Barterers And Their Wives

(album: Walk Away Renée / Pretty Ballerina - 1967)

Barterers and their wives
Barterers and their wives
Trading, fading, taking, breaking
Barter away their lives

Crowding the city gates
Shunning the master's fate
Low decisions they envision
Cleaning the pauper's plates

In the marketplace changing commonplace friends
Come to banter on odds to meet their own ends

Barterers hold their own
Pinching on what they loan
After seeding, people pleading
Spending the heat alone

Who will sacrifice pride for being nice game?
He's in season and that's the reason he came

Barterers and their trade
Lately fall back to fade
Every evening, packing, leaving
Counting on what they've made

Wifely cooking will keep them looking their best
As they smile and set out beguiling with jest

Barterers and their wives
Barterers and their wives
Trading, fading, taking, breaking
Barter away their lives