Lyrics Vain and Careless - Natalie Merchant

Vain and Careless

Lady, lovely lady
Careless and gay!
Once, when a beggar called
She gave her child away
The beggar took the baby
Wrapped it in a shawl
‘Bring her back,' the lady said
‘Next time you call.'
Hard by lived a vain man
So vain and so proud
He would walk on stilts
To be seen by the crowd
Up above the chimney pots
Tall as a mast
And all the people ran about
Shouting till he passed
‘A splendid match surely,'
Neighbours saw it plain
‘Although she is so careless
Although he is so vain.'
But the lady played bobcherry
Did not see or care
As the vain man went by her
Aloft in the air
This gentle-born couple
Lived and died apart
Water will not mix with oil
Nor vain with careless heart