Smoke on the Water


When I went to Montreaux, it was by train.
We pulled in slowly, in the morning rain.
It is the prettiest of towns by a lake,
The streets so neat make you think it's a fake.

Yet here was scribed the rock and roll folklore
By the sights of the Lake Geneva shore
Of a gambling house that burnt to the ground.
This, with Deep Purple's destiny was bound.

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
A 12 year old told me, give it a try.
Skip the third, play the fourth, index and thumb.
Keep it simple and nevermore feel dumb.

The enigma, funky Claude, had grown older
When I saw him gin soaked and much redder.
He blew "Oh when the saints go marching in"
As Bernie and I remarked on his skin.

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
Can't help what people forget by and by,
Like the twelve notes made famous in the riff
And how to play them without sounding stiff.

Bevagna, 10 4 2008
Link: Try this version with ancient Japanese instruments on Youtube