"Riverbank" lyrics - JOHN CALE

All along the riverbank nobody seems to know
They heard nothing, saw even less of the hunger in their souls
Safety first or safety last, I wish I could have helped
Those poor unfortunate widows standing
Waiting for their sailor boys
Old Madame Nhu, yes madame knew
Yes madame knew

Down they came to look around, 'round that riverbank
For names or numbers or anything they could find
Written there on the wall
'Cause somebody seemed to know
But no one was prepared to tell
Anything they'd learnt to love about long ago
Anything at all they'd learnt to love long ago

[Bridge:]
With the cold people getting colder
Like babysitters in their graves
Satisfied as heretic vicars passing on
Send them running on ahead, picking up the windy trash instead
Like foulmouthed people, open heart surgery creatures
Crawling back inside of you

All along the riverbank, nobody will ever know
What fools and their monies, what sailors and their honeys
Got stung one evening there
'Cause the stones around their necks
Are the stones on the riverbank
Stones around their necks are stones on the riverbank