Anna Lee

He called me yesterday
to tell me he’d been delayed.
He said he was staying in Singapore till April.
But when he asked me about you,
well, that was when I knew:
you’re the real reason he’s not coming home.
Oh he's another man alone
on the other side of the world
trying to make sense of your tangled memory

... And oh, Anna Lee,
you’re so proud and so free
but one day you’re going to take a tumble.
Oh, Anna Lee, you’re so proud and so free
but one day you are going to fall.

It was nothing you could prevent.
Yeah you're always innocent.
You’re not obliged to give your heart to everyone who wants it.
And when push comes to shove
you talk about higher love.
You say you won’t settle for anything but the best.
You're like a wrestler in the sand,
trying to keep the upper hand –
I should know, that’s how you were with me

... But oh, Anna Lee,
you’re so proud and so free
but one day you’re going to take a tumble.
Oh, Anna Lee, you’re so proud and so free
but one day you are going to fall.

And your life keeps on
spinning faster and faster,
as you draw nearer,
nearer to disaster,
as you run from everyone and everything
that you cannot master.

And every time that we meet
you’re always so discreet.
You say there are a few men that you’ve been seeing.
But don’t you know that I understand
there’s only ever been one man?
There’s a man in your mind you’ve been trying to bring to his knees.
But I don’t judge you in the end.
You know you’ll always be my friend.
I just get sad when I try to make you see

... That oh, Anna Lee,
you’re so proud and so free
but one day you’re going to take a tumble.
Oh, Anna Lee, you’re so proud and so free
but one day you are going to stumble.
Oh, Anna Lee, you’re so proud and so free,
but one day you’re going to find yourself getting humbled.
Oh, Anna Lee, you’re so proud and so free,
but one day, mama, you are going to fall.

Tam Lin