Chauncey Bowers

Lyrics

When I was in the circus
I was shot from a cannon
I wore a little helmet so I was okay
The lady on the trapeze
She was an urge without mercy
But she was married to the strong man
So I just stayed away

I wore a little helmet
We should all wear helmets
Too many dogs chewing on the same bone
There are clowns in the rafter
So little hereafter
The circus leaves town and we're on our own

Tony was a grifter, he would take your money
You would swear the game was fair
But Tony had a pair of hands you could not see
And Wendy was a bender
She was the strong man's sister
She could bend over backwards
Put her face next to her knee

Now that's an urge without mercy
Tony should have known better
But he bet his future with the role of the dice
He should have worn a helmet
We should all wear helmets
Keep your urge to yourself was Wendy's advice

We're still looking for Tony
We've been looking for like a year
We all pretend that just around the bend
Tony might appear

What do we really know
What did we really see
Was that really even Tony caught like a kite in a tree
What if I had made that climb
Climbed that tree so high
Would I have found a squirrel's nest
It could have been a squirrel's nest
Or maybe Tony not at his best

God I love the Circus
Where Jake runs the big steel
Eight arms of whirlin’, twirlin’, hurlin' the girls
To get the big squeal
Now Jake, Steel Jake, he's a hard man
He's got that face like a deadpan
Jake was Tony's friend
And you can depend on Steel Jake having a plan

Now I was shot from a cannon
But if you're shot by a cannon
Your helmet won't help
You make a little yelp, and you're done

I learned that from the strong man
He never saw it coming
That's the nature of a well-planned con
It's a dangerous world and accidents will happen
Strong men fall and the show goes on

God I love the circus
Always wear your helmet
It's not always gonna matter