Stranger from Sex Rhymes by Schaffer the Darklord

At the corner of Orchard and Stanton on the square

Sipping booze at the Slipper Room, everyone was there

I met a stranger there, his eyes bloodshot red

Face pale as a ghost, he spoke to me as he said

“Have you ever lost in love? Have you ever loved and lost?

You ever left a life of love in pain and paid the highest cost?

I have, I fell in love with an angel in rays

But she was terminally ill, doctors had given her days

She made a final wish that made my blood run cold

Wanted to go on her own terms, awash in love’s throes

She said, ‘I’d rather die by you in our passion so endless

Than in the ICU in nose tubes like a necklace’

I took her hand in mine, I took her throat in the other

I watched the dying lights behind the final smile of my lover

I dressed her, and I kissed her, fled with little delay

Before the ambulance arrived to take my baby away



Down to St. James Infirmary

And I saw my baby there

She was stretched out on a long white table

So sweet, so cold, so fair

Now what was I to do?” He asked, “Where was I to run?

Even if I got away, how could I live with what I’d done?

Even though I’d only honored her request to ease her leaving

I know there ain’t a juror in the world who’d believe me

And since the thought of life without my lover was hell

I’d decided that I’d join her with a final bow as well

Heartbroken, guilt-ridden, at my rope’s end

But first, I needed just to see her again

So I went down to that old hospital later that night

I snuck in and found her covered under flickering lights

A subtle smile still upon her face, her body now breathless

And my handprint still lay upon her like a necklace

I kissed her cold lips, removed a rose from my pocket

Made my way to the door before I froze and locked it

And there, down at St. James, at half past nine

I made love to my baby one last time

Down at St. James Infirmary

And I saw my baby there

She was stretched out on a long white table

So sweet, so cold, so fair”

The stranger told his tale, downed his drink, and he stood

He spoke to me a last request, his face like etched wood

He said, “When I die bury me in straight-laced shoes

A posh black suit and sing them St. James blues

And slip a twenty dollar bill inside my lapel

So I can tip the ferryman when I arrive in hell”

I never caught his name, his face I never recognized

But his exit was the last time that he was seen alive

Some said he was tragic, some said he was reckless

When they found him that night wearing his belt like a necklace

And some cried about the wicked pleasures of men

But I smiled knowing soon they’d be together again



Down at St. James Infirmary

And they saw each other there

They were stretched out on long white tables

So sweet, so cold, so fair

Let her go, let her go, god bless her

Wherever she may be

She may search the whole world over

But she’ll never find a man as depraved as he

• Hip Hop
• Hip-Hop
• Hip-Hop/Rap
• Rap
• United States