Stephin Merritt Follow

i would like fo you to have this emerald ring
it was crafted many years before the ming
since the story's far too sad to tell
i'll sing

it was made for the blind concubine lola li
who was famous for being a little choosy
her rejections were something no man could survive
so the ring-maker had himself buried alive

it's a terrible tale, full of passion and gore
that sure sounds expensive!
we can't wait to hear more

in a few generations it came to a monk
who said "things of this world
are all baubles and junk."
so he gave it to lola lo
some general's wife
which was quickly discovered
he paid with his life

it's a tale of violence
a thing we deplore
but it sounds expensive!
what are you stopping for?

a bad playwright gave it to his new ingenue
the impossibly bad actress sweet lola lu
but the playwright said something
he shouldn't have said
and now both the playwright and
the actress are dead

it's a kind of thing no one can make anymore!

and it sounds expensive when it
falls to the floor