Righteous Woman

There she stands in the spotlight
As the music begins
Her left leg won’t stop trembling
But there’s nowhere to run

The soldier sobbing at the station
Was taken down to the hall
He limps in late in the darkness
And takes his seat in the stalls

    Righteous woman starts softly like a dove at dawn
    Righteous woman, building up pressure like a slow moving storm
    Righteous woman, giving birth to the dark unborn
    Righteous woman, righteous woman

In a blanket in a box on the hospital doorstep
Lies a baby new born
The nurse gently picks up the bundle
But the mother is gone

In the darkness his head falls
As the chorus arrives
He wakes up late in the third act
To those radiant eyes

    Righteous woman, laying down the law, getting on a glow
    Righteous woman surrendering to the full ecstatic flow
    Now she looks out and sees the brass buttons glinting in the tenth row
    Righteous woman, righteous woman

    Righteous woman hears the knock on her dressing room door
    She takes the note and reads it then lets it drop to the floor
    Now she drifts on down slowly to the backstage door
    Righteous woman, righteous woman