You don't have to play me backwards to get the meaning of my verse

You don't have to die and go to hell to feel the devil's curse



Well, I thought my life was a photograph on a family Christmas card

Kids all dressed in buttons and bows and lined up in the yard

Were the golden days of childhood so lyrical and warm

Or did the picture start to fade on the day that I was born?



I've seen them light the candles and I've heard them bang the drum

And I've cried, Mama Mama I'm cold as ice and I got no place to run



Let the night begin, there's a pop of skin and the sudden rush of scarlet

There's a little boy riding on a goat's head and a little girl playing the

harlot

There's a sacrifice in an empty church of sweet li'l baby Rose

And a man in a mask from Mexico is peeling off my clothes



I've seen them light the candles and I've heard them bang the drum

And I've cried, Mama Mama I'm cold as ice and I got no place to run



So I'm paying for protection, smoking out the truth

Chasing recollections, nailing down the proof



You don't have to play me backwards to get the meaning of my verse

You don't have to die and go to hell to feel the devil's curse

I'll stand before your altar and tell everything I know

I've come to claim my childhood at the chapel of baby Rose.



I've seen them light the candles and I've heard them bang the drum

And I've cried, Mama Mama I'm cold as ice and I got no place to run