John The Baptist

Written by: 
J. Martyn
1 Feb 1970

I'm John the Baptist
And this is my friend Salome
And you can bet it's my head she wants
And not my heart only
If you see me smiling
And you wonder why
You can bet it's a private joke
Between her and I

And it's alright
(Everything is alright)
Allright
(Everything is alright)

She dances for me
In the midnight moon
And when I play for her
She never sings too soon
When my head's cut off
And I'm lying on a plate
I'm going to grin and tell myself
It's been a lovely wait

And it's alright
(Everything is alright)
Allright
(Everything's alright)

With the revelations granted
And a face just like the haunted
I see myself on the nursery wall
On the poster reading 'Wanted'
And there's a big reward
For bringing me in
And I know in my very heart
I committed no sin

And it's alright
(Everything is alright)
Allright
(Everything is alright)

I'm John the Baptist
And this is my friend Salome
And you can bet it's my head she wants
And not my heart only
If you see me smiling
And you wonder why
You can bet it's a private joke
Between her and I

And it's alright
(Everything is alright)
Allright
(Everything is alright)
Everything's alright
Everything's alright...

the climax..

sitenotes:
There's a fair chance that John was inspired for this song by some Aubrey Beardsley drawings for the Salome book of Oscar Wilde (1894), especially The Dancer's Reward. These were quite common on posters in the early seventies.
John told a magazine in 1970: "Many nights I have to go out alone, playing a date out of town, and travelling back on the milk train - that's when I write most of my songs. I wrote John The Baptist on the train back from a gig in Bristol."

First release: