Warsaw In May

The godless ones were moving east
And we were turned in by a priest
Rounded up with all the rest
The cattle cars from there went west
It was my precious violin
When we arrived that saved my skin
The audition I would pass that day
The Wagner I dared not misplay

My violin would save my life
As well my daughter and my wife
They’d summon me to come and play
I’d close my eyes and go halfway
They were so merry and so gay
Who danced by night and killed by day
They’d give me little scraps of food
Sometimes when they were in the mood

Chorus
I'd draw my bow and they would sway
They had no orders to obey
The officers, their wives and whores
Drinking their cognacs and their liqueurs
They craned their necks and strained their ears
I don’t know where they found the tears
Maybe some place back in Berlin
Sometimes I slipped some Mahler in

My violin would play itself
While I’d escape to some place else
My shattered mind would limp away
To Warsaw in the month of May
Conducting in the concert hall
I would not see the things I saw
I’d hear the woodwinds and the strings
I’d tune out all the other things

Chorus
I'd draw my bow and they would sway
They had no orders to obey
The officers, their wives and whores
Drinking their cognacs and their liqueurs
They craned their necks and strained their ears
I don’t know where they found the tears
Maybe some place back in Berlin
Sometimes I slipped some Mahler in

The band would start to play at dawn
Until the work crews had all gone
When they returned we’d play some more
And in between we did our chores
We weren’t there to entertain
The people stepping off the trains
We played when we were told to play
We’d stop when they’d say, “Go away”

Chorus
I'd draw my bow and they would sway
They had no orders to obey
The officers, their wives and whores
Drinking their cognacs and their liqueurs
They craned their necks and strained their ears
I don’t know where they found the tears
Maybe some place back in Berlin
Sometimes I slipped some Mahler in