Now, friends listen well, let me tell you a story   I remember just like yesterday   Of a footloose young lad who ran off with the circus   Much to his mama’s dismay   He was cleaning up after the elephants when   This high-flying trapeze girl smiled down   In search of a handsome companion because   She had just broken up with a clown      Now the with one graceful aerial flip he was smitten   With her and her little tutu   Standing there love struck, why he almost stumbled   Into the elephants doing their tricks   And the ringmaster tipped his top hat and said   Son, bid adieu to your heart   And his words rang true right there under the bleachers   Soon after that big top went dark      Now, the old bearded lady, she whispered “be careful”   On the train to the very next town   And the handful of midgets who ride unicycles   Peddled by with one smile and four frowns   So he had a vague sense of uneasiness when   His new sweetheart opened the door   And he knew when he saw the clown standing behind her   In front of her, there stood one more      Now, I can’t say for sure if it was Barnum or Bailey   To whom I handed the note   But a tall skinny feller standing on stilts   First read these words that I wrote   It said I promise to never again give my heart   To some high-flying trapeze girl   Goodbye cruel circus   I’m off to join the world