The Tailor

The king's guardsman's greedy

He's underpaid he knows

Tailor, sew me a cloak of indigo

That will disguise me well

For the highwayman's game

No one will suspect evil

And the king's cross are the same

I will pay you dearly

With half of what I claim

No, said the tailor

The tailor said no

A cloak will not hide

What your own eyes see

A cloak will not change

What is hidden underneath

Just as mine does not confine

The idea of what I am

I am not a tailor, I'm a man

The king's queen is hungry

For the pleasures adultery knows

Tailor, sew me a cloak of scarlet

That will disguise me well

For courtin' on the sly

That will make the fever

Transparent to the night's eyes

I will pay you dearly

With favors and with sighs

No, said the tailor

The tailor said no

A cloak will not hide

What your own eyes see

A cloak will not change

What is hidden underneath

Just as mine does not confine

The idea of what I am

I am not a tailor, I'm a man

The king he is frightened

With shadows behind his back

Tailor, sew me a cloak of sable

That will disguise me well

From the daggers of my foes

That will keep me far above

Those that are below

I will pay you dearly

If you fail on the gallows

No, said the tailor

The tailor said no

A cloak will not hide

What your own eyes see

A cloak will not change

What is hidden underneath

Just as mine does not confine

The idea of what I am

I am not a tailor, I'm a man