A Small Cigar
A small cigar can change the world.
I know, I've done it frequently at parties
Where I've won all the guests' attention
With my generosity and suave gentlemanly bearing
A little flat tin case is all you need,
breast-pocket conversation opener
And one of those ciggie lighters that look rather good
you can throw away when empty.
Must be declared a great success
My small cigars all vanish within minutes
Excuse me, mine host, that I may visit
a nearby tobacconist
To replenish my supply of small cigars
and make the party swing again
I know my clothes seem shabby
and don't fit this Hampstead soiree
Where unread copies of Rolling Stone,
well-thumbed Playboys,
decorate the hi-fi stereo record shelves.
If you ask me they're on their way
to upper-middle-class oblivion
The stupid twits, they roll their only
one cigarette between them.
My small cigar's redundant now
in the haze of smoking pleasure.
Call it a day
Get the hell away
Go down the cafe
For a cup of real tea.
By the tube station, there's a drunk old fool
who sells papers in the rush hour.
I hand to him ten small cigars
he smiles, says, "Son, God bless you"
A small cigar
has changed his world, my friend.
A small cigar
has changed the world again.
A small cigar . . .
A small cigar . . .
A small cigar . . .