At the parachute testers ball
I just dropped in to say hi
You look like the kind of guy
Who wears a silk shirt
Hi
Say Hi
Hi, how high
Oh, from that balcony over there
To the stair
I dare you guy
Why I don't care
I've tested thousands of parachutes before
What's one more silk shirt
Swinging from a chandelier?
So, he positioned himself on the bannister’s edge
Overlooking the dance hall
The mezzanine floor
was like a bomber's open door
And he bit his lip and said a prayer then leapt and reached
for the chandelier
What a stunt! What a feat of human feet
And engineering
Said the boffins below
Who had all studied aerospace dynamics at Bristol
Whereas he just thought he'd give it a go
I worked my way up he said, one step at a time
Until I reached the pilot’s bar
Where the wings hang out
The red bulls and the Icarus's who fell
The Minotaur and his lover
And Daedalus is dancing the fox trot
With the young men from Athens
Who invented the parachute, they ask?
Was it Socrates or Plato?
Aristotle or Pluto?
No, it was Galileo
So where is he when you need him?
He's calculating the coefficient of friction
That is your grip, as you slip
From the last candle stick
That has been burning from the dusk til dawn
And
And what?
Eventually you'll fall
Like a feather from the tower of Pisa
Onto the folks below
Or a hammer blow
Yes, more likely
Now put on the silk shirt
And let's see you test the vest
It is the safest place to try it
As there's paratroopers ten abreast
And they will catch you like a leaf
Or you'll come to a grief
But either way you must leap
Into the great unknown
