Good Old Bad Old Days

I followed you over the border down to the Spree

You were standing alone by the water waiting for me

We wandered along by the river

The towers all shrouded in haze

& we kissed by the wire & they all held their fire

In the good old bad old days

Just remember how lovely it couldn't have been

When the world was as closed as a door

I remember those nights down in old east Berlin

With the microphones listening under the floor

& every stamp in this passport of mine

Was a record of kisses you gave

Yes we suffered in style & it's all in the file

In the good old bad old days

All the streetlights were waltzing together

crimson & green

& your dress was as gray as the weather

oh what a dream

We built up a city of whispers & classified war dossiers

I gave you control of my papers & soul

In the good old bad old days

Ah yes wasn't it miserable, wasn't it grand?

When the world had an iron divide

& people could take a political stand

Just by singing a song for the opposite side

Now nobody cares who you are anymore

& nobody cares what you say

It's liberty's curse, but was it really much worse

In the good old bad old days?

Now Alyosha is gathering flowers every May

& the statue of Marx by the tower faces away

By the wall is a souvenir table

with hammers & sickles displayed

On new watches, that work

& they're sold by a Turk

In these good old bad new days

Now I'm working for Euros & drinking alone

Where we used to spend marks at the bar

& the w*eds have grown over the border of stone

That cuts through the town like a surgical scar

& so many streets on this faded old map

Are like names written over a grave

It all makes me so mad cause it wasn't that bad

In the good old bad old days

So don't look for a final solution here in Berlin

For capitalist prostitution comes from within

& Don't worry about revolution

we'll just keep the aesthetic clichés

In this market of fleas, selling klezmer CDs

For the good old bad old days

So Genossen, Товарищи, let's make a toast

To the time when the state knew your name

& we'll all say "l'chaim", "на здровие" und "Prost"

To that braver old world where we all are the same

Where nobody loses & everyone wins

Just as long as each comrade obeys

But that's all in the past so let's raise up a glass

To the good old bad old days

That's all in the past so let's raise up a glass

To the good old bad old days