Jack's Lament

Original

There are few who deny at what I do I am the best

For my talents are renowned far and wide

When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night

I excel without ever even trying

With the slightest little effort

Of my ghostlike charms

I have seen grown men give out a shriek

With a wave of my hand

And a well-placed moan

I have swept the very bravest off their feet

Yet year after year

It's the same routine

And I grow so weary of the sound of screams

And I Jack, the Pumpkin King

Have grown so tired of the same old thing

Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones

An emptiness began to grow

There's something out there

Far from my home

A longing that I've never known

I'm the master of fright

And a demon of light

And I'll scare you right out of your pants

To a guy in Kentucky

I am mister unlucky

And I'm known throughout England and France

And since I am dead

I can take off my head

To recite Shakespearean quotations

No animal nor man

Can scream like I can

With the fury of my recitations

But who here would ever understand

That the Pumpkin King

With the skeleton grin

Would tire of his crown?

If they only understood

He'd give it all up

If he only could

Oh, there's an empty place in my bones

That calls out for something unknown

The fame and praise

Come year after year

Does nothing for these empty tears