The Mayor Of Candor Lied

           [Verse 1] In the little town of Candor in the last year of my youth I learned the final lesson of the levels to the truth My father was a farmer he’d go tillin’ in the ground My mother was a neighbor she’d go visiting around But I didn’t care For I had found the answer to a plowboys lonely prayer She was the daughter of the Mayor The Mayor fought my courtship for he’d made other plans He saw her married to a better man than a boy with farmer’s hands I said I hate your father it’s so hard not to strike him She said you know I love you because you’re so much like him And so I’d go sneaking in the evening And there she’d stand a crying in the dawn as I was leaving            [Chorus] The Mayor of Candor lied When he offered me his only daughter The Mayor of Candor tried To take her off across the water What a thing to do to a young man in love And what a thing to do to your daughter [Verse 2] One day with father on his tractor and mother off again I go to find the Mayor to work out what I can But he is not at his office he is not at his home When I find him in the countryside he is not alone He’s holding a woman and imagine my surprise As she jumps back from his arms I look into my mother’s eyes The Mayor of Candor Lied! All my thoughts of outrage embarrassment and pain Were washed away but what then went roaring through my brain The Mayor’s at my mercy and I hear my own voice say Your run for re-election is one month away And the world will never know of what I’ve seen here Sir But I’ll be with your daughter is my meaning clear Sir?         [Chorus] The Mayor of Candor lied When he offered me his only daughter The Mayor of Candor tried To take her off across the water What a thing to do to a young man in love And what a thing to do to your daughter My mother looks in horror at this compromise we made But the Mayor’s rueful smile says this piper must be paid I had a month of joy in heaven from this deal I’d made in Hell What was to happen then my friend a prophet could not tell /  /     /   /    /   / [Verse 3] The day after his re-election and the victory celebration The Mayor takes his family on a month long foreign vacation Oh Coleen you know how much I love you There is no one I’d ever place above you          Oh Colleen you don’t even know me To have you there’s nothing that’s below me      (but time) But time always passes after all And as the Summer follows Spring so does the Winter follow Fall           [Verse 4] The day that they returned I stand waiting in the road I watch the car drive up I watch the passengers unload Of course she isn’t there of course I should have known The Mayor says that she has stayed the decision is her own He says she’s finishing her schooling on that unseen foreign shore And I’ll tell you very frankly boy you’ll not see her any more [Chorus] The Mayor of Candor lied When he offered me his only daughter The Mayor of Candor tried To take her off across the water What a thing to do to a young man in love And what a thing to do to your daughter      [Verse 4] I spit out my hatred and my fury at his lies When he says you tried to blackmail me you’re just as bad as I Go on and do your damndest throw your mother to the streets You know it’s been too many years I had to be discreet And as he stands there saying we’re just two of a kind It hits me like a thunderbolt exploding in my mind As I look into his leering  aged wrinkled  mirror of my own face He laughs and sneers and says - of course dear son Where do you think you came from in the first place? [Chorus] The Mayor of Candor lied When he offered me his only daughter The Mayor of Candor tried To take her off across the water What a thing to do to a young man in love And what a thing to do to your daughter