"Goodnight, Fair Lady"

Art by Nathan Spoor.

**"Goodnight, Fair Lady"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the fifth track on their 2012 album *The Afterman: Ascension*. A demo version of the song was released on *The Afterman: Ascension (Big Beige Demos)* album.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen

I have a story to tell you of one's slow decline

Where a girl yanked on the strings

To break this man's heart

Oh lord, I think I deserve a little better than this

I think I've earned it

So, I'll just keep humming this song

And hope you follow

**[Chorus]**

Turn me over, roll me 'round

To find the truth that I don't want found

Oh, don't believe everything you hear

I'm the snake waiting for you, dear

And eventually, you'll come to me

I know you will

Oh, I know you will

**[Verse 2]**

Your lipstick crazy, I make my pass

The drink turns over, the glass smashed

And with the kindness of my smarts

I replace your pleasure with a friend at the bottom

**[Chorus]**

Turn me over, roll me 'round

To find the truth that I don't want found

Oh, don't believe everything you hear

I'm the snake waiting for you, dear

And eventually, you'll come to me

I know you will

**[Bridge]**

Oh, it's my fate

To be your biggest mistake

Oh, I'll tell you all you want to hear

Until you sleep

**[Interlude]**

I know you will...

Oh, goodnight

Oh, goodnight, Fair Lady

**[Chorus]**

Oh, turn me over, roll me 'round

To find the truth that I don't want found

Oh, don't believe everything you hear

I'm the snake waiting for you, dear

And eventually, you'll come to me

And eventually, you'll come to me

**[Outro]**

We can agree to disagree

Well, maybe that was you then, and now this is me

But eventually, you'll come to me, baby

I know you will...

**[Spoken]**

All Mother: "Caution: Second entity identified."

## Story Context

The first line sets the tone of the song. (See the Background section.) Told completely by Dyer Grinlock, he begins by describing the girl he's trying to creep on: Meri Amory ("story" "of one slow decline"), who is out for the first time in 6 months since Sirius' supposed death. He's immediately attracted to her, but believes she's leading him on ("Where a girl yanked on the strings / To break this man's heart"). He also thinks he *deserves* her, and that it's totally cool to do what he's doing as a result of his kindness ("I think I deserve a little better than this / I think I've earned it").

In the chorus, Grinlock describes at how good he is at hiding his true intentions (you'd have to "turn him over" or "roll him around" to find it). But at the end of the day, he's a **snake waiting** for her. He goes on to say he **knows** she'll **come to him**, but only because he's manipulated the situation (which will be clear in the next verse).

"Your lipstick crazy" at the beginning of the second verse, shows how Meri is worryingly biting at her lips; though she's trying to go out, and meet new people, she knows most people have heard what happened with Sirius. Still, Grinlock **makes his pass**, and "accidentally" **bumps into her glass, shattering it**. He's **quick-witted** though, and **kindly** **replaces it**, "with a friend at the bottom," (slipping a drug in it). Now, the chorus of the song makes sense: Meri will be too drugged to deny his advances.

The bridge describes what follows: Grinlock, having drugged Meri, will continue to sweet talk her until it takes effect and then take her elsewhere to rape her. (Her "biggest mistake.")

In the interlude, we get the title line, "goodnight, fair lady.," which actually describes the pair getting ready to leave the bar they're in (The Fair Lady). However, it's at this point that Graves Colten, an Officer who has been waiting for Dyer to slip up so he can arrest him, intervenes and saves her. This part is not outlined in the song at all.

The last line shows that we are going back to Sirius in the Keywork with the All Mother's voice saying to him, "Caution: Second entity identified," which leads us into the second Key Entity Extraction track.

## Background

Sanchez wrote that the inspiration for this song came when he was at a restaurant with his wife. There was an incredibly creepy guy at the end of the bar and Sanchez felt something about him gave him the creeps. He went on to say, "I couldn't stop thinking about the bar turning into a Broadway musical: The lights blazing toward this guy as he would jump out of his seat and start performing a full theatrical production of his sinister intentions."

## Trivia

* John Medeski played piano.
* The "Fair Lady" of the title is actually not a reference to Meri Amory, who Grinlock is trying to "woo," but is actually the name of the bar the pair is in.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Afterman: Ascension*, Everything Evil Records, 2012.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-goodnight-fair-lady-lyrics