MRS. MURPHY
(Scott Engel)


Scott Walker - 1966





Hello Mrs. Murphy, that's a lovely dress you're wearing, is it new?
Why, thank you Mr. Wilson
But I've had this same old dress about a year or two

Upstairs in bed, the tall boy spreads just like a cat
With his hands behind his head
And lay there thinking of a dream that he had

I hear that the Johnsons had a baby, Mrs. Murphy, is that true?
Why, yes, but it's rumoured 
That the little tot's real daddy lives in twenty-two

In twenty-two the boy lay whistling out of view
Riding on the sea
Dreaming of a thousand things he'd like to be

Poor Mr. Johnson, being married to a wife who should be caged
It's the child who will suffer
And to think that that young man is less than half her age

Upstairs he sits, he hears a knock and nothing more
Come on in, you're late
Well, don't just stand there, Mrs. Johnson, close the door






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - July 2013)