Dancing In St. Petersburg

I was just a girl. I was young and free,

the middle child of five.
I couldn’t turn the water into wine and though I’m quite divine,

I was not in line to the crown.

And now we’re dancing in St. Petersburg

to music I’ve never heard.
Twirl me around. Turn back my time.
To the rhythm of an army band, someday we’ll understand.
I was a bloom in the wind on the run.
Had I made it to morning, I’d have whispered your name to the sun.

I wore the soldiers’ wounds like diamond rings

with work gloves on my hands.
Every scar I bear is a calloused gem on my cuff and hem.

I wept for them with my life.

And now we’re dancing in St. Petersburg

to music I’ve never heard.
Twirl me around. Turn back my time.
You hear my balalaika ringing out

for futures we used to doubt.
I was a bird in the sights of a gun.
Had I made it to morning, I’d have blasphemed their names,

But the sun won’t wait on me today.

It’s left me on the ground.
They’ll exhume my love one day

my body’s bones are found.

And now we’re dancing in St. Petersburg

to music I’ve never heard.
Twirl me around. Take back my time.
I’m the victim of an easy birth,

sold for more than what I’m worth.
I’ll regret nothing you’ll have done.
Had I made it to morning, I’d have whispered your name to the sun.

I feel your finger on my photograph.

It’s warm upon my face.
I’m not crazy with the shots they took.

But then you looked in your history book and said my name.

And now we’re dancing in St. Petersburg

to music I’ve never heard.
Twirl me around. Turn back my time.
The Neva River’s flowing from my heart.

Spilled blood on my tender part.
I’ll end where I’d begun.
Had I made it to morning, I’d have whispered your name to the sun.