A Lady of a Certain Age (Edit) - The Divine Comedy
Back in the day
You had been part of the smart set
You'd holidayed with kings
Dined out with starlets
From London to New York
Cap Ferrat to Capri
In perfume by Chanel
And clothes by Givenchy
You sipped camparis with David and Peter
At Noel's parties by Lake Geneva
Scaling the dizzy heights of high society
Armed only with a cheque book
And a family tree
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you on your own and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man
Would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
You wouldn't think that I was seventy
And he'd say
No you couldn't be
You had to marry someone very very rich
So that you
Might be kept in the style to which
You had all of your life been accustomed to
But that the socialists
Had taxed away from you
You gave him children
A girl and a boy
To keep your sanity a nanny was employed
And when the time came
They were sent away
Well that was simply
What you did in those days
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you on your own and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man
Would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
"You wouldn't think that I was sixty three"
And he'd say
"No you couldn't be"
Your son's in stocks
And bonds and lives back in Surrey
Flies down once in a while
And leaves in a hurry
Your daughter never finished
Her finishing school
Married a strange young man of
Whom you don't approve
Your husband's hollow heart
Gave out one Christmas Day
He left the villa to his mistress in Marseilles
And so you come here
To escape your little flat
Hoping someone will fill your glass
And let you chat about how
You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur
Until the light of youth became obscured
And left you all alone and in the shade
An English lady of a certain age
And if a nice young man
Would buy you a drink
You'd say with a conspiratorial wink
"You wouldn't think that I was fifty three"
And he'd say
"No you couldn't be"
