Written by: Patti Scialfa

Oh mama there's this Spanish dancer
Whose steps I follow when he comes near
The red dress of temptation

Over a long black slip of fear
Will I fall beneath the shadow
Of some broken cross
My arms emptied and all my treasures lost
Still like that Spanish dancer
I throw my roses down for him
Across these beds of darkness
He opens his arms and gathers them in

Oh mama the bridges were burning
Over a river black and cold
But I walked when love commanded me
Up to the edges of his soul
But I'm still frightened of that dark divide
Will I gain entrance or be denied
Still like that Spanish dancer
I throw my roses down for him
Across these beds of darkness
He opens his arms and gathers them in

Oh mama when you were a young girl
Did you ever love a man so much
As if he were some fantastic jewel
That you should never be worthy of
But all those illusions strip and fall
And he is just a man after all
And just like that Spanish dancer
I throw my roses down for him
Across these beds of darkness
He opens his arms and gathers them in
Just like that Spanish dancer
I throw my rose down for him
Across these beds of darkness
He opens his arms and gathers them in
Just like that Spanish dancer I
Just like that Spanish dancer I
Just like that Spanish dancer I
Just like that Spanish dancer I
Just like that Spanish dancer I
Just like that Spanish dancer I