All the flowers in the meadows and all the salt in the sea
Tripped over three shadows all the way to Tennessee
Pushed out by the hand of man, carried by the lovely trades
From the lucky Jack of Diamonds to the deadly Ace of Spades

And you need it in the middle when the needle's in the red
And it needles just a little with a buzzing in the head
And you need it just a little and it's more than you can take
Like a baby in the middle of a many-layered cake

Killed by sugar, killed by sparrows, fog wouldn't let 'em through
And they tipped all of their arrows with poison drops of dew
And you need it in the middle when the needle's in the red
And it needles just a little with a buzzing in the head

And you need it just a little and it's more than you can take
And it's more than you can fathom and it's more than you can fake
And you need it just a little and it's more than you can say
A canary in the coal mine meets a needle in the hay