[Verse 1]
I've watched her from the river banks
I knew her when she danced with dreams
White doves were there to dress her hair
And so was Madelaine

[Verse 2]
At night, the people's faces danced
Like pearls colliding on the breast
Of fat Marie whose thunder laugh
Was just a thread from crying

[Verse 3]
Her sailors stained her cobblestones
With wine and piss and death desire
And sometimes blood for Madelaine
Whose laughter was the night

[Bridge]
Her girls would lift their dresses high
And breathe the stars and kiss the sky
She'd smother them with whispers then
Embrace them with her sighs

[Verse 4]
Before the bottle dulled my eyes
And made me so I couldn't stand
I'd overact and play the clown
When Madelaine would cry
[Outro]
And now I watch from riverbanks
I watch it weave its memories
White doves turned gray and flew away
And so did Madelaine