Letra Eye of the day Frank Turner

Eye of the day

They called me Margaretha the day that I was born
The day I died the soldiers called me H21
In the circuses and palaces, a hundred names I've borne
From the Belle of the Epoque to the eye of the storm
But if anybody asks, I named myself after the sun

I was a teacher when I was young
But I ran away from home
To the East Indies and warm, warm sun
To wed a man I did not know
He called me Lady MacLeod
But the times did not allow
My complaints as drinking dragged him down
So in dancing peace I found

They called me a tourist when I began to dance
An amateur and courtesan when I came to France
On the stages, in the salons, I held my tongue
I was never owned by any man nor known by anyone
And if anybody asks, I named myself after the sun

I never cared much for their war
I had seen men fight before
Seen the sickness in their esprit de corps
I would dance for them no more
They came to take me away
From the Hotel Champs Elyse´e
Told the soldiers I've nothing to say
They wouldn't have listened anyway
Too many men had died, and somebody had to pay
They set a date for my dying day

But as I stood in that killing field, refusing a blindfold
Staring down the soldiers and the hatred of the world
I felt the warmth of the Malay sun and I smiled for them all
They all thought they had the best of me
But not one of them could say what I was called

Just before the darkness came
I whispered my real name
I am Mata Hari, eye of the day
In the cells my body lay unclaimed

If anybody asks, I named myself after the sun