From The Known Words 2, long out of print and replaced by The Known Words, which doesn’t include this (among others) due to it being not of sufficiently high standard:
“The Lady” who got such good press in TKW1 inspired more than just a few silly songs of admiration and/or lust: she also inspired me to filk one of the most poignant and moving songs of all time, Andy Prieboy’s Tomorrow Wendy, which is about a friend of Andy’s who knew she was dying of AIDS and so committed suicide. I have been told that, regardless of the actual lyrics of my version, even considering filking that song is blasphemy. What more incentive do I need? The Fighting Maid, by the way, told me once that hearing me sing this sent chills down her spine. Maybe it was the eerily Prieboyesque (read: homicidally depressed) way I sing it.
Oh, and the refrain… in case it’s a little difficult to figure out, it should be interpreted as “Tomorrow, Lady, is too far too see” – that is, tomorrow is ages away, let’s just worry about now. A very Dowlandian sentiment, you must admit!
[1995]
It is discreet now, a thin chemise of purest white.
A one-track mind, she’s looking for some fun for the night.
There she finds a line of suitors stretching out of sight;
They say, “Choose me! Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.
“Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.”
Underneath a canvas grey pavillion sky,
You can make believe you might survive another try:
She’s howlin’ for the moon and all the stars are flying by, and
You’ll say, “Be free! Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.
“Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.”
Well her brain said “Stop!” but her body said “No!”
And if you don’t believe it you should see that Lady go,
If she’s ever tired well she doesn’t let it show!
“Hey, hey, choose me! Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.
“Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.”
I told the girl, “Don’t count on any self-controlling,
“You had your plans scrubbed the first night you went outside strolling!
“It’s in the way you move, the light inside your eyes is shining,
“No I don’t wonder how, I wonder why more men aren’t pining!”
“I say, choose me! Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.”
“Tomorrow Lady’s too far to see.”