[Verse]
E
They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
E
They say that life's a game, then they take the board away
E
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
E
Then leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret...

B  D  E                    D         E
In no-longer-pretty cities there are fingers in the kitties
 D        E                     F       E   D E              D
There are warrants, forms, and chitties and a jackboot on the stair

E       B                  D     B                                 D
There’s Sex and death and human grime, in monochrome for one thin dime
    B                                         E
At least the trains all run on time but they don't go anywhere

                                                        F# B     D
Facing their responsibilities, either on their backs or on their knees
B                                                    F#   B  D
There are ladies who just simply freeze and dare not turn a- way

A       B            C    D  C   A       B                 C   D    C
And the widows who refuse to cry will be dressed in garter and bow-tie
A      B                    C    D  C    A       B         A B
And be taught to kick their legs up high in this vicious cabaret

[Chorus]
B   A#            B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B   A#                    B
The ballet on the burning stage
B   A#          B
The documentary seen
B   A#              B
Up on the fractured screen
B   A#                                       A
The dreadful poem scrawled upon the crumpled page...

B       D E                 G      E
There's a policeman with an honest soul
D     E                  G       E
Who’s seen whose head is on the pole
D      E                D   E  D  E                      D E
And he grunts and fills his briar bowl with a feeling of unease

[Verse]
A       B                  D      B
Then he briskly frisks the torn remains
A     B                D      B
For a fingerprint or crimson stains
A     B             C   D    C     A                   B   A
And endevours to ignore the chains that he walks in to his knees

C     D   E                                                  F# B   E
While his master in the dark nearby inspects the hands, with brutal eye
B         E                                                 F# B      D
That have never brushed a lover's thigh but have squeezed a nation's throat

A      B               C D    C
And he hungers in his secret dreams
A       B                C     D  C
For the harsh embrace of cruel machines
A       B            C    D   C
But his lover is not what she seems
A       B              A B
And she will not leave a note

[Chorus]
B  A#             B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B   A#              B
The Situation Tragedy
B     A#               B
Grand Opera slick with soap
B    A#              B
Cliffhangers with no hope
B   A#                                A
The water-colour in the flooded gallery...

B       D E                    G        E
There's a girl who'll push but will not shove
D         E                 G         E
And she's desperate for her father's love
D     E               D G         E     D      E             D  E
She believes the hand beneath the glove may be one she needs to hold

[Verse]
A          B                    C D C
Though she doubts her host's moralities
A      B           C    D  C
She decides she is more at ease
A      B             C  D   C
In the Land Of Doing-As-You-Please
A    B          A   B
Than outside in the cold

B       E
But the backdrops peel and the sets give way
                       F# B   D
And the cast get eaten by the play
B         E
There's a murderer at the Matinee,
                   F# B   D
There are dead men in the aisles

A       B                  D    B
And the patrons and the actors too
A     B              C     D C
Are uncertain if the show is through
A        B                 C    D     C   A       B           A    B
And with side-long looks await their cue, but the frozen mask just smiles

[Chorus]
B   A#            B
At last! The 1998 Show!
B   A#                      B
The torch-song no one ever sings!
B   A#            B
The curfew chorus line!
B   A#        B
The comedy divine!
B   A#                                          A
The bulging eyes of puppets strangled by their strings!

E
There's thrills and chills and girls galore, sing-songs and surprises!
E
There's something hear for everyone, reserve your seat today!
E
There's mischief and malarkies but no queers or yids or darkies
E
Within this bastard's carnival, this vicious cabaret!