I was born with a tongue that cannot lie
And how it grieves me
Each fleeting thought behind my eye
Just up and leaves me
Into the wild like a bastard child
Born under a briar
Oh to be, oh to be
Oh to be a liar
I've been courted by saints and by sinners
Who know all the things that a tongue can tell
Whose discrete invitations for sweet revelations
Were such an enticement to sell
But the street price of secrets seduced and reduced me
To trading without any care
Chorus:
Oh to be, oh to be
Oh to be a liar
Oh to be, oh to be
Oh to be a liar
And so in conscience I chose to avoid those
Consumed by ambitions of earthly dominion
But even this act, the omission of fact
Just delighted the lords of opinion
And in retreat from it all, I did fall for a man
Who swore that my words were a blessing
But for each of the beautiful daughters we bore
I betrayed all the joy in my heart
And each harmless invention or childlike convention
I brutally shattered apart
Some say love is saying the way that it is
But believe me it just isn't so
For the joy of surprises and the tooth-fairy wonder
And Halloween guises were all torn asunder
And the lovely mistruths that I so longed to utter
Dissolved in the blink of a tear just like butter
(Chorus)
For a tongue that can't lie
Shall cause the meek to cry
Cruel words to cut them through
And a tongue that can't lie
Shall cause the righteous few
To silence all that is true
(Chorus)
Now I wander these earthly lands from pole to pole
And from shore to lonely shore
Seeking concealment in corners, but somehow the world
Still descends on my door
Afflicted, addicted I pray for a potion
To take all these visions away
Oh to be, oh to be
Oh to be a liar
So tear out this tongue and stitch up these barbarous eyes
With which I see
And grant me the right to spare you
The cold callous cut of reality
Won't you take all this knowing
And leave me with nothing, no, nothing at all?
Let me speak what I will
And reserve all the rest
And I'll walk through the world
Neither blighted nor blessed
For my sole modest wish now before my demise
Is to savor the sweetness and the kindness of lies
(Chorus)
For a tongue that can't lie
Shall cause the meek to cry
Cruel words to cut them through
And a tongue that can't lie
Shall cause the righteous few
To silence all that is true
(Chorus)
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