Knopfler - What It Is lyrics

rate me

The drinking dens are spilling out<br />

There`s staggering in the square<br />

There`s lads and lasses falling about<br />

And a crackling in the air<br />

Down around the dungeon doors<br />

The shelters and the queues<br />

Everybody`s looking for somebody`s arms to fall into<br />

And it`s what it is it`s what it is now<br />

<br />

There`s frost on the graves and monuments<br />

But the taverns are warm in town<br />

People curse the government<br />

And shovel hot food down<br />

The lights are out in city hall<br />

The castle and the keep<br />

The moon shines down upon it all<br />

The legless and asleep<br />

<br />

And it`s cold on the tollgate with the wagons creeping through<br />

Cold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you<br />

And it´s what it is it`s what it is now<br />

<br />

The garrison sleeps in the citadel<br />

With the ghosts and the ancient stones<br />

High up on the parapet a Scottish piper stands alone<br />

And high on the wind the highland drums begin to roll<br />

And something from the past just comes and stares into my soul<br />

<br />

And it`s cold on the tollgate with the Caledonian blues<br />

Cold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you<br />

And it`s what it is...<br />

<br />

There`s a chink of light there`s a burning wick<br />

There`s a lantern in the tower<br />

Wee Willie Winkie with a candlestick<br />

Still writing songs in the wee wee hours<br />

On Charlotte Street I take a walking stick from my hotel<br />

The ghost of Dirty Dick is still in search of Little Nell<br />

And it`s what it is...