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Maharajah's Skeleton

from Maharajah (single) by Vladimir Chicken

/

lyrics

Down the Hyde Road, behind the back of Longsight
The drive-through city gets lit up by your headlights
But the crumbling brick walls are all keeping very silent
For what used to be here, you won't find any kind of monument

Now you'll never see the fireworks, you'll never ride the Bobs
You won't see any animals, unless you go to the dogs,
You'll never watch a band play the King's Hall late at night
And you'll never see a chimpanzee, riding on a bike

But if you want to see the elephant, then I know where you can see him
Cus Maharajah's skeleton, lives in the museum

(Maharajah's skeleton, he lives in the museum)

Now who was Maharajah? This is what you need to know
We've got to go back 180 years ago
To the teak forests of Asia, where the British army waits
And the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation operates

A young elephant is kidnapped, somewhere just south of Mandalay
And they put him on the first ship that's sailing back to the UK

What a crazy voyage! And what a change of scenery
When he gets into the docks, he's bought straight up by Wombwell's Royal Menagerie
And he goes to all the fairs, and he goes to all the shows
He spends his life walking slowly round the country's dusty roads

(and there he goes)

So 7 years go by, with unbelievable excitements
But the menagerie's proprietor has been planning his retirement
All the animals, and all the keepers, have all worked until exhaustion
And everything's gonna get sold off in this massive Edinburgh auction,

Down in Manchester, at Belle Vue Zoo, they've been looking to expand
And the put a bid on Maharajah, for nearly £700
(and they win him, obviously)
So, the next day they put him on a train to travel south,
But he smashes up the train carriage, using his trunk and his arse

So it's all eyes on his keeper, he says "Well I think it's going to be OK,
I've been to Manchester before, and I'm pretty sure I can remember the way.
A young elephant like this can easily cover 200 miles in a matter of days.
We'll head down the main road and we'll set off right away"

...

A speed way, a car lot, a rubbish dump and a hotel
None of this really represents much of the history very well
From beautiful birds of paradise, to ocelots and polar bears
Life used to be so much more interesting around there

But now you'll never see the fireworks, you'll never ride the Bobs
You won't see any animals around here, unless you go to the dogs
The monkey house is missing, there must be some kind of mistake
There's a Diamond Lodge hotel, where the used to be a lake.

But if you want to see the elephant, then I know where you can see him.
Cus Maharajah's skeleton, yeah it lives in the museum.

(Maharajah's skeleton, he lives in the museum)

credits

from Maharajah (single), released October 18, 2022
Music and lyrics by Vladimir Chicken
Backing vocals by Pau

license

all rights reserved

tags

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