Benny Andersson & Murray Head
Benny Andersson & Denis Quilley & Tommy Körberg
Benny Andersson & Denis Quilley & Björn Skifs
Benny Andersson & Tommy Körberg & Björn Skifs & Elaine Paige & Denis Quilley
Benny Andersson & Murray Head & Elaine Paige
Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson & Elaine Paige
Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson & Tommy Körberg
Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson & Elaine Paige
Benny Andersson & Tommy Körberg & Elaine Paige
Benny Andersson & Barbara Dickson & Elaine Paige
Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson & Murray Head
Benny Andersson & Denis Quilley & Murray Head & Barbara Dickson & Elaine Paige & Tommy Körberg
Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson & Tommy Körberg & Elaine Paige
[THE AMERICAN]
When I was nine I learned survival
Taught myself not to care
I was my single good companion
Taking my comfort there
Up in my room I planned my conquests
On my own, never asked for a helping hand
No one would understand
I never asked the pair who fought below
Just in case they said "No."
Pity the child who has ambition
Knows what he wants to do
Knows that he'll never fit the system
Others expect him to
Pity the child who knew his parents
Saw their faults, saw their love die before his eyes
Pity the child that wise
He never asked "Did I cause your distress?"
Just in case they said "Yes."
When I was twelve my father moved out
Left with a whimper, not with a shout
I didn't miss him, he made it perfectly clear
I was a fool and probably queer
Fool that I was I thought this would bring
Those he had left closer together
She made her move the moment he crawled away
I was the last the woman told
She never let her bed get cold
Someone moved in, I shut my door
Someone to treat her just the same way as before
I took the road of least resistance
I had my game to play
I had the skill, and more, the hunger
Easy to get away
Pity the child with no such weapons
No defense, no escape from the ties that bind
Always a step behind
I never called to tell her all I'd done
I was only her son!
Pity the child but not forever
Not if he stays that way
He can get all he ever wanted
If he's prepared to pay
Pity instead the careless mother
What she missed
What she lost when she let me go
And I wonder does she know
I never call. A crazy thing to do
Just in case she said, "Who?"
Pity the Child was written by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus & Tim Rice.
Pity the Child was produced by Tim Rice & Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus.
His frustation and rejection by Florence cause the American to explode in a fury of self-pity and anger. – [x]