I've sung it all tonight
Almost every story that I know
And now when they turn out the spotlights
I'm not sure where I'm s'posed to go
And I'm so hoarse I can't hit the high notes
It's just a whisper when I'm low
But when you sing from the inside
You hope that something shows
And that it why
Yes you are the only song, the only song I need
You're my laughter and you're my lonely song
You're the harvest and you're the seed
And you're my first and my final song
For you own me indeed
Oh yes, oh yes,
Yes, after all is said and done
You're the one song that I need
I've sung my songs to silence
To empty clubs and crowded bars
I've sung my songs to standing room
Even sung 'em to the stars
But the faces they fade together
And the applause it's gone so fast
And the story of every darkened stage
Is that the glory just does not last
And that is why
Yes after all is said and done
You're the one song that I need
All my life's a circle...
You were chasing him down Braodway on that white-hot July,
'Cause he thought he'd got a message from some holy man on high.
He said his chance had finally come; he'd done it on his own,
He had to leave his past behind; the first thing that had to go--was
home.
You put him in an aeroplane and packed your life and clothes,
You learned all the lessons that the suitcase lady knows.
He said, "Something still drags me back from where I'm heading to,"
You didn't really understand, 'til the next thing that had to go--was
you.
Some things are sacrificed and some things remain,
Some things bring pleasure and some things bring pain.
Some things must pass away, and some things are regained,
When the whole world is changing, why should people stay the same?
You saw his picture in the paper, that disarming boyish smile,
You sometimes had to swallow hard as you saw him on the dial.
You heard him on a talk show, he was hearing no one else,
Then suddenly you knew too well, the last thing he'd left behind--was
himself.
Some things are sacrificed and some things remain,
Some things bring pleasure and some things bring pain.
Some things must pass away, and some things are regained,
When the whole world is changing, why should people stay the same?
So you pulled yourself together, friends and family said you should,
You discovered you were doing things you never knew you could.
And someday when he calls you, which you know of course he'll do,
You'll just send him away again, 'cause the last thing you finally
found--was
you.
It was the town that made America famous.
The churches full and the kids all gone to hell.
Six traffic lights and seven cops and all the streets kept clean.
The supermarket and the drug store and the bars all doing well.
They were the folks that made America famous.
The local fire department stocked with shorthaired volunteers.
And on Saturday night while America boozes
The fire department showed dirty movies,
The lawyer and the grocer seeing their dreams
Come to life on the movie screens
While the plumber hopes that he won't be seen
As he tries to hide his fears and he wipes away his tears.
But something's burning somewhere. Does anybody care?
We were the kids that made America famous.
The kind of kids that long since drove our parents to dispair.
We were lazy long hairs dropping our, lost confused, and copping out.
Convinced our futures were in doubt and trying not to care.
We lived in the house that made America famous.
It was a rundown slum, the shame of all the decent folks in town.
We hippies and some welfare cases,
Croweded families of coal black faces,
Cramped inside some cracked old boards,
The best that we all could afford
But still to nice for the rich landlord
To tear it down and we could hear the sound
Of something burning somewhere. Is anybody there?
We all lived the life that made America famous.
Our cops would make a point to shadow us around our town.
And we love children put a swastika on the bright red firehouse door.
America, the beautiful, it makes a body proud.
And then came the night that made America famous.
Was it carelessness or someone's sick idea of a joke.
In the tinder box trap that we hippies lived in someone struck a spark.
At first I thought I was dreaming,
Then I saw the first flames gleaming
And heard the sound of children screaming
Coming through the smoke. That's when the horror broke.
Something's burning somewhere. Does anybody care?
It was the fire that made America famous.
The sirens wailed and the firemen stumbled sleepy from their homes.
And the plumber yelled: "Come on let's go!"
But they saw what was burning and said: "Take it slow,
Let'em sweat a little, they'll never know
And besides, we just cleaned the chrome." Said the plumber: "I'm going alone."
He rolled on up in the fire truck
And raised the ladder to the ledge
Where me and my girl and a couple of kids
Were clinging like bats to the edge.
We staggered to salvation,
Collapsed on the street.
And I never thought that a fat man's face
Would ever look so sweet.
I shook his hand in the scene that made America famous
And a smile from the heart that made America great
You see we spent the rest of that night in the home of a man I'd never known
before.
It's funny when you get that close it's kind of hard to hate.
I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous.
I had the kind of a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school.
Of the America that made America famous...and
Of the people who just might understand
That how together yes we can
Create a country better than
The one we have made of this land,
We have a choice to make each man
who dares to dream, reaching out his hand
A prophet or just a crazy God damn
Dreamer of a fool - yes a crazy fool
There's something burning somewhere.
Does anybody care?
Is anybody there?
It was just another night
and I was out on a limb
looking for someone
to help me back in.
A couple of hours of cruising around
brought me into a bar
and I sat me down
nothing much to be found.
So I got in to talking to the old bar man
he said:
"You got a problem I can understand
and I know a little lady
who is all alone.
If you find her she will take you home.
She don't like to spend her nights alone!"
They call her Easy.
They say it's not a way for a body to be.
They call her Easy.
She is giving out her love for free.
I found her on the street
like the bartender said.
She was not great looking
but not that bad.
Walked on up to her
and didn't say a word
but my eyes were talking
and I think she heard.
Yes, she heard me.
We walked down the road
to a rundown farm.
She lit a couple of candles
and she held out her arms.
Lord, she was gentle as a windblown sigh
in the morning while dressing I could hear her cry.
She was crying and I went flying out of there.
The next day found me walking in ton.
Saw the old bartender and I flagged him down.
I thanked him for the girl
and told him that she pleased me
and laughed a little bit
about how she was easy.
But the old man stopped me
with the look in his eye.
He said,
"You know I had hoped
you weren't that kind of guy.
Dream of the kind of world it could be
if we were with our loves like Easy"
It's a hard world we must learn to be easy.
In a cold world I must love the ones who please me
Easy!
It was my first night in that rooming house.
In the last room down the hall
I heard a hoarse voice and an old guitar
Coming through the paper thin walls.
A crazy nonsense nursery rhyme
that did not mean a thing.
But for the first of what was to be a thousand times,
This is what I hear him sing. . .
Hold that D chord on the old guitar,
'Til I found the G.
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around to D.
I had to lay there listening.
It seemed he was in the room.
This stranger with his melody,
Singing there in the gloom.
And he repeated it over and over again,
Such a soft and sinkin' sound.
It was kind of like a music box that was slowly winding down.
You see, he sang it, he hummed it,
Whistled it, and he strummed it,
He laughed it and he cried it,
He did everything but hide it.
And he sang . . .
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around for me
So I lay there in that lumpy bed,
Countin' choruses instead of sheep.
'Til I banged on the wall and out I called,
"Hey bub I need some sleep."
The sudden void of silence, then I heard that hoarse voice say,
"It weren't so long ago boy, they paid me to play "
I said, "It's kind of late for music sir,
Two hours til it's daylight"
He answered, "I need my music most
In these dark hours of the night.
You see I've tried gettin' high on something son,
But it only brings me down.
Staying dry don't work out better boy,
'Cause my eyes get wet and I drown.
Won't you please let me continue
And I'll be in your debt.
You see I'm not singing to remember son,
I'm just singing to forget"
And he sang .. .
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around for me.
That's when I said,
"If I'm supposed to listen to you sir,
Just one quick question then.
Why in the hell do you sing one song
Over and over again?"
And this is what he said. . .
He said, "I gave her the music son,
She gave me the words.
Together we'd write the kind of songs
The angels must have heard.
Of course we'd fight like cats and dogs,
But life ain't no rosebud dream.
Still whatever we'd do everybody knew
We truly were a team.
I can't remember now if I done her wrong
Or if she done wrong to me
But all I know that when I let her go
That it did not set me free''
That's when I said, "You sound like what's-his-name"
He said, "That's who I am.
But you can't wrap a name around you boy,
'Cause it really don't mean a damn.
You see, a song don't have much meaning
When it dan't have nothing to say.
What she could do was magic son,
All I could do was play"
He started singing again.
That's when I drifted off
Maybe I dreamed what I heard
'Bout this stranger with his melody
Who'd gone and lost the words.
Hold that D chord on the old guitar
'Til I found the G
Drop it down to old E minor
'Til the A chord rolls back home around to D
I have made a little music in some corners of the land
I have fused some crystal images from common grains of sand
And if I haven't reached the heavens, I've surely learned to fly
I've been caught up in the soaring and the touching of the sky
But the startripper's coming on back home now
It's a crazy blind man's journey he's been on
The startripper's lost and all alone now
And it's your face he'd like to look upon
Yes, he's praying that you won't be long gone
They put you in a capsule, they send you towards the sun
They carve you into plastic before you orbit's done
And all the scribes and seers they chorus out your name
Though the photographs and headlines change the story stays the same
So the startripper's coming on back home now
It's a crazy blind man's journey he's been on
The startripper's lost and all alone now
And it's your face he'd like to look upon
Yes, he's praying that you won't be long gone
I thought that I was soaring like an eagle
I thought that I was roaring like the wind
I thought that I had surely reached the end now
But I can't remember anywhere I've been
Was I looking for a star or something else behind it?
