(The Strange Circumstances Which Lead to) Vladimir and Olga Lyrics

′Twas a hot September
The hottest I can remember
We took the children in the larder
And headed for warm climes in Odessa
I'd worked hard the whole season
Olga betrayed a tiredness which she strove to conceal
We stopped at an inn and took some lunch
Some simple fare of cheeses and borscht
The bread tasted strange
Olga mentioned to me
The old wives′ tale of bread mould madness
I laughed and ate
And ate and laughed
The food did me good
The beer refreshed my dusty brow
It was as we reached Odessa
That I started to feel
The strangest mood descend over me from nowhere
The sky changed colour
Vehicles on the road were a funfair
It struck me as being incredibly funny
That we four were in a tin can
Hiding ourselves from the cruel, harsh, alien world outside
I stopped the car in the middle of the
Intersection in the centre of Odessa
And staggered out to dance and laugh at
The insignificance of our ordered lives
The traffic built up
And Odessa saw its largest, most confused and contorted traffic jam
And I started to laugh
I laughed and laughed until I cried and cried
I cried and cried until I laughed and laughed
I laughed and laughed until I cried and cried
I cried and cried until I laughed and laughed