Benny Andersson, Tim Rice, and Bjorn Ulvaeus
THE AMERICAN:
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don`t know that the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
Show with everything but Yul Brynner
Time flies -- doesn`t seem a minute
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change -- don`t you know that when you
Play at this level there`s no ordinary venue
It`s Iceland -- or the Philippines -- or Hastings -- or --
or this place!
COMPANY:
One night in Bangkok and the world`s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain`t free
You`ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you`re lucky then the god`s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
THE AMERICAN:
One town`s very like another
When your head`s down over your pieces, brother
COMPANY:
It`s a drag, it`s a bore, it`s really such a pity
To be looking at the board, not looking at the city
THE AMERICAN:
Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted,
stinking town --
COMPANY:
Tea, girls, warm, sweet
Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite
THE AMERICAN:
Get Thai`d! You`re talking to a tourist
Whose every move`s among the purest
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine
COMPANY:
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can`t be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me
THE AMERICAN:
Siam`s gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
This grips me more than would a
Muddy old river or reclining Buddha
And thank God I`m only watching the game --
controlling it --
I don`t see you guys rating
The kind of mate I`m contemplating
I`d let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you
So you better go back to your bars, your temples,
your massage parlours --
COMPANY:
One night in Bangkok and the world`s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain`t free
You`ll find a god in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can`t be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me
