The ninth track on
Suzanne Vega's 1987 album
Solitude Standing. (It's got the date 1978 under it in the liner notes so I suppose that's when she wrote it.)
It's my favourite track on the album, and makes me think yes yes, I want him, I know what she means. One of my best friends has (or had, sigh) a jester, a mystery spirit like this, a faint smile on his lips, a feeling he was about to do magic for you. I always think of him when I play it, but the feelings it stirs are a lot older: a childhood awe of benevolent strangers, enticing you with hands like birds, entertaining you as if it was all they had to do in their life. I felt like that myself when I played the flute, a little later -- as if I had joined the circle of enchanters, very slightly.
The melody is by Suzanne Vega too. It's a bit livelier than some of hers: it swings me along, it's upbeat. I usually stop the disc after it's over because I don't want to let it and the thoughts it engenders die away too soon.
As a fair use taster, here's one verse:
You are the jester of this courtyard
With a smile like a girl's
Distracted by the women
With the dimples and the curls
By the pretty and the mischievous
By the timid and the blessed
By the blowing skirts of ladies
Who promise to gather you to their breast
Editors: Let me know if this should be cut down further to constitute fair use.