Up on the white veranda
She wears a necktie and her Panama hat.
Her passport shows a face
From another time and place
She looks nothin' like that.
And all the remnants of her recent past
Are scattered in the wild wind.
She walks across the marble floor
Where a voice from the gambling room is callin' her to come on in.
She smiles, walks the other way
As the last ship sails and the moon fades away
From Black Diamond Bay.
As the mornin' light breaks open, the Greek comes down
And he asks for a rope and a pen that will write.
"Pardon, monsieur," the desk clerk says,
Carefully removes his fez,
"Am I hearin' you right?"And as the yellow fog is liftin'
The Greek is quickly headin' for the second floor.
She passes him on the spiral staircase
Thinkin' he's the Soviet Ambassador,
She starts to speak, but he walks away
As the storm clouds rise and the palm branches swayOn Black Diamond Bay.

A soldier sits beneath the fan
Doin' business with a tiny man who sells him a ring.
Lightning strikes, the lights blow out.
The desk clerk wakes and begins to shout,
"Can you see anything?"
Then the Greek appears on the second floor
In his bare feet with a rope around his neck,
While a loser in the gambling room lights up a candle,
Says, "Open up another deck."
But the dealer says, "Attendez-vous, s'il vous plait,As the rain beats down and the cranes fly awayFrom Black Diamond Bay.The desk clerk heard the woman laughAs he looked around in the aftermath and the soldier got tough.He tried to grab the woman's hand,Said, "Here's a ring, it cost a grand."She said, "That ain't enough."Then she ran upstairs to pack her bagsWhile a horse-drawn taxi waited at the curb.She passed the door that the Greek had locked,Where a handwritten sign read, "Do Not Disturb."She knocked upon it anywayAs the sun went down and the music did playOn Black Diamond Bay."I've got to talk to someone quick!"But the Greek said, "Go away," and he kicked the chair to the floor.He hung there from the chandelier.She cried, "Help, there's danger nearPlease open up the door!"Then the volcano eruptedAnd the lava flowed down from the mountain high above.The soldier and the tiny man were crouched in the cornerThinking of forbidden love.But the desk clerk said, "It happens every day,"As the stars fell down and the fields burned awayOn Black Diamond Bay.As the island slowly sankThe loser finally broke the bank in the gambling room.The dealer said, "It's too late now.You can take your money, but I don't know howYou'll spend it in the tomb."The tiny man bit the soldier's earAs the floor caved in and the boiler in the basement blew,While she's out on the balcony, where a stranger tells her,"My darling, je vous aime beaucoup."She sheds a tear and then begins to prayAs the fire burns on and the smoke drifts awayFrom Black Diamond Bay.I was sittin' home alone one night in L.A.,Watchin' old Cronkite on the seven o'clock news.It seems there was an earthquake thatLeft nothin' but a Panama hatAnd a pair of old Greek shoes.Didn't seem like much was happenin',So I turned it off and went to grab another beer.Seems like every time you turn aroundThere's another hard-luck story that you're gonna hearAnd there's really nothin' anyone can sayAnd I never did plan to go anywayTo Black Diamond Bay.