Whatever I was looking for, I surely dod not find it
And for all my sky high journeys the only thing I know
Is that you almost always lose yourself when you let yourself go
So the startripper's coming on back home now
It's a crazy blind man's journey he's been on
The startripper's lost and all alone now
And it's your face he'd like to look upon
Yes, he's praying that you won't be long gone
My name is Jenny and I am four fingers old
Mostly I just try to do the things that I am told
But when they say that I'm too young a girl to ride a bike
I may be just four fingers old but I know what I like
Someone keeps calling my name
Someone keeps calling my name
Or is it just the rustling of the wind
Or is it just that I need a friend
Someone keeps calling my name, my name
My name is Jason and I'm ten birthdays old
My parents had me years ago to have and to hold
But sometimes they don't talk too much or touch hardly at all
It's strange how two can share a life divided by a wall
Someone keeps calling my name
Someone keeps calling my name
Or is it just the rustling of the wind
Or is it just that I need a friend
Someone keeps calling my name, my name
My name is Jonathon, I'm fifty seasons old
I say it that way 'cause I love the changes each year holds
But as I look around I see some changes nature never planned
I guess it's time to change ourselves, at least while we still can
Someone keeps calling my name
Someone keeps calling my name
Or is it just the rustling of the wind
Or is it just that I need a friend
Someone keeps calling my name, my name
My name is Jaime, fifteen years I've been to young
Is it time to taste the truth and toss it off my tounge?
The world has come a-calling and it's bleeding at my door
Am I supposed to turn away, or is this what I'm here for?
Someone keeps calling my name
Someone keeps calling my name
Or is it just the rustling of the wind
Or is it just that I need a friend
Someone keeps calling my name, my name
The old sailor sat at the window seat
So he could watch as the ships went by
And he drank from a glass that was always filled
For the rest of us would buy.
And he would tell us tales about the ships that sailed
When he was young and strong.
And when he thought we'd heard enough of his words
He'd break into this song.
Dee dee dee dah dah dah dee dee dee dah dah
Dah dah dee dee dee dum.
Each and every day he'd spend this way
Until the stroke of four
When a woman as rough as a dockside tough
Came bursting through the door.
She'd stalk up to that sailor
And he'd shrink to the size of a pin.
And she'd curse and shout and as she hauled him out
He'd say with a sheepish grin:
Chorus:
I've sailed the southern oceans
And the stormy northern sea,
But now that me sailin's over, me boys,
It's harbor time for me.
I know you call us Salt and Pepper,
For an old salt I may be,
But though she may be pepper to you, me boys,
She's sweet as sugar to me.
Dee dee dee dah dah dah dee dee dee dah dah
Dah dah dee dee dee dum.
Yes, we called them Salt and Pepper,
For that's the way she was
And it seemed she got as least as hot
As fresh red pepper does.
And a bunch of the boys made offers
To protect him from her wrath,
But each and every time, he would decline,
Declaring with a laugh:
(Repeat Chorus)
I've had my body broken,
Not drowned, but parched bone-dry.
I've heard my name be spoken,
I've spit in the Devil's eye.
The sea once was my mistress,
Now Pepper's replaced her.
But just another captain,
Like my tough old captain's were.
And you can have your milquetoast ladies,
I'm made of old salt brine,
And the gal you saw had starch in her craw,
Not a lace instead of a spine.
Sure, the old girl can get tough at times,
But a sailor's what I've been,
And when a storm's about, you learn to ride it out,
So you can sail once again.
(Repeat Chorus)
Chorus:
I give part time help
I'm the odd job man
I can't do what I want
So I do what I can
And I'll tell you now
So that you will understand
You get just what you pay for from the odd job man
One day this dude drives in the station
And I slide out to the pump
And he says, " I need some odd jobs done
Can you get off from this dump? "
Well I can always use some extra bread
So I nod and take the job
When he says " Clean up before you come
I do not hire slobs "
Now you can see I'm not no fancy pants
But everyone has pride
And especially since this lovely lady's
Sittin' by his side
Still something keeps my trap shut
And I nod again " Alright "
And he gooses his Mercedes
And he squeals off in the night
Chorus
Well I find his place next morning
It's more a palace than a pad
And it kind of makes my pick-up truck
Start looking pretty bad
But the same lady swings the door back
And before one word is said
She leads me to his trophy room
Where he sits with his stuffed heads
He's got this list of jobs for me to do
While he's out of town
And he says "I'm too damn busy boy
The way I move around"
Well I start to figure prices when he says
"It's time you learned,
When you're dealing with a gentleman
You get just what you earn"
Chorus
I set to work that weekend
And I'm fixin' up some stairs
When I feel that someone's watching me
And I see SHE'S standing there
And she says "I like to watch you work
You have such supple hands"
She says "Can I help you?" and I say
"Baby you CAN !! "
Well she looks me in the eyes boys
I admit I looked a little lower
That's when she starts breathing faster
And I start working slower
You see when you have a helper
With her attitude and grace
You start puttin' lots of extra hours
Workin' 'round the place
Chorus
Well a month had too soon come and gone
With my odd jobs all done
When who should pull up to the pump
But the long-lost prodigal son
And he says "Here's a hundred dollars boy"
Pulls the bill off from his wad
And he starts to hand it over
Like a gift come straight from God!
I say "That's just a buck an hour sir !"
He says "That's what I pay for jerks"
Now I admit that almost blew my cool
But I staggered back to work
You see most times when it's said and done
There's justice to this life
'Cause what that man had done to me
I'd done to his wife!
Chorus
I'm a strummin' fool out in the sticks
For the glory and the bread
And you're wise enough to let me sing
This music in my head.
And if there's any way to get there
Strumming head on out
I go driven hard to pick up old
222 en route.
But now they've gone and cancelled
Old Northwest 222
It's a late night bird that always
brought me back home to you
There's a thousand miles between us
Babe that I cannot get through
Is there nothing left to count on, now
That old 222 is gone?
Old 222 is gone.
My guitar bouncin' on my shoulder, my
Ticket in my hand
I'm runnin' on the ramp on board, I just
Made it again
Pull pillows down and a blanket and I
Stretch out 'cross the seat
Yes I'm racked our, winging homeward
Where I got this dream to keep
But now they've gone and cancelled
Old Northwest 222
It's a late night bird that always
brought me back home to you
There's a thousand miles between us
Babe that I cannot get through
Is there nothing left to count on, now
That old 222 is gone?
Old 222 is gone.
Minneapolis at 1 AM Chicago at 3
It's Detroit at 5 the it's New York City
Where she's waitin' for me
And I come chargin' off the jet way the
Dream is in my eyes
When I see you there at curbside babe
I'm kissin' you at sunrise
Yes you brought the van to get me.
Sometime when the plane is late
We would find a place for parking
When the lovin' would not wait
But now they've gone and cancelled
Old Northwest 222
It's a late night bird that always
brought me back home to you
There's a thousand miles between us
Babe that I cannot get through
Is there nothing left to count on, now
That old 222 is gone?
Old 222 is gone.
We are the lovers, we are bound to one another
By a bond that is invisible yet stronger still than time.
And we're locked into the motion that moves beneath the ocean.
Rolling toward the future that makes pain the only crime.
Now I know you are the answer. You're the damsel and the dancer
The angel with the devil eyes that knows about the beat.
You remove the masks and faces and you see the shadowed places
That only witches look for in the cradle of the heat.
Have you heard of the Legend of the Lost and Found?
It tells of a world turnin' upside down
When all the kings have become the clowns
The beggars are crowned
The Legend of the Lost and Found.
So I become the reacher more the pilgrim than the preacher.
The savage's been ravaged by the visions of the smoke.
As I'm peeling back the layers to the passions of my prayers
I have seen the ramparts where the molten waters broke.
Your heart's a sacred kingdom that has colonized my soul.
My past's the shattered fragment that somehow you made whole
Today's your gift to fondle, your offering to feel.
Tomorrow is the promise that somehow you've made real.
Have you heard of the Legend of the Lost and Found?
It tells of a world turnin' upside down
When all the kings have become the clowns
The beggars are crowned
The Legend of the Lost and Found.
So l'll sing you every silly, sad, and happy song I know.
And you'll open every part of you that you've got left to show.
And I'll pour myself around you like the sunshine drowns the field.
And in the golden softness we will yield.
And in the golden softness we will yield.
He's the last of the protest singers,
Selling truth and commitment,
He don't get much work these days,
He's billed as a novelty act,
And he stands there with his thumb out,
Hitching a ride towards the rainbow,
That only he sees shining there,
They say he's a fool, and that's a fact,
Oh, oh, oh….
Yes he's the last of the protest singers,
Staring, as he's strumming,
For he sees the dark clouds coming now,
And he says he feels those first few drops,
He sees he cannot reach them,
So he tries to sing out louder,
And I say, "you're getting hoarser boy,
He says, "should I give up and stop?"
Oh, oh, oh…
Chorus:
But I say, "that's really not good enough, cause there's enough of that kind of stuff"
And I say, "that's really not good enough, cause there's enough of that kind of stuff"
And he says, "I can't believe nobody cares anymore,
And he says, "I can't believe nobody shares anymore,
And he says, "I can't believe nobody cares like before,
He says, "I can't believe it's really true, don't you care anymore?"
