Eye of the Day

They called me Margaretha the day I was born

The day I died, the soldiers called me H-21

In the circuses and palaces, a hundred names I've borne

From the Belle of the Epoque to Eye of the Storm

But if anybody asks, I named myself after the sun

I was a teacher when I was young

But I ran away from home

To the East Indies and warm, warm sun

To wed a man I did not know

He called me Lady McCleod

But the times did not allow

My complaints as drinking dragged him down

So in dancing peace, I found

They called me a tourist when I began to dance

An amateur and courtesan when I came to France

On the stages, in the salons, I held my tongue

I was never owned by any man nor known by anyone

And if anybody asks, I named myself after the sun

I never cared much for their war

I had seen men fight before

Seen the sickness in their esprit de corps

I would dance for them no more

They came to take me away

From the Hotel Champs-Élysées

Told the soldiers I'd nothing to say

They wouldn't have listened anyway

Too many men had died and somebody had to pay

They set a date for my dying day

But as I stood in that killing field, refusing a blindfold

Staring down the soldiers and the hatred of the world

I felt the warmth of the Malay sun and I smiled for them all

They all thought they had the best of me

Not one of them could say what I was called

Just before the darkness came

I whispered my real name

I am Mata Hari, eye of the day

In the cells, my body lay unclaimed

If anybody asks, I named myself after the sun

If anybody asks, I named myself after the sun