Lancelot rode on a swayback mare
He won in a card game up north somewhere
He was bottom-out lonesome, he was too tired to care,
Keepin one step ahead of the rain
Well, he blew into Broken Bow late last year,
Talkin' up the vision of his lost Guinevere
But he couldn't tell a grail from a glass of beer
So he settled for Lady Elaine
He sang "yodelayhee, i ain't no untarnished Galahad
Down from Arcadia like a dream in your head
But gentle lady lend me the true heart i never had
And i'll wash the years from your bed
With all the salt tears i have shed," Lancelot said
Well, mornin' came sleepy and mornin' came slow
And the mirror revealed a face she didn't know
And the last autumn robin was packin' to go
As another year slipped by the way
So she rose and she dressed and she pushed back the night
She put up her hair by the dawn's early light
And the man in her bed was an eagle in flight
And a crooked old crow in the hay
He sang "yodelayhee, i ain't no untarnished Galahad
Down from Arcadia like a dream in your head
But gentle lady lend me the true heart i never had
And i'll stain the lavenders red,
With all of this good blood i've shed," Lancelot said
So bugles blow golden and banners fly blue
But these days the castle's just drywall and glue
And tiltin' at windmills is the best you can do
With the black knight of time on your lawn
So i wouldn't know if he left or he stayed,
Prospered or starved by the promise he made
Or maybe he straggled and maybe he strayed
While the bright world went barrellin' on
Singin "yodelayhee, i ain't no untarnished Galahad,
Down from Arcadia like a dream in your head
But gentle lady lend me the true heart i never had,
And i'll bring you roses and bread
And we'll fashion gold out of lead,
With all the illusions we shed," Lancelot said