If I couldn't sing
How love's the hardest easy thing
And if I couldn't sing you my life
Hiding here in the spotlight
And if you couldn't hear me

If I couldn't feel
If I couldn't feel your touch again
When nerve ends fray
And there's nothing to say
Not even a prayer
It's a beautiful night somewhere

If I couldn't say it now
Tell me how
If this is love and love is all we've got
You can show me what it is
I can show you what it's not
If this is love, don't act surprised when you get hurt
Even if our dreams lay in the dirt
We were once the greatest show on Earth

Is that a smile or a tear?
Is it all show business here?
The cinema that is stained glass
You're at the altar at our wedding mass
Is this a church of love or fear?
Have we made God feel like a stranger here?

Say it now
Tell me how
If this is love and love is all we've got
You can show me what it is
I can show you what it's not
If this is love, we make cathedrals of our hurt
People digging their dreams out of the dirt
We were once the greatest show on Earth

Love is a business that works at night
I sold myself for less than was right
You taught me what I was worth
In the greatest show on Earth
Made a profession out of breaking your heart
You call it lies, I call it art
I was some of your best work
We were once the greatest show on Earth

Love is a business you shouldn't trust
Breathe on me, and I'm love, and I'm lust
Forever or a flirt?
The greatest show on Earth
The light scatters, things can get worse
These dark matters of the universe
Could not compete with us
We were once the greatest show on Earth