I'm the belle of the blues, and it's easy to see If I win or I lose, it's all one to me I was born on a shelf in the rare books library I reside by myself with my books and my T.V. I'm an old age pension for the fossilized routine Anybody for nostalgia, put a record on and see Here's a memory of olden days And a heartbreak grown cold All that glitters isn't gold You get no love for free You live and you die And I'll probably throw it away But in the end it's mine And nobody has a right to say "Go down lightly - go down silently" I'll go down screaming "Give it back - it belongs to me" I'm the belle of the blues - I'm used to mingling With the crème de la crème of higher society I promise them roses, and an eight-by-ten of me But when the party's over They're all too glad to leave Their children sing of sorrow It's the same old routine They've begged and they've borrowed Someone else's misery It's an easy act to follow At least, an easy one for me Give me my tomorrows You can have my memories Souvenirs from an old-fashioned school Plays coquette on the pillow Like an old-fashioned fool Go down lightly Go down silently You go down lonely You go down like me