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