Yes he's the last of the protest singers,
But sometimes I believe him,
As he stands on his cold street corner saying,
"It's what I say not what I am",
But late at night, I hold him,
He shivers and starts his crying and says,
"Should I just play some rock and roll,
cause nobody really gives a damn?"
Oh, oh, oh…
Chorus:
Yes he's the last of the protest singers,
Selling truth and commitment,
He don't get much work these days,
He's billed as a novelty act,
And he stands there with his thumb out,
Hitching a ride towards the rainbow,
That only he sees shining there,
They say he's a fool, and that's a fact,
Oh, oh, oh…
There's enough of that kind of stuff!
Chorus:
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
What would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Now if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
And if a woman
She used a life TIME
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Oh well I wonder
Yes I wonder
Oh yes I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
As I look around us
There's such strange things
There's muggers and there's jugglers
And we are led by clowns
If an answer ever found us
Would we change things
Or are we just a people
Rotten ready for the ground
And if our future
Lies on the final line
Are we brave enough
To see the signals and the signs
I wonder what would happen to this world
We see the people
We see them marchin' down
Do we join the parade
Or do we try and turn around
Well I wonder what would happen to this world
Disciple children walk the streets
Selling books and flowers
Can they be last ones
With a semblance of a dream
If we say that no one's out there
And we say we're goin' nowhere
And we avoid the question
Is this all that it means?
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen to this world
Harry: "And the excitement continues to build! Eat your heart out, Peter Frampton.")
It seems like two months
'Though I met her tonight
Something just told me
It would work out alright
So I asked her to act out
What was there in our heads
No need for games, babe,
Let's hop into bed
(audience reacts, Harry says, "I figured that'd get ya.")
That's when I said
"Oh, get on with it
Let's get it done
Life is made up of moments
Let's not miss this one
Oh, get on with it
Before it's too late
We know where we're going
There's no, no, no, no need to wait."
But that's when she says
"Let's take it slowly
You don't really know me
If we make it holy
Maybe it will last
What is your hurry
You don't need to worry
The one thing we know
Is that time, time, time goes too fast."
Soon it's working so well
I got her moving in
All the permanent thoughts
Already begin
You see she is the woman
That I want for my wife
I say, "Let's set a date, babe,
And get on with our life."
And that's when I said again
"Oh, get on with it
Let's get it done
Life is made up of moments
Let's not miss this one
Oh, get on with it
Before it's too late
We know where we're going
There's no, no, no, no need to wait."
But once again she says
"Let's take it slowly
Still you don't know me
If we make it holy
Maybe it will last
What is your hurry
You don't need to worry
The one thing we know
Is that time, time, time goes too fast."
I don't know what happened
As we moved along
But all of a sudden
It came out all wrong
She said, "It's all over
Let's not drag out the end
If we split up now
Then at least we'll stay friends."
And that's when she said
"Get on with it
You know it's all done
We had our moments
Don't dwell on this one
Oh, get on with it
You know it's too late
Oh, yes, it's all over
There's no, no, no, no need to wait."
But that's when I say
"Let's take it slowly
You know how you know me
And once it was holy
Don't give up so fast
What is your hurry
You don't need to worry
The one thing we know
Is that time, time, time goes too fast."
CHORUS:
So your 13 and there's a silent scream out there,
And you can hear it.
Just your basic protest song.
Now your 16 and there's a danger in the air,
And you can see it.
Just your basic protest song.
Turnin' 20 and it's around you everywhere,
And you can feel it.
Just your basic protest song.
Now your 30 and it's to late now to care,
And you can taste it.
Just your basic protest song
Well, I just turned 13 don't know what I wanna be,
I don't have much experience but I'll tell you what I see.
When I hear the record sing and baby, baby I love you,
It seems to me we all got so much lovin left to do.
And at 16 I don't know to much but I'll tell you what I do know,
If you do not give a damn I'll tell you where to go.
There is something truly crazy with our patriotic song,
We know to wave the flag round the week begins a strong.
CHORUS
Oh now that I am 20 got my first full time job,
My boss, upstanding citizen, finds legal ways to rob.
They say forget what you believe forget what you have seen,
But I know I lost the best of me when I forgot my dreams.
I'm passin' on through 30 got two kids of my own,
Got a wife, house, a car, and dog but still I am alone.
And I'm tired of only selling cause it's myself that I sell,
I'm glad of always buying cause I can't buy it ourselves.
I know none of us is perfect I can see myself to well,
If we can't push for paradise we're settled in for hell.
CHORUS
Turning on my pillow, thinking kind of strange.
The color is of midnight in this room.
The cars outside are coughing and it's kind of hard to sleep
and there's neon out the window, not the moon.
And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life's time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why'm I thinking somethings left behind?
I whistled round today and I skipped off a footloose jig
to the hurdy gurdy music of the street.
I looked past those rooftops and I saw the cloudless sky,
But I keep on asking why my life is passing by,
And I'm left up high and dry,
But it ain't no good to cry,
So I shrug my useless sigh,
And I trust to things that other days will meet.
And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life's time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why'm I thinking somethings left behind?
The night has had it's laughing,
when the street lights blind the stars,
So now it's shedding rain to sing it's sorrow,
It's time for me to sleep and to rest these thoughts away,
There's gonna be another day, hey!
when things will go my way,
And there's other things to say,
And there's other songs to play,
And there'll be time enough for thinking come tomorrow.
And it was just an any old kind of day,
The kind that comes and slips away,
The kind that fills up easy my life's time.
The night brought any old kind of dark,
I heard the ticking of my heart.
Then why'm I thinking somethings left behind?
When the summer fled past my window
and autumn's chill was in the air
there was a special kind of lonesome
'round that ending time of year.
When the leaves fell
and they drifted 'neath the trees that soon were bare
I felt that wind blow,
ever colder,
and suddenly,
you were there.
We laughed and scuffled
while the snow fell
and the cold gave your cheecks a glow.
And in your arms come evening
a kind of peace I know.
Often I'd wake at midnight
mid some icy winter storm,
and then I would find you
beside me,
and you made the night seem so warm.
Now I go my way
and you go your way
now that the winter's come and gone.
But somehow
with the springtime
your golden warmth still lingers on.
Now won't you listen to the word wizard,
Watch him open up his gizzard,
Every secret he has he's only told the world so far.
Don't you think that boy would be embarrassed,
Find himself hassled or some what harassed,
Cause he shows of his wounds before they turn to scars.
CHORUS:
But when he comes home he brings me stories,
He made up especially for me.
A little bit of low down, a little bit of glory oh,
The choice is simple, I can scold him,
Give him a smile or simply hold him
Somehow it seems, I never ever told him no
Watch him work, he leaves each hartfull,
Shovels it out there by the careful.
He's so artless it's almost artful as he as he strings them along.
Takes you down, gets you cryin,
Sets you high, gets you flyin.
It's not the truth but it's not quite lying,
As he sings his song.
CHORUS
Why did the little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grow tall
The boys were taught to tumble
The girls told not to fall
The girls answered the telephone
The boys answered the call
That's why little girls grew crooked
While the little boys grew tall
Why did the little girls grow crippled
While the little boys grow strong
The boys allowed to come of age
The girls just came along
The girls were told sing harmonies
The boys could all sing songs
That's why little girls grew crippled
While little boys grew strong
Why did the little girls come broken
While the little boys came whole
The little boys were set aflame
The girls told to fan the coals
The boys all told to be themselves
While the girls were told play the roles
That's why little girls came broken
While little boys came whole
Why were the little girls all frightened
To be just what they are
The boys were told to ask themselves
How high how far
The girls were told to reach the shelves
While the boys were reaching stars
That's why little girls were frightened
To be just what they are
And still they bled for us all
As the moon rode the sky
They carried our seed
When our need ran high
They fed all our children
In the night as they cried
Womankind wept
As mankind died
Why were the little girls left hurtin'
When all the boys were done
And the girls left in the moonlight
When the boys went to meet the sun
And when the girls were open
Why had the little all won?
That's why little girls were hurtin'
When the little boys were done
Why did the little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grew tall
It's maybe because the little boys
Didn't ever have to grow up at all
The old lady on the park bench
In the park with just one tree
Was there from the very first day
That you were part of me
It seemed like she'd been sitting there
Since 1000 B.C.
And you said, "She is as permanent
As anything can be."
>From that first day
We were three
The old lady and you and me
You sat there in the window
You were looking 'cross the street
You said, "The birds and the old lady
Yet the same bread crumbs they eat."
I could not get you back to bed
'Till you took them both a treat
And I learned that you were twice as stubborn
As you could be sweet
>From that first day
We were three
The old lady and you and me
Do you remember that summer rain storm
On the day that you moved in
I was caught in the excitement
Of what was to begin
Well, you disappeared for a little while
And when I asked you where you'd been
You said you'd lent the old lady my new umbrella
Then you gave me that wicked grin
>From that first day
We were three
The old lady and you and me
Yes on March 21st the first day of Spring
The old lady would be there
Spend all the days of summer
Then she'd disappear somewhere
Where she spent her falls and her winters, babe
No one was aware
But you were the first to wonder
Yeah, you were the first to care
It was three years we were together
The old lady held that spot
Through the nights when life was wonderful
Through the days when it was not
And the times we were in trouble
In a way we sometimes got
Just knowing that she was out there
Meant we gave it just one more shot
>From that first day
We were three
The old lady and you and me
Well it's March 21st the first day of Spring
And you know what I had to do
I got up and I ran to the window
To confirm what I already knew
I wish I had your address
To send this letter to
You see the old lady's not on the park bench
And I'm still wondering where are you
Where are you
Where are you
I used to play the trumpet once but now I play guitar
Somebody told you it's more mellow.
