Key: E
Introduction: D
Em D
Lights are bright in the circus
Em D
The geeks and the freaks all light cigarettes and laugh at your misery
Em D
While the weight of the curtain closing crushes your heart
Em D
The inertia of loneliness tears your flesh apart
G
It's a long slow slide
Em
It's a long slow slide
A
It's a long slow slide
D
Down
Em
Once the neon is gone
D
There's still that golden splinter at your side
Em D
His manners are charming, but who are you fooling? You are still nobody's bride
Em D
And Bukowski's widow haunts each empty seat on the ferris wheel
Em D
As ghoulish lovers collide in a collage of kisses that they steal
G
It's a long slow slide
Em
It's a long slow slide
A
It's a long slow slide
D
Down
D A Bm
D A Bm
D G C#m
D A Bm
Em D
And outside the window the circus crackles and lurches with rings of smoke
Em D
You laugh halfheartedly at the punchline, not realizing they've made you the joke
Em D
And inside my heart a war is raging in regions still untamed
Em D
The worst fear I can imagine is for the mystery to be named
Em D
Is for the mystery to be named
G
It's a long slow slide
Em
It's a long slow slide
A
It's a long slow slide
G
It's a long slow slide
Em
It's a long slow slide
A
It's a long slow slide
D
Down