On the wing: Dance with Me

It is still, so still--
not one more loud cry.
Forget it, let go now, it's over and done.

Come dance with me, just like we were in love,
though I know in the morning no morning will be.
Yes, hold me tight, just like we were in love,
before the last of our love fades away;
yes, before the last of our love fades away--

before a November lays our summer low;
yes, before the wind takes me and I have to go.

It is still, so still--
each word is a lie,
spoken and broken on the same Sunday night.

Come dance with me, just like we were in love,
though I know in the morning no morning will be.
Yes, hold me tight, just like we were in love,
before the last of our love fades away;
yes, before the last of our love fades away.

Leave me your shirt, sailor, and I'll think of you
far out, far out on the high seas.
I'll give you my heart, or you'll forget about me,
until we two meet again.

I'll take your shirt, sailor, and I'll think of you,
far out, far out on the high seas.
I'll give you my heart, or you'll forget about me,
until we two meet again.

Day by day I stand on the pier,
with every ship that passes I dream on.
Now you are there, but no longer mine:
my little sister's on your arm.

So go to sea, and go to hell--
set your sails straight away.
I won't be shedding tears anymore.

Don't give a damn about your roses,
if they have to sting so much,
and all I really love of sailors is the sea!

"Tanz mit mir" - Words and music by Anna Depenbusch
Translated by Frank Beck

Anna Depenbusch is one of today's most inventive singer/songwriters. Who else would write a song like this? I love the way it moves from desolation to self-assertion, as the rejected woman gives her sailor an earful in the last few lines.