Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears
 An auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years
 And the elephants are dancing on the graves of squealing mice
 Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

 And the ice creams are all melting on the streets of bloody beer
 While the beggars stain the pavements with flourescent Christmas cheer
 And the Bentley-driving guru is putting up his price.
 Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

 And the prophets in the boutiques give out messages of hope
 With jingle bells and fairy tales and blind kaleidoscopes
 And you can tell they're all the same underneath the pretty lies.
 Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

 The yellow Buddhist monk is burning brightly at the zoo
 You can bring a bowl of rice and then a glass of water too
 And fate is setting up the chessboard while death rolls out the dice.
 Anyone for tennis, wouldn't that be nice?

Lyrics and music by Martin Sharp and Eric Clapton. Originally performed by Cream, May 1968.

I am no expert on poetry, but when thinking of surreal stuff this song by Cream instantly comes to mind. The obvious message in the song seems to be - enjoy yourself for the moment and the problems of life be damned :-)

The music of this song is very soft and mellow. Along with the lyrics, the whole invokes a state of warmth and happiness in me. Like being in a lively, rather noisy crowd and yet experiencing extreme peace in one’s mind. Reminds me of summer afternoons that melted, drifted softly without even a whimper into evenings and nights of liveliness…

— Manu

Minstrels Links

Poem #832, Love Minus Zero / No Limit – Bob Dylan
Poem #112, Mr.Tambourine Man – Bob Dylan
Poem #227, Desolation Row – Bob Dylan
Poem #114, The Soul Cages – Gordon Matthew ‘Sting’ Sumner
Poem #287, Mad About You – Gordon Matthew ‘Sting’ Sumner
Poem #743, Conquistador – Keith Reid
Poem #745, Indiscipline – King Crimson
Poem #116, Suzanne – Leonard Cohen
Poem #339, The Music Crept By Us – Leonard Cohen
Poem #481, Who By Fire – Leonard Cohen
Poem #624, Gift – Leonard Cohen
Poem #744, Joan of Arc – Leonard Cohen
Poem #785, One Trick Pony – Paul Simon
Poem #119, A Poem on the Underground Wall – Paul Simon
Poem #807, Working Girls – Redgum
Poem #741, Reasons for Waiting – Ian Anderson
Poem #742, I Come and Stand at Every Door – Nazim Hikmet