Well I've played a lot of music since but I really haven't grown that far
Somebody said that you're just yellow.
So I keep it up on the shelf
And it's funny how you keep it all to yourself
Hey honey, could there ever be,
Should there ever be,
Could there ever be something else?
You know I used to swing my silver sword, the dragons hit the ground
Whatever happened to the maidens?
Well I'd swing my silver sword again and they would all fall down
Would you leave them lying there where you had laid them?
And I used to have a country once, where it's gone I do not know.
Where do you think you might have lost it?
I used to raise the flag at dawn, but that was very long ago
Maybe you can find it where you tossed it.
Well I tossed it up on the shelf
And it's funny how you've kept it all for yourself
Hey honey, could there ever be,
Should there ever be,
Could there ever be something else?
I used to say my prayers boys, I used to sing the hymns
Even the echo's disappearing.
They've broken the stained windows, the cathedral's getting dim.
Then what is this dirge that we are hearing?
Well it comes from up on the shelf
And it's funny how you sing it only for yourself
Hey honey, could there ever be,
Should there ever be,
Could there ever be something else?
Well, I used to have a lover once, I used to have a friend
How in the hell you ever find one?
My song is almost over now, my story's at an end
You lived yourself a good life but a blind one.
Well I've hidden there up on the shelf
And it's funny how you've kept it all for yourself
Hey honey, could there ever be,
Should there ever be,
Could there ever be something else?
I got the news today
That you refused to play
Cause you never made number one
But it's not just the words
It's the deeds that are heard
When all is said and done
Kings take their crowns
They melt them all down
Trying to get the gold out
You went to hell and
Even when you weren't selling
You never ever sold out.
You weren't no leader
You were more like a bleeder
Who was trying to cry for us all
You weren't no sage
But your sense of outrage
Sounded like a trumpet call
Fifteen years ago
In the old folky show
You were just one voice in the crowd
But now with so few singing
Your voice would have been ringing
Out 'bout twice as loud.
There but for fortune
Say a small circle of friends
Some may see the changes
So few see the ends
The pleasures of the harbor
Have come to you at last
You may not be marching anymore
But the parade's still going past
I'm not taking the blame
That we killed you
You know you did that to yourself
But it was kind of a shame
That you played that game
Cause you were better than anyone else
One shot of your bottle
Got you full throttle
It was the friend that was always there
But your greatest gift
And the curse you lived with
Was that you could always care.
It's a song for myself
just a song for myself
You don't have to listen babe
it's just a song for myself
But since I fell in love with you
it's brought some thoughts to mind
if we're gonna raise us a couple of kids
I've got to worry 'bout future times
Do I believe that the answer
is still blowing in the iwnd?
I don't believe it!
Do i belive that there are good times rolling
babe, just around the bend?
I don't belive it.
Do I believe that with a little more love
babe, all our troubles end?
Here I am trying to belive in myself
And be a little good
be a little good
be a little good to my friends
It's just a thought that was in my mind
just a thought that was in my mind
But no one's wrote a protest song
since nineteen sixty three
Are we all gonna listen to the moldy gold
and say just let it be?
It's just a song for myself
just a song for myself
You don't have to sing it babe
it's just a song for myself
But it seems our generation
should have something more to say
Are we all gonna sit here
with a stoned out smile
and simply watch the world go 'way?
His mama was a midnight woman
His daddy was a drifter drummer
One night they put it together
Nine months later came the little black bummer
He was a laid back lump in the cradle
Chewing the paint chips that fell from the ceiling
Whenever he cried he got a fist in his face
So he learned not to show his feelings
He was a pig-tail puller in grammar school
Left back twice by the seventh grade
Sniffing glue in Junior High
And the first one in school to get laid
He was a weed-speed pusher at fifteen
He was mainlining skag a year later
He'd started pimping when they put him away
In jail he changed from a junkie to a hater
And just like the man from the precinct said
?Put him away, you better kill him instead
A bummer like that is better of dead
Someday they're gonna have to put a bullet in his head?
They threw him back on the street, he robbed an A and P
He didn't blink at the buddy that he shafted
And just about the time they would have caught him too
He had the damn good fortune to get drafted
He was a-one bait for Vietnam
You see they needed more bodies in a hurry
He was a cinch to train 'cause all they had to do
Was to figure how to funnel his fury
They put him in a tank near the D.M.Z.
To catch the gooks slipping over the border
They said his mission was to search and destroy
And for once he followed and order
One sweat-soaked day in the Yung-Po valley
With the ground still steaming from the rain
There was a bloody little battle
That didn't mean nothing
Except to the few that remained
You see a couple hundred slants
Had trapped the other five tanks
And had started to pick off the crews
When he came on the scene
And it really did seem
This is why he'd paid those dues
It was something like a butcher going berserk
Or a sane man acting like a fool
Or the bravest thing that a man had ever done
Or a madman blowing his cool
Well he came on through like a knife through butter
Or a scythe sweeping through the grass
Or to say it like the man would have said it himself
Just a big black bastard, kicking ass
And just like the man from the precinct said
?Put him away, you better kill him instead
A bummer like that is better of dead
Someday they're gonna have to put a bullet in his head?
When it was over and the smoke had cleared
There were a lot of V.C, bodies in the mud
And when the rescued men came over
For the very first time they found him smiling
As he lay in his blood
They picked up the pieces
And they stitched him back together
He pulled through though
They thought he was a goner
And it force them to give him
What they said they would
Six purple hearts
And the Medal of Honor
Of course he slouched as the chief white honkey said
?Service beyond the call of duty?
But the first soft thought was passing through his mind
?My medal is a mother of a beauty?
He got a couple of jobs with the ribbon on his chest
And though he tried he really couldn't do 'em
There was only a couple of things that he was really trained for
And he found himself drifting back to 'em
Just about the time he was ready to break
The V A stopped sending him his checks
Just a matter of time 'cause there was no doubt
About what he was going to do next
It ended up one night in a grocery store
Gun in hand and nine cops at the door
And when his last battle was over
He lay crumpled and broken on the floor
And just like the man from the precinct said
?Put him away, you better kill him instead
A bummer like that is better of dead
Someday they're gonna have to put a bullet in his head?
Well he'd breathed his last, but ten minutes past
Before they dared to enter the place
And when they flipped his riddled body over they found
His second smile frozen on his face
They found his gun where he'd thrown it
There was something else clenched in his fist
And when they pried his fingers open
They found the medal of honor
And the Sergeant said
(Where in the hell, he get this?)
There was a stew about burying him in Arlington
So they shipped him in box to Fayette
And they kind of stashed him in a grave in the county plot
The kind we remember to forget
And just like the man from the precinct said
?Put him away, you better kill him instead
A bummer like that is better of dead
[Incomprehensible]
She said not now, she said not now
She said not now, she said not now
It is an early Monday morning
The sun is becoming bright on the land
No one is watching as he comes a walking
Two bulky suitcases hang from his hands
He heads towards the tower that stands in the campus
He goes through the door, he starts up the stairs
The sound of his footsteps, the sound of his breathing
The sound of the silence when no one was there
I didn't really know him
He was kind of strange
Always sort of sat there
He never seemed to change
He reached the catwalk, he put down his burden
The four sided clock began to chime
7 a.m., the day is beginning
So much to do and so little time
He looks at the city where no one had known him
He looks at the sky where no one looks down
He looks at his life and what it has shown him
He looks for his shadow, it cannot be found
He was such a moody child
Very hard to touch
Even as a baby he never smiled too much
No, no, no, no
You bug me, she said
Your ugly, she said
Please hug me, I said
But she just sat there
With the same flat stare
That she saves for me alone
When I'm home, when I'm home
Take me home
He laid out the rifles, he loaded the shotgun
He stacked up the cartridges along the wall
He knew he would need them for his conversation
If it went as it he planned, then he might use them all
He said, "Listen you people I've got a question
You won't pay attention but I'll ask anyhow
I found a way that will get me an answer
Been waiting to ask you 'till now, right now"
Am I? I am a lover whose never been kissed
Am I? I am a fighter whose not made a fist
Am I? If I'm alive then there's so much I've missed
How do I know I exist?
Are you listening to me?
Are you listening to me?
Am I?
