris wheel  As ghoulish lovers collide in a collage of kisses that they steal  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  Down  And outside your window you can see the circus it's lurching  with rings of smoke  You laugh halfheartedly at the punchline  Not realizing they've made you the joke  And inside you're heart a war is raging  A region still untamed  The worst fear I can imagine is for the mystery to be named  Is for the mystery to be named  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  It's a long slow slide  Down