If You Want To Die In Bed - Jonathan Pryce

(The ENGINEER is making his way furtively through the city.

SOLDIERS seem to be everywhere.)

ENGINEER

if you want to die in bed

follow my example

when you see a cloud ahead

it’s time to show your class

hit the door before

they make a target of your ass

if you want to die in bed

in times of revolution

when the flag they fly is red

let pride fill up your chest

meanwhile pack a sack

and take the first boat heading west

(he enters the abandoned backroom of what was once «Dreamland», opens

a trapdoor in the floor and removes a tin box. He opens it.)

my precious souvenirs

of all the golden years

Rolex watches in steel

that look practically real

I’ll need a little stock

to start me in Bangkok!

if you want to die in bed

forget about your karma

when your life hangs by a thread

don’t cry about the fates

grab a stash of cash

and plan a rest’rant in the States

let me stop for a bit

this was my greatest hit

Miss Saigon in her crown

I made queen of the town

I got 'em paying more

for just another whore

here I come

your next champ’s

on his way

for men will always be men

the rules are the same

for kings or for clerks

give me Francs, or Dollars or Yen

I’ll set up a game

I know how it works

why was I born of a race

that thinks only of rice

and hates entrepreneurs?

me I belong in a place

where a man sets his price

and you pay, and he’s yours

I should be… American!

where every promise lands

and every businessman knows where he stands

first stop Bangkok then I roam

cross that ocean white with foam

to the place that’s my heart’s true home

if you want to die in bed

en route to your nirvana

you grab a chance and plunge ahead

and go where people win

heaven’s there… oh, shit!

you need a visa to get in!