The first words he spoke took the town by surprise
One got Mrs. Gibbons above her right eye
It blew her through the window, wedged her against the door
Reality poured from her face, staining the floor
He was kind of creepy, sort of a dunce
I met him at the corner bar
I only dated the poor boy once
That's all, just once, that was all
Bill Whedon was questioned as he stepped from his car
Tom Scott ran across the street but he never got that far
The police were there in minutes, they set up barricades
He spoke right on over them in a half-mile circle
In a dumb struck city his pointed questions were sprayed
He knocked over Danny Tyson as he ran towards the noise
Just about then the answers started coming, sweet, sweet joy
Thudding in the clock face, whining off the walls
Reaching up to where he sat there, answering calls
Thirty-seven people got his message so far
Yes, he was reaching them right where they are
[Incomprehensible]
She said not now, she said not now
She said not now, she said not now
They set up an assault team, they asked for volunteers
They had to go and get him, that much was clear
And the word spread about him on the radios and TV's
In appropriately sober tones they asked, "Who can it be?"
He was a very dull boy, very taciturn
Not much of a joiner
He did not want to learn
No, no, no, no
They're coming to get me, they don't want to let me
Stay in the bright light too long
It's getting on noon now, it's goin' to be soon now
But oh, what a wonderful sound
Mama, won't you nurse me?
Rain me down the sweet milk of your kindness
Mama, it's getting worse for me
Won't you please make me warm and mindless?
Mama, yes, you have cursed me
I never will forgive you
For your blindness
I hate you
The wires are all humming for me
And I can hear them coming for me
Soon they'll be here but there's nothing to fear
Not any more though they've blasted the door
She said not now, she said not now
As the copter dropped the gas he shouted, " Who cares ?"
They could hear him laughing as they started up the stairs
They stormed out on the catwalk, blinking at the sun
With their final fusillade his answer had come
Am I? There is no way that you can hide me
Am I? Though you have put your fire inside me
Am I? You've given me my answer, can't you see?
I was packed up in my napsack my guitar case slung up over my back about to
hit that dream road once again saw the vision in my mirror about how the
spring time was getting nearer so ill be back babe but I really don't know when
see the rainbow in the meadow the sunlight chasing the shadows such a thing is
a day fer leaving this is one don't let the old dog come follow put a candle
in the window to light one light when my wandering days are done she said stay
home youre getting to old for this she said were both alone I need someone
besides a dreamkiss you go along and try to save the world when you come home
you wont find your women so get yourself some silly little girl just play that
music to walking to boy you need some talking to its just a movie with you with
a rapidly aging star its not a comedy it's a tradgedy a quick one to before
you knew theyd have you before you got to far she said stay home youre getting
to old for this she said were both alone I need someone besides a dreamkiss you
go along and try to save the world when you come home you wont find your women
so get yourself some silly little girl
Saturday morning and it's growing light.
I look out my window and remember the night.
The story is starting or the story ends
And I feel like I need you again.
Time used to mose softly when I was at home.
It went on without me, and left me alone.
Now it's sits at my shoulder and claws at my hand
And I feel like I need you again.
Chorus:
A song needs a reason and rhyme.
My love needs a little more time.
Now I recall September, leaves turned brown
Remember October, left leaves on the ground.
And here comes December like an elderly fan.
And I feel like I need you again.
Chorus
He's the little pretzel man, he's got his twisted pretzel hands
He's got his a pretzel wife, that he's loved all his pretzel life
And he's got himself a pretzel girl, that they both brought into their world
And watch them all twist pretzels by hand, by hand
And if only we all lived in Pretzel Land
Six days a week, when he wakes up
She will fill his coffee cup
Six days a week he is a working man
He wheels his wagon to the park
He sells pretzels 'till it's dark
But that's the only life that he understands
He's his own man
He's the little pretzel man, he's got his twisted pretzel hands
He's got that pretzel wife, that he's loved all his pretzel life
And he's got himself a pretzel girl, that they both brought into their world
But watch them all twist pretzels by hand, by hand
And if only we all lived in Pretzel Land
On Sunday, when they go to church
In the seventh pew they perch
They listen to his sermon and they believe
They're grateful for the food they ate
So they put their money in a plate
They've heard of hungry children and they grieve (they believe)
So we watch them all twist pretzels by hand, by hand
And if only we all lived in Pretzel Land
If only we could all be like that man
If only we all lived in Pretzel , only we all lived in Pretzel, only we all lived in Pretzel ...Land
The Smoke Witch says - Wahoo!
And the Wise Man says - Me too!
And the Guru says - Wazoo!
So do what you do!
The priests stand in their pulpits
The Pope sits on his throne
The parishes are empty
The choirboys on their own
Until the Second Coming
They're leaving us alone
And God in his Heaven
Has decided to keep mum
Cause He's just another traveller
On the Road to Kingdom Come.
Pity Mr. President
He can't do a thing
He says everywhere he went
We tried to make him sing
Our lonely White House resident
Says we should have made him King
Maybe then he could have saved us
From the truth we were hiding from
But he was just another traveller
On the Road to Kingdom Come.
The General's in the game room
But his Soldier won't salute
Ever since he was promoted
He can't pop his chute
His shrink says he is paranoid
'Bout communistic roots
So unfurl the flag boys
Start beating his drum
Yes we've got to get another straggler
On the Road to Kingdom Come.
Wow! The lead Singers raucous
As he screams out the truth
Then the band hold a caucus
And decides to sell their youth
Our Manager will hawk us
As along as we're uncouth
We'll call it revolution
But we'll crank out Bubble Gum
Can't you see we're all just travellers
On the Road to Kingdom Come.
Grampa swung into the orgy
It was his last hope
He was dressed to the nines
In deodorant and Scope
He found him a woman
She brought Vaseline and soap
Well it started out exciting
But it ended up ho hum
She said - I thought that you could take me
All the way to Kingdom Come.
So Billy sells hot sermons
And cold wars through the mails
While Mr. Big is selling out
His business never fails
King Kennedy like Chaucer's
Chasing Canterbury Tales
And my brain is still a virgin
Though the rest of me's well done
And I know we're all just travellers
On the Road to Kingdom Come
When all is said and done
Just another one.
One light in a dark valley
And the mist is falling like rain
One light in a dark valley
And I'm alone again
One light in a dark valley
And I am all alone
One light in a dark valley
Is all I can call my own
One light in a dark valley
And the darkness is moving about
One light in a dark valley
And now that light has gone out
No light in this dark valley
Nothing but the darkness and me
No light in this dark valley
For all eternity
Light it up, Lord,
Let it shine
Come on and make the heavens so
brightly mine
Look through all the windows
Open all the doors
There will be such brightness round me
I won't want for anymore
When November rains
it rides the cool wind
you need somebody holding you tight
When November rains
you need somebody caring
you want somebody sharing your night
(CHORUS)
When November rains
that's when it all falls down
there are clues
When November rains
and it's all around
and it seems that there's nothing left 'cept the dream
of the first sweet warm morning light
November rains into your deep, dark night
When November rains
midnight is calling
the old year is falling away
When November rains
It's like something is greiving
or somebody's leaving this day
(CHORUS)
November rains,
why don't you shine your warm sun on down
November rains,
why don't you keep me warm as sundown
Why don't you rain your warm sun down,
Down on me
Don't leave me
When November rains
something is needed
Somebody is sending an echo
When November rains
it's too late for praying,
it's like somebody's saying
don't follow
(CHORUS)
It used to be that old John Wayne
Would fight the good fight once again,
Find the strength to bear the pain,
Stand up til he'd finally fall.
But now it's not just movie time,
And now it's you that's on the line.
And now it's you that's going to find
If you can stand at all.
So you circle all the wagons
And you hide behind the trees,
And you try to find some courage on your knees.
When you heard the sound of taps played
By the one man band,
You knew this is where you'd have to make
Your last stand.
And so, my friends, the last stand,
The last song from the last band,
The last note from the last man,
But you gave it all you can.
The cards came down to the last deal,
You're a starving man at his last meal,
And the movie's rolled down to the last real,
It's got an ending you never planned.
She's left you now, and so it seems,
You've tumbled down the last stream,
And you've found out that the final dream,
Can disappear so fast.
Watch it all just fade away, boy,
It came down to the last day,
And then the last out, and then the last play,
And you're alone at last.
So you circle all the wagons
And you hide behind the trees,
And you try to find some courage on your knees.
When you heard the sound of taps played
By the one man band,
You knew this is where you'd have to make
Your last stand.
Well, so it was late last night,
She left on the final flight
You watched as the last light
Went out there in your soul.
Took your look around the top,
For now you face the final drop.
You'll go down fast and you won't stop,
You found a very deep hole.
Say you're off on the last ride,
Remembering how she last cried,
And you know that love had long last died
In silence, not in pain.
You lost your last, your last race
Stumbled in last place,
Too late to find the one last face
Waiting in the rain.
So you circle all the wagons
And you hide behind the trees,
And you try to find some courage on your knees.
When you heard the sound of taps played
By the one man band,
You knew this is where you'd have to make
Your last stand.
