Phantom Of My Own Opera - Daniel Johnston

I’m the phantom of my own Opera

Oh don’t I know it

And I think of you, sweetheart

I’m lurking in the shadows

Of my memory

We were going to have a circus in the barn

But the creature lurks among us

The ghost of our past

The ghost of our love

And if I had my own way

I always say that phrase

I thought it was a phase

But it wasn’t

And so here I am

In my baggy-clown costume

Perform any funny trick and throw a kiss

To the audience

And I’m wearing a mask

But you don’t have to ask

Who I’m thinking about

And there’s a monkey in the background

Hung by a rope from the ceiling

And I’m the villain, acting fierce

And stretching whiskers too fully

The phantom wears a black coat

Long trousers and a derby

Stands erect

And cracks the whip loudly

I’m the phantom of my own opera

I perform all the parts

And I think of you, sweetheart

I’m even the audience

And I can’t help thinking

We were going to have a circus in the barn

Can’t pull the curtain

I can’t help remembering

Turn a somersault after singing a verse

And the song is never ending

And I never quit rehearsing

A performance of a sad and twisted art

And if I had my own way

I don’t know what I’d do

I probably wish it was you