Текст песни The Imperial Hotel - England

1840, it was built for nobility
Victoria commanding the throne
Kensington Palace made Victoria cross
So she wanted a new summer home

Viceroys, viscounts, uncles and royal aunts
The majesty acted as host
Now the mansion's deserted and Victoria's dead
And all that remains is her ghost

1920, enourmous and empty now
The house has become a hotel
Business is slow but old Emma's in charge
She's determined that she'll never sell

This is a house that is now a hotel
Where are the guests? Well, it's hard to say
Queen Victoria's housemaid is a prisoner here
Waiting for a prince that will never appear
Now Emma's in charge, she wants that made clear
There'll be no young ladies or girls staying here
If a young man arrives, she'll welcome him though
To return to her youth that she lost long ago

A sea of dim-lit faces
From a half remembered past
Are all that Emma clings to
As she gazes through the glass
Her youth and faded beauty
Are all memories gone by
The misty frail old lady
As flimsy as a sigh
But oh the times you knew here Emma
But of the time has really flown

Brush aside a tear old maid
From the wonder in your face
I know that youth was yours to hold
When you wandered in this place
But don't believe its gone forever
Oh the memories you own
Will return to you tonight and then
Your angel might be shown
But oh the times you knew here Emma
But of the time has really flown

Coming up the drive, he's soon to arrive
A young millionaire in his Rolls Royce
Like the queen before him, he knows what he likes
And this fine country home is the obvious choice

Ah young man, young man
You're far too blind to realise you're part of a plan

Walking through the door, he likes what he sees
A man of means, he's not easy to please
But he's not thought of Emma, who hates to see things change
But he doesn't feel the Imperial Holds something very strange

Ah young man, young man
You're far too blind to realise you're part of a plan

Emma's waiting for him, she's acting out her mind
I'll have to play along he thinks, I'll have to take my time
So he signs the empty register, the first guest in years
But Emma rubbed her wizened hands, dispelling all her fears

Ah young man, young man
You're far too blind to realise you're part of a plan

Follow me, my dear, and the best room shall be yours
Our finest is the bridal suite, unused for fifty years
Take your time in choosing, a mistake is ill-advised
So act the perfect gentleman, and the hotel will be your prize

Along the hall and to the right, you'll find the bedroom door
Fling it wide and enter in, the bridal ghost is yours

The furnishings are thick with dust, the walls are dark with age
The windows show no sign of use, his room is like a cage

I'll play my part up to the hilt, and join her down below
The ballroom waits expecting me, for it's new guests to show

So if I am to own this house, I must stand out this charade
With me as guest and her as host, it will not prove too hard

James Alexander dancing so strangely
There in the hotel's darkened ballroom
Dancing with someone whose not there

There in the shadows, Emma is lurking
Waiting for James to come and join her
Waiting for him to say: "May I have this dance, please?"

Emma shuffles to the kitchen, puts the kettle on
Thinking as she fills the teapot, where is her Don Juan
Shuffles out into the foyer, bearing cups of tea
Not a sign of James downstairs, she knows where he'll be

First step on the stairs to heaven, will her dreams come true?
Climbing with anticipation, James's room in view
Now she's standing on the landing, knocking at his bedroom door
James knows just what she's knocking for
Come in, Come in

Could this be the one thing that might
Make her sell, or am I wasting my time?
There's only one way to get this hotel,
I must be out of my tiny mind to give myself to her
This wrinkled aging relic from a nightmare

I want to take my body and posess it as her
Own, Recalling her lost youth and fargone past
To flatter her will not suffice for love is her
Desire, to fill her with a love that will always last
So I must do this thing
The hotel will be mine before the night is out

As she puts the teacups down and wraps her arms around him
With each kiss she feels her body growing stronger, growing younger
He can't believe what's happening his youth is fading fast,
And though Emma was so old she seems so young now,
He can't see her, he's an old man, part of her plan

Two steps and she's through the door and racing down the stairs
His unsure step just cannot match the pace
See his old face, he's in her place

He comes to a stop in front of the door and watches her escape
His last view of Emma shows she's
Old no more, he's paid for his mistake

So now at last he has his wish, he owns this great hotel
A prisoner in these four walls and desperate to sell

Left alone with his memories, he was so much younger then
One day his turn will be done and the story begins again

Left alone with his memories, he was so much younger then
One day his turn will be done and the story begins again