Just after I was born, my father said to everyone
That I would be the President one day
You're a natural politician, boy, get it in your head
And you know that it might just turn out that way
So through all the years of my childhood
There more important things than to play
I started caring for my country and my fellow man
And this is what I would always say
I'd say, I don't want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don't want to be President
But if I'm elected I promise to be faithful
I graduated college with my law degree
I was a young man on the move, they always say
I was helping my community, committed to the people
I was working as a citizen, to build a better day
They persuaded me to run for Congressman
They said from Congress you could do much more good
And you've got to have the power if your changing things
And I was hoping to do everything I could for the people
I'd say I don't want to be President
But I want to help the poor and the helpless people
I really don't want to be President
But if I'm elected I promise to be faithful
Time is a march where the powerful are drummers
Big business, big labor, big oil
And soon I was meeting with the men who ran the country
The men who owned the sky and the soil
Oh, I became a Senator, a man to be reckoned with
Playing golf with millionaires, and speaking on TV
And when they talked of potential presidential candidates
Most often talked about, and most prominent was me
Well, I got the nomination, ran a campaign of conscience
I stood for peace and brotherhood and for prosperity
And on the day of the election I went home to my mansion
When the people had spoken, they'd elected me
But I don't want to be President
A new day is beginning
I can feel it in my bones
It's not what you are winning
It don't matter what you own
It is more than just a feeling
More than just a song
It's something like a healing
And I feel it coming strong
Oh yeah, ah yeah
We have got our history
Our secrets are all known
And if we've lost the mystery
At least we both have grown
They'll be strangers in our future
Changes in our world
But a man can love a woman
More than a little boy a girl
Oh yeah, ah yeah
Yes, I finally found it Sandy
Maybe this time babe you can
understand me
It really weren't so complicated after all
For I've been down so far, I ain't got so far to fall
There only is this one bluff left for me to call
Can't you see
I can set you free now
And for the first time
I can offer you me
Ah, all the times I've known you
I've been frightened to the core
I know I've tried to own you
But I did not see before
A relationship is more than a warm
body and a smile
You can give me much more if you're
growing all the while
Oh yeah, ah yeah
I finally found it Sandy
Maybe this time babe you can
understand me
It really weren't so complicated after all
For I've been down so far, I ain't got so far to fall
There only is this one bluff left for me to call
Can't you see
I can set you free now
And for the first time
I can offer you me
I hope that this takes me where it
takes you
Maybe we can make a break through
I don't know where I'm going
But I hope it is with you
Let's make this a partnership we both
can offer to
It's amazing we're together after all we
have been through
Our only choice is whether we've got
learning left to do
Oh yeah, oh yeah
I finally found it Sandy
Maybe this time babe you can
understand me
It really weren't so complicated after all
For I've been down so far, I ain't got so far to fall
There only is this one bluff left for me to call
Can't you see
I can set you free now
And for the first time
I can offer you me
Oh God Babe, you've been good for me
Good when I been barely holding on
and you did what you could for me
When all the ones I counted on were gone
You picked me up in your battered blue
Volkswagen, babe
You laid me down on the mattress on the
floor that was your bed
Some wisdom in you told you
ministering to my body
Brought a temporary respite to the
demons that were screaming in my head
Oh God Babe, you've been good for me
Good when I been barely holding on
and you did what you could for me
When all the ones I counted on were gone
You see it was not the things you told
Though what you told me served to
make me smile
You just knew enough to hold me, and
in holding me you held off the night
a little while.
You had a beach and a cottage and
some nights that were free
You had those eyes that smiled in a
dream
But I was lost, confused and still you
seemed to see
How I was tired of running rapids, I
was trying to find an island in the stream
Oh God Babe, you've been good for me
Good when I been barely holding on
and you did what you could for me
When all the ones I counted on were gone
You see it was not the things you told
Though what you told me served to
make me smile
You just knew enough to hold me, and
in holding me you held off the night
a little while.
I first heard you sing in the Empire Room
Your husky hum engulfed the gloom.
And whatever mission that brought me there
Disappeared in the mist of your amber hair
You laughed and surrendered your gifts by degrees
But I was convinced that you spoke only to me.
And my life turned on its hinge in that smoky club
As I ground out my past with my cigarette stub.
Oh, I do it for you, Jane--I love you so,
My kingdom is new but it's going to grow.
Our castles will shimmer with silver and gold,
My lady is lovely she'll never grow old.
And I offer this promise--this one thing I know:
I do it for you, Jane, for I love you so.
I left that town and went out on my own,
I made my own kind of music as I juggled the phones.
And all the while I worked I was reaching towards a time,
When I'd return to find you and finally make you mine.
It took most of two years to do what must be done,
Collect the pieces of the puzzle, you're the final one.
I was shaking as I asked you and you know by now I guess,
You made me happy ever after when you said yes.
Yes, I do it for you, Jane--I love you so,
My kingdom is flourishing, and still it will grow.
Our castle it shimmers with silver and gold,
My lady is lovely you'll never grow old.
And I shout from the heavens, hello there down below,
I do it for you, Jane, for I love you so.
If life could only stay the same but i guess it never does,
But God I still remember how excited I was.
Feelings of power I'd never known before,
But winning whets the appetite, I had to have more.
Homes in New York and London on the beach at Malibu,
I bought one for each facet of woman in you.
By then you had retired from singing to bring our baby home,
And I was winging around the country and you found you were alone.
Still, I do it for you, Jane--I love you so,
Our kingdom is flourishing and still it will grow.
Our castles all shimmer with silver and gold,
But my lady is lonely your smile is growing cold.
As I search through the mists on the roads I must go,
Where are you now, Jane? For I love you so.
When your daddy plays guitar,
You dance without a smile.
Kid you may not have great rhythm,
But you sure got style.
Just four years old and still it seems,
You've got it figured out.
When daddy sings, and then you dance,
The people clap and shout.
Cuz, you're my dancin' boy,
And it's so scary how you trust me.
Just one look from you,
And I come pouring out like wine.
Dancin' boy, I'm sure by now that you must see,
You're dancin' means much more to me,
Than any dream of mine.
Yes, I'm so proud when you are with me,
That my heart digs in my throat.
And when you stop to strut your stuff,
My eyes go all afloat.
And when I have to leave you home
As sometimes it must be.
I feel that with my leaving
I leave far too much of me.
Yes, you're my dancin' boy,
And it's scary how you trust me.
Just one look from you,
And I come pouring out like wine.
You're my dancin' boy,
I'm sure by now that you must see,
You're dancin' means much more to me,
Than any dream of mine.
You know the time will come my dancin' boy
When you're dancin' days are done,
And when daddy and his dancin' boy
Will have dwindled down to one.
You know the world will've taught you other steps
To match the march of time,
So you'll have to keep our dancin' days
Dancin' in your mind.
Yes, do your dancin' , boy,
Cuz it's so scary how you trust me.
Just one look from you,
And I come pouring out like wine.
Do your dancin' , boy.
I'm sure by now that you must see
You're dancin' means much more to me,
Than any dream of mine.
When I met America, I didn't know her name
But it seems she was something special even then
I knew it just the same
Yes, I loved the things she stood for
Help the helpless make people free
And I knew that an American is what I wanted to be
It was the start of a little love affair
between my country and me
Oh, oh, my country tis of thee
Well we both grew up, things were good
Things that we had known
Some said we had lost something
Some said we had grown
Well time keeps rolling by my friend,
Things can never die.
But I had always wonder what would happen,
Wondered when and why,
What would happen to our little love affair,
Between my country and me,
Oh, oh, my country tis of thee,
Oh, time went by and I forgot,
Why I fell in love,
Though I still pledge my allegiance,
And soon I would wave the flag above,
Didn't know why what we'd done,
Didn't know where it flowed,
Well I never knew if we had lost,
If we had grown,
It was the last of a little love affair,
Between my country and me,
(back ground: Oh say can you see, my country tis of thee)
Oh, oh, my country tis of thee.
She moved so well 'cause she was a dancer,
She went sliding through my questions,
gliding 'round the answer.
Whatever it was, she knew it was holy,
And each time I tried to hold her
her smile came sad and slowly.
She said, "No one knows me."
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
She had a dream, I had my typewriter.
While I was hacking out such a heavy world
she was weaving one much lighter.
But I'll never know just how much it cost her,
and as I slept beside her something turned and tossed her.
And it did till I lost her.
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
Bright times were brighter than they'd ever been before, I tell you,
Night times were lighter, But they'll never, never be no more.
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
This phone's growing into my ear
I made three hundred calls today,
Though yours is the only voice that I wanna hear
I got to make me a living someway.
I know you hate me doing this
You say I'm selling out,
But how in the hell is a mad s'posed to live?
Selling's what it's all about.
Hello, Sir, I'm the Pocano Land
Development Company,
And I'm calling you with an offer of some land
That you'll just have to see.
A quarter-acre plot, that's what I've got for you
Nineteen ninety-five, four hundred dollars down
And just ten bucks a week
It's two short hours from New York City,
A Pocano Land Site green and pretty.
There's lakes there, and trout streams,
Mountain views, Country Dreams,
Contry Dreams.
We dreamed our dreams in college, girl
Back then we thought we should,
And we promised that we would save the world
Way back then we thought we could.
I know you love your teaching now, but I wish you'd understand,
There aren't that many jobs around, I'm doing the best I can.
Hello, Sir...
I'm here with forty other guys
Crowded in a room,
Making a living selling the moon
And rustic dreams in June.
I used to hate the city now I'm dwelling in it,
Used to love the country now I'm selling it.
I'm doing well at it,
That's the hell of it!
I said that we would find a farm
And live out on the land,
It's strange how dreams come back at us
In ways that we had never planned.
Here I'm selling real estate
And laughing at myself,
If I can't have my country dream
I'm gonna sell it out to somebody else!
