Paul Shapera
Annabel’s Lament
[Verse 1]
Ghosts of dreams, ghosts of memory
That will not leave or lay in quiet
Ghosts that cry about the life
You let go by
Ghosts of pasts of little girls who
Learned their math, grasped their facts
Tried their best to reach success
Just as they were asked
The girl learns to hide deep inside
Of fractions and facts and worlds of math
A long lonely land she can understand
Annabelle in Number-land

[Chorus]
You could have been my angel, been my angel
Been my angel and been with me
You could have been my angel, been my angel
Been my angel and rescued me

[Verse 2]
Ghosts of love you never knew, you
Just construed like well penned plays
Ghosts of scenes, embraces things
You only knew in dreamt up days
Ghosts of frowns for little girls when
Friends came round to waste her time
Ghosts of creeds, rebukes received
Children are not what achievers need
Fractions and maths, sweet companions
Equations and facts who always stand
By as you go your road alone
Annabelle in Number-land
[Chorus]
You could have been my angel, been my angel
Been my angel and been with me
You could have been my angel, been my angel
Been my angel and rescued me

[Verse 3]
Ghosts of me, ghosts of who
I could be and been with you
Ghosts of dreams, of who you thought
You'd one day be when you grew up
Ghosts of breath, of little girls
Who promised, stressed they'd be their best
Ghosts of days that fade away
As failure holds your hand 'til death
And deep in that place you escape where
Theorems and thoughts, your hopes and plans
All are derailed and then you failed them
Annabelle in Number-land
Liquids and labs, fractions and facts
Is all you had, all that you understand
And as you age, all that remains with
Annabelle in Number-land

[Chorus]
You could have been my angel, been my angel
Been my angel and been with me
You could have been my angel, my angel
Been my angel and rescued me, oh
My angel, my angel
My angel and been with me, oh
My angel, my angel