Justine was a poor girl who was treated very ill
Then she started working in the mansion on the hill
The favourite of her madam, sure, a servant of fate
Always gay and frank-hearted in the role that she played

Ah, do I not remember the first time we met
Justine wearing a white dress and a matching white hat
The most graceful little creature that ever I did see
Sweeter than honey, but I guess not for me

Chorus:

Justine, Justine, my mistress, my queen How I've courted you inside my head I kneel before you, oh, what am I to do? Some twenty long years you've been dead

She had one stepsister, and stepbrothers three
Who loved her like cousins do amongst family
I envied one and all, being so close to her
Oh, cursed be I for what was about to occur

't Was a warm, serene evening in 1818
When I called at the mansion to meet with Justine
But when her madam politely showed me the door
I saw a face in the mirror, sure, I'd not seen before

Chorus:

Justine, Justine, I'll see you in my dreams When I'm all alone, at night, in bed But I know you can't stay, oh, what can I say For twenty long years you've been dead

I waited under the stars for her to come out
't Was a quiet, dreary Thursday, there was no moon, no clouds
When she didn't come I fled into the night
A miserable wretch, wounded and blind

Then I heard the sound of a child's lonely cries
Saw Justine's little brother, and to my horrified suprise
I stabbed her brother William five times in the back
Then I took the golden locket that hung from his neck

The following day I realized what I'd done
And to let Justine know I never meant him no harm
Oh, how foolishly I then did fulfill the curse
I slipped the golden locket into her purse

At her trial the golden locket was the only evidence
But soon she confessed under false pretence
How I wished I would've saved her, but I did not have the nerve
When she hung from the gallows, they say justice was served

Chorus:

Justine, Justine, you're a sweet nineteen But when I picture you inside my head You're all black and blue, it is almost not you For twenty long years you've been dead And for twenty long years I've been dead

© Tale 2002-2004. Performed by Tale/Theo Niessink. Written by Theo Niessink.