Darling, don't get mad at me
I'm doing this for you,
It's really not so sad to see we had
Growing up to do.
Please don't push me anymore
It's gonna work out fine,
I know I said I'd quit before
But just give me a little more time.
All my life's a circle;
Sunrise and sundown;
Moon rolls thru the nighttime;
Till the daybreak comes around.
All my life's a circle;
But I can't tell you why;
Season's spinning round again;
The years keep rollin' by.
It seems like I've been here before;
I can't remember when;
But I have this funny feeling;
That we'll all be together again.
No straight lines make up my life;
And all my roads have bends;
There's no clear-cut beginnings;
And so far no dead-ends.
Chorus:
I found you a thousand times;
I guess you done the same;
But then we lose each other;
It's like a children's game;
As I find you here again;
A thought runs through my mind;
Our love is like a circle;
Let's go 'round one more time.
Chorus
She wasn't very pretty,
She wasn't very smart,
But everything she said to him came strait from her heart.
Write a song about me,
Sing a song that's of my day,
Everybody special in there ordinary way.
CHORUS:
Looking for an anthem,
He was looking for a song,
Looking for a melody singing brings the world along.
He was strumming his guitar,
He was searching their eyes,
If he can't find his anthem will he buy the compromise.
One child was brown and hungry,
One a red injun girl,
One child was black and angry,
One from the other half the world.
And as he heard their silent screams,
That they have sounded there for years,
It had been lost among the whispers,
And drowned out by their tears.
CHORUS
He kept looking for a story,
Looking for a plot.
He kept on looking in the wonder,
If he was blind or not.
All he found was bugle fragments,
That he'd left there in his youth.
But he never found the music,
To accompany the truth.
Now the old man had been young once,
The old man had been strong.
He once had a family, but they'd grown up and moved a long.
The old man told him loneliness, is what the years would bring,
But the old man couldn't tell him,
How to make the long years sing.
CHORUS
It was an early morning bar room
And the place just opened up
And the little man come in so fast and it
Started at his cups
And the broad who served the whiskey
She was a big old friendly girl
And tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin' at the world
And she said "Hey Bub, It's been awhile
Since you been around
Where the hell you been hidin'?
And why you look so down ?
The little man just sat there like he'd never heard a sound
The waitress she gave out with a cough
Acting not the least put off
She spoke once again
She said, "I don't want to bother you
Consider it's understood
I know I'm not no beauty queen
But I sure can listen good"
And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips
He took a couple of sips
And he told that waitress this story
I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die
And I watch the metal rusting, I watch the time go by
A week ago at the Diner, I stopped to get a bite
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right
And Lord, Lord, Lord
She was alright
You see, she was so damned beautiful she could warm a winter's frost
But she looked long past lonely, and well nigh kinda lost
Now I'm not much of a mover or a pick-em-up easy guy
But I decided to glide on over and give her one good try
And Lord, Lord, Lord
She was worth a try
And I was tongued-tied like a school boy
I stammered out some words
It did not seem to matter much 'cause I don't think she heard
She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head
And it shamed me into silence, as quietly she said
'If you want me to come with you that's all right with me
'Cause I know I'm going nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be
Anywhere's a better place to be'
When I drove her to my boarding house and I took her up to my room
And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom
But she said, "Please leave the light off, oh, I don't mind the dark"
And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart
The moonlight shown upon her as she lay back in my bed
It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head
I just could not believe it, to think that she was real
And as I tried to tell her she said, "I know just how you feel
And if you want to come here with me that's all right with me
'Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be
Anywhere's a better way to be"
When the morning came so swiftly I held her in my arms
She slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm
I did not want to share her or dare to break the mood
So before she woke I went out to buy us both some food
I came back with my paper bag to find that she was gone
She'd left a six word letter saying, 'It's time that I moved on'
You know the waitress took her bar rag
And she wiped it across her eyes
And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh
She said, "I wish that I was beautiful or that you were halfway blind
And I wish I weren't so goddamned fat, I wish that you were mine
And I wish that you'd come with me when I leave for home
For we both know all about emptiness and livin' all alone"
And the little man
Looked at the empty glass in his hand
And he smiled a crooked grin
He said, "I guess I'm out of gin
And I know we both have been so lonely
And if you want me to come with you that's all right with me
Well, I've sung out one more evening
Yes I'm wrung out, feeling beat
And I walk on out the door once more
To an empty city street
A good guitar will serve you well
When you're living in the lights
But it's never going to warm you
In the middle of the night
And so I come and go with her in whispers
Each and every time she says she dies
When she is reborn again, I kiss her
And the baby never cries
She works in the daytime
She leaves her baby with a friend
And I sing every evening
I only see her now and then
I come to her at midnight
When 'bout half the world's asleep
And she puts me back together
In the hours before I leave
So I come and go with her in whispers
Each and every time she says she dies
When she is reborn again, I kiss her
And the baby never cries
Her apartment's down on Perry Street
And there's a tree in her backyard
And it rubs the bedroom window
When the wind is blowing hard
Her old man had left her
He just took off for the coast
And I caught her on the rebound
When I needed her the most
So I come and go with her in whispers
And each and every time she says she dies
When she is reborn again, I kiss her
Hello honey, it's me
What did you think when you heard me back on the radio?
What did the kids say when they knew
It was their long lost daddy-o?
Remember how we listened to the radio
And I said "That's the place to be"
And how I got the job as an FM jock
The day you married me?
We were two kids and I was was into AM rock
But I just had to run around
It's been eight years since I'd left you babe
Let me tell you 'bout what's gone down
I am the mornin' DJ on W O L D
Playin' all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good-mornin' voice who's heard but never seen
Feelin' all of forty-five goin' on fifteen
The drinkin' I did on my last big gig
You made my voice go low
They said that they liked the younger sound
When they let me go
So I drifted on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma
To do me a late night talk show
Now I worked my way down home again, via Boise, Idhao
That's how this business goes
Well I am the mornin' DJ on W O L D
Playin' all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good-mornin' voice who's heard but never seen
If you keep on singing on alone like that
You're gonna turn the little girls off
I've been making extra money to a high school sock hops
I'm a big time guest MC
You should hear me talking to the little children
And listen what they say to me
The spot on the top of my head
Just begging for a new toupee
And a tire on my gut from sittin' on my
But it's never gonna go away, stay children
Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just take off in my car
When you can travel on ten thousand miles
And still say where you are
I've been thinking that I should stop disk jockeying
And start that record store
Maybe I could settle down
If you'd take me back once more
Ok honey, I see
I guess he's better than me
Sure, old girl, I understand
You don't have to worry, I'm such a happy man
W O L D
W O L D
W O L D
W O L D D D
I am the mornin' DJ on W K T
Playin' disco pushship and you know what you can do
The bright good mornin' voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five, goin' on fifteen
How's that?
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
Trying to make it through 'til the morning light
There's me and you, babe, that's alright
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
I'm holdin' on tight to my pillow
I wish it had a life of its own
Starin' at the ceilin,' such a funny feelin'
But nobody home
But I know you're out there somewhere
That you feel the same way too
Now my only problem is trying to find
A way of getting through to you
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
Trying to make it through 'til the morning light
There's me and you, babe, that's alright
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
I guess we share the same old dream
Or maybe it's the same old lie
There's only one thing I'm sure of, now
And that's our time keeps rolling by
And far too many days run out
And nights begin this way
With my half of our hopeful couple
Trying to hold the dark at bay
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
Trying to make it through 'til the morning light
There's me and you, babe, that's alright
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
You can meet me on a city street
Or meet me by a country stream
You can meet me on a mountain top, babe
But don't you meet me in my dreams
You can meet me tomorrow morning
Baby, maybe you met me back when
You can meet me now inside this song
'Cause I don't wanna sleep alone again
There's a lot of lonely people tonight
Trying to make it through 'til the morning light
There's me and you, babe, that's alright
'Cause there's a lot of lonely people
So many lonely people
There's a lot of lonely people all over the world
We even lay with children and beautiful girls
Yes, there's me and you, babe, but that's alright
There's a kid out on my corner hear him strumming like a fool
Shivering in his dungarees but still he's going to school
His cheeks are made of peach fuzz, his hopes may be the same
But he's signed up as a soldier out to play the music game
There are fake patches on his jacket
He's used bleach to fade his jeans
With a brand new stay pressed shirt
And some creased and wrinkled dreams
His face a blemish garden but his eyes are virgin clear
His voice is Chicken Little's, but he's hearing Paul Revere
When he catches himself giggling
He forces up a sneer
Though he'd rather have a milk shake
He keeps forcing down the beer
Just another folkie, late in coming down the pike
Riding his guitar, he left Kid brother with his bike
And he's got Guthrie running in his bones
He's the hobo kid who's left his home
And his Beatles records and the Rolling Stones
This boy is staying acoustic
There's Seeger singing in his heart
He hopes his songs will somehow start
To heal the cracks that split apart
America gone plastic
And now there's Dylan dripping from his mouth
He's hitching himself way down south
To learn a little black and blues
From old street men who paid their dues
'Cause they knew they had nothing to lose
They knew it, so they just got to it
With cracked old Gibsons and red clay shoes
Playing 1 4 5 chords like good news
And cursed with skin that calls for blood
They put their face and feet in mud
But oh, they learned the music from way down there
The real ones learn it somewhere
Strum your guitar, sing it kid
Just write about your feelings, not the things you never did
Inexperience, it once had cursed me
But your youth is no handicap, it's what makes you thirsty
Hey kid, you know you can hear your footsteps
As you're kicking up the dust
And the rustling in the shadows tells you secrets you can trust
The capturing of whispers is the way to write a song
It's when you get to microphones, the music can go wrong
You can't see the audience with spotlights in your eyes
Your feet can't feel the highway from where the Lear jet flies
When you glide in silent splendor in your padded limousines
Only you are crying there behind the silver screen
Now you battle dragons, but they'll all turn into frogs
When you grab the wheel of fortune, you get caught up in the cog
First your art turns into craft then the yahoos start to laugh
Then you'll hear the jackals howl 'cause they love to watch the fall
They're the lost ones out there feeding
On the wounded and the bleeding
They always are the first to see the cracks upon the walls
When I started this song I was still thirty-three
The age that Mozart died and sweet Jesus was set free
Keats and Shelley too soon finished, Charley Parker would be
And I fantasized some tragedy'd be soon curtailing me
Well just today I had my birthday, I made it thirty-four
Mere mortal, not immortal, not star-crossed anymore
I've got this problem with my aging, I no longer can ignore
A tame and toothless tabby can't produce a lion's roar
And I can't help being frightened on these midnight afternoons
When I ask the loaded questions
"Why does winter come so soon?"
