ACROSS THE ROOM
Lyrics: © 2003 Juliane Honisch / Music: © 2003 Kerstin Dröge

Across the room he stands, a figure in sleek black,
His grey-blue eyes are twinkling with mischief.
Each year, as winter goes, he will be back
With crystal flute,
And mellow lute,
And sing his songs, a minstrel and a thief.

He moves with grace,
He plays with verve,
His body swings in sound.
She lowers her eyes,
Hopes against hope
he won't keep what he found, her heart, he won't keep what he found.

Across the room he's stolen the grand lady's heart
That for her husband beats from spring to Yule.
With Twelfth Night past, he comes, minstrel and bard,
His deep-set smiles
And easy wiles
Melt her like snow, and make of her a fool.

He plays so well
He plays so deep,
He plays upon her heart.
And while he sings,
The lady knows
That soon he will depart again, oh, soon he will depart.

Across the room he waits and plays his lute and sings,
Slender and graceful, elegant and free.
He sings of sweet love and the lady clings
To all his tunes
And hides her wounds
For no one must her eerie longing see.

She feels his hands
Upon her skin -
Yet only in her mind -
And burns to give
Herself to him
His passion then to find in her, his passion then to find.

Across the room he smiles and knows just how she feels,
With skilful hands strokes strings within her soul.
And at the table of the gentry kneels
Before the wife
Another life
A black temptation that would make her whole.

She knows she will,
She knows she must
Not ever reach for him,
She loves her husband
Dutif'lly.
All else must be a sin, to touch a dream must be a sin.

Bridge:
He holds her by the strings of her own wanting.
He moves her with a look that sinks to where her passion lies.
A distanced smile will answer all his taunting.
She hides her love, she hides her lust
And only cool appreciation will shine from her eyes.

Across the room she smiles, while her heart aches with pain,
And gracefully she turns towards her Lord
And thanks him for the music that is playing,
Here in his hall,
Where each and all
Obey his rule, his power and command.

When late at night
All songs are sung,
Her Lord will lie with her.
But in her mind
It is not him
Who's lying with her there, in love, who's lying with her there.