Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres
Al Stewart

On a Christmas cake day one Friday in August

In a bookshop in Charing Cross Road

I first set eyes on a girl and at once I did know

She had eyes like a poet and hair like a rainbow

Reflecting the lights that did glow

And the sadness she kept in her eyes, struck my senses a blow


And so as by chance at the touch of a glance

We could find ourselves out in the road

With no crush of time to defeat us and no place to go

And I couldn't say how, but the coffee bar crowd

Had appeared through the silence that broke

And she said, Oh my father's a judge in St Albans, you know


Oh well, then perhaps I could help you

You know that St. Albans is miles away

And I've got a room in Swiss Cottage

In which you could stay


She laughed, Oh I couldn't do that

For I've got to be up in the morning you see

So I rang up to find out the first morning train she could take

And so in the gloom of a candlelit room

With spaghetti, two forks and a plate

She said Oh, I really would like to be free and escape


Oh well, if it's like that, you don't have to go back

And you're perfectly welcome to stay

But I've not finished school yet

She said as she got into bed


And so as she slept and the pure morning crept

Through the windows to take her away

I thought you can't make people be what you want them to be

I could see my self nailed to a dormitory tale

Of a holiday night's escapade

And just yesterday she had seemed like a woman to me


And so like a child with the sleep in her eyes

Where the sadness of age had once been

She left on the train with a 'See You Again' and a smile

And I couldn't say what I had won or I lost

Or even just what I had seen

But when I'm alone I just think of her once in awhile


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Lyrics by Al Stewart

  (A Child's View Of) The Eisenhower Years   \   A Long Way Down From Stephanie   A Long Way Down To Stephanie   A Man For All Seasons   A Small Fruit Song   Accident On 3rd Street   Almost Lucy   Amsterdam   Angel Of Mercy   Angry Bird   Anna   Anniversary   Antarctica   Apple Cider Re-Constitution   Bad Reputation   Ballad Of Mary Foster   Bedsitter Images   Beleeka Doodle Day   Black Hill   Broadway Hotel   Cafe Society   Candidate   Candy Came Back   Candy Came Back [*]   Carol   Charlotte Corday   Class of '58   Cleave To Me   Clifton In The Rain   Constantinople   Denise at 16   Don't Forget Me   Ear Of The Night   Electric Los Angeles Sunset   Elvis At The Wheel   End Of The Day   Feel Like   Fields Of France   Flying Sorcery   Football Hero   Genie On A Table Top   Gethsemane, Again   Gypsy & the Rose   Hanno The Navigator   Here in angloa   Here in angola   Hipposong   How Does It Happen [*]   I'm Falling   If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It   If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It [Live]   In Brooklyn   In Red Square [*] - Al Stewart, Peter White   In the Dark   Indian Summer   Ivich   Josephine Baker   Katherine Of Oregon   King Of Portugal   Last Days Of The Century   License To Steal   Life And Life Only   Life In Dark Water   Like William McKinley   Loneliest Place On The Map   Lord Grenville   Lord Salisbury   Lori don t go right now   Lori, Don’t Go Right Now   Love Chronicles   Lover Man   Lover Man [*]   Manuscript   Merlin's Time   Midas Shadow   Midnight Rocks   Modern Times   Mona Lisa Talking   Mondo Sinistro   Murmansk Run / Ellis Island   Murmansk Run\/Ellis Island   Murmansk runellis island   My Enemies Have Sweet Voices   Necromancer   Next Time   Night Meeting   Night Rolls In   Night Train To Munich   Nostradamus   Not The One   Old Admirals   Old Compton Street Blues   On the Border   One Stage Before   One That Got Away - Al Stewart, Peter White   One Two Three   One two three 1 2 3   One, Two, Three (1, 2, 3)   Optical Illusion   Out in the Snow   Paint By Numbers   Peter On The White Sea   Post World War Two Blues   Pretty Golden Hair   Rain Barrel   Real And Unreal   Red Toupee   Ringing Of Bells   Ringing of Bells [*]   Roads To Moscow   Roads to Moscow [Live]   Rocks In the Ocean   Royal Courtship   Rumours Of War   Rumours of War - Al Stewart, Peter White   Running Man   Russians & Americans   Sailing Into The Future   Samuel, Oh How You've Changed   Samuel, Oh How You've Changed!   Sand in Your Shoes   Scandinavian Girl   Shah Of Shahs   Silver Kettle   Sirens Of Titan   Sleepwalking   Soho (Needless To Say)   Soho (Needless to Say) [Alternate Take]   Somewhere in England 1915   Song On the Radio   Song on the Radio [Live]   Songs Out of Clay   Strange Girl   Swiss Cottage Maneuvers   Terminal Eyes   The Candidate   The Carmichaels   The Dark And Rolling Sea   The Dark And The Rolling Sea   The Ear Of The Night   The Elf   The Gypsy and the Rose   The Last Day of June 1934   The Loneliest Place On The Map   The News From Spain   The One That Got Away   The Palace Of Versailles   The Year of the Cat   Time Passages   Time Passages [Live]   Timeless Skies   Tonton Macoute   Tonton Macoute [*]   Trains   Trespasser   Turn Into Earth   Valentina Way   Warren Harding   What's Going On?   Where Are They Now   Where Are They Now?   Year Of The Cat   You Don't Even Know Me   You Should Have Listened To Al   Zero She Flies

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