And where are all the golden girls that I was singing for
The daybreak chorus of my dreams serenades no more
Yeah the minute man is going soft, the mirror's on the shelf
Only when the truth's up there can you fool yourself?
I am the aged jester who won't gracefully retire
A clumsy clown without a net caught staggering on the high wire
Yesterday's a collar that has settled round my waist
Today keeps slipping by me, it leaves no aftertaste
Tomorrow is a daydream, the future's never true
Am I just a fading fire or a breeze passing through?
Hello my Country, I once came to tell everyone your story
Your passion was my poetry
And your past, my most potent glory
Your promise was my prayer
Your hypocrisy my nightmare
And your problems fill my present
Are we both going somewhere?
Step right up young lady
Your two hundred birthdays make you old if not senile
And we see the symptoms there in your rigor mortise smile
With your old folks eating dog food and your children eating paint
While the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint
And while blood's the only language
That your deaf old ears can hear
And still you will not answer with that message coming clear
Does it mean there's no more ripples in your tired old glory stream
And the buzzards own the carcass of your dream?
Oh B U Y Centennial
Sell 'em pre-canned laughter
America Perennial
Sing happy ever after
There's a dance band on the Titanic
Singing nearer my God to thee
And the iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me
Yes I read it in the New York Times
That was on the stands today
It said that dreams were out of fashion
We'll hear no more empty promises
There'll be no more wasted passions
To clutter up our play
It really was a good sign
The words went on to say
It shows that we are growing up
In oh, so many healthy ways
And I told myself this is exactly where I'm at
But I don't much like thinking about that
Harry, are you really so naive?
You can honestly believe
That the country's getting better
When all you do is let her alone
Harry, can you really be surprised?
When it's there before your eyes
When you hold the knife that carves her
You live the life that starves her to the bone
Good dreams don't come cheap
You've got to pay for them
If you just dream when you're asleep
There is no way for them, to come alive, to survive
It's not enough to listen, it's not enough to see
When the hurricane is coming on, it's not enough to flee
It's not enough to be in love we hide behind that word
It's not enough to be alive, when your future's been deferred
What I've run through my body, what I've run through my mind
My breath's the only rhythm and the tempo is my time
My enemy is hopelessness, my ally honest doubt
The answer is a question that I never will find out
Is music propaganda, should I boogie, rock and roll
Or just an early warning system hitched up to my soul
Am I observer or participant or huckster of belief
Making too much of a life so mercifully brief?
So I stride down sunny streets and the band plays back my song
They're applauding at my shadow, long after I am gone
Should I hold this wistful notion that the journey is worthwhile
Or tiptoe cross the chasm with a song and a smile?
Well I got up this morning, I don't need to know no more
It evaporated nightmares that had boiled the night before
With every new day's dawning, my kid climbs in my bed
And tells the cynics of the board room your language is dead
And as I wander with my music through the jungles of despair
My kid will learn guitar and find his street corner somewhere
There he'll make the silence listen to the dream behind the voice
And show his minstrel Hamlet daddy that there only was one choice
Strum your guitar, sing it kid
Just write about your feelings not the things you never did
Inexperience, it once had cursed me
But your youth is no handicap, it's what makes you thirsty, hey kid
Strum your guitar, sing it kid
Just write about your feelings not the things you never did
Dance band on the Titanic
Singing nearer my God to thee
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me
The dance band on the Titanic
Singing nearer my God to thee
And the iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me
Yeah the dance band on the Titanic
Singing nearer my God to thee
And the iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me
Come on
Yeah the dance band on the Titanic
Singing nearer my God to thee
I am born today, the sun burns its promise in my eyes
Mama strikes me and I draw a breath and cry
Above me a cloud softly tumbles through the sky
I am glad to be alive
It is my seventh day, I taste the hunger and I cry
My brother and sister cling to mama's side
She squeezes her breast, but it has nothing to provide
Someone weeps, I fall asleep
It is twenty days today, mama does not hold me anymore
I open my mouth but I am too weak to cry
Above me a bird slowly crawls across the sky
They just told me take a pause
Here between the takes at the studio
And you came into my mind
It's kind of funny, for you were the cause
Of me being here on the radio
And though that's another time
I'm still wanting you
I've been hunting for you
I'm still wanting you
I need to find you
I'm just the same sad singer
Of the lonely songs
You long since left behind you
Since you've gone I've gone along
Been writing the music I've always wanted to
And they just picked up on me
I'm putting myself here inside each song
And finding my music is still so full of you
I dreamed of being here but I never dreamed that you
Would be so long time gone from me
Oh, I'm still wanting you
I've been hunting for you
I'm still wanting you
I need to find you
I'm just the same sad singer
Of the lonely songs
You long since left behind you
Oh, me finding music's why I lost you
Now, it's the only chance I've got
They're bringing in the strings
To melt your heart somehow
You couldn't hear me then
But maybe you can hear me now
Oh, I'm still wanting you
I've been hunting for you
I'm still wanting you
I need to find you
I'm just the same sad singer
Of the lonely songs
You long since left behind you
The rock is gonna fall on us, he woke with a start
And he ran to his mother, the fear dark in his heart
And he told her of the vision that he was sure he'd seen
She said, "Go back to sleep son, you're having a bad dream!"
(Silly child)
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
(Silly child)
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
(Silly child)
Remember Chicken Little said the sky was falling down
(Silly child)
Well nothing ever came of that, the world still whirls around
"The rock is gonna fall on us", he stood and told the class
The professor put his chalk down and peered out through his glasses
But he went on and said, "I've seen it, high up on the hill
If it doesn't fall this year then very soon it will!"
(Crazy boy)
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
(Crazy boy)
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
(Crazy boy)
We've more important studies than your fantasies and fears
(Crazy boy)
You know that rock's been perched up there for
A hundred thousand years
"The rock is gonna fall on us", he told the magistrates
"I believe that we can stop it but the time is getting late
You see I've done all the research, my plans are all complete"
He was showing them contingencies
When they showed him to the street
(Just a madman)
Everybody knows the rock leans over the town
(Just a madman)
Everybody knows that it won't tumble to the ground
(Just a madman)
Everybody knows of those who say the end is near
(Just a madman)
Everybody knows that life goes on as usual 'round here
He went up on the mountain beside the giant stone
They knew he was insane so they left him all alone
He'd given up enlisting help for there was no one else
He spent his days devising ways to stop the rock himself
One night while he was working building braces on the ledge
The ground began to rumble, the rock trembled on the edge
"The rock is gonna fall on us! Run or you'll all be crushed!"
And indeed the rock was moving, crumbling all to dust
He ran under it with one last hope that he could add a prop
And as he disappeared the rock came to a stop
The people ran into the street but by then all was still
The rock seemed where it always was or where it always will be
When someone asked where he had gone
They said, "Oh he was daft, who cares about that crazy fool"
And then they'd start to laugh
But high up on the mountain
When the wind is hitting it
If you're watching very closely
In the little town of Candor in the last year of my youth
I learned the final lesson of the levels to the truth
My father was a farmer he'd go tilling in the ground
My mother was a neighbor she'd go visiting around
But I didn't care
For I had found the answer to a plowboy's lonely prayer
She was the daughter of the Mayor
The Mayor fought my courtship for he'd made other plans
He saw her married to a better man than a boy with farmer's hands
I said, I hate your father, it's so hard not to strike him
She said, you know I love you because you're so much like him
And so I'd go sneaking in the evening
And there she'd stand a crying in the dawn as I was leaving
But the Mayor of Candor lied
When he offered me his only daughter
The Mayor of Candor tried
To take her across the water
What a thing to do to a young man in love
What a thing to do to your daughter
One day with father on his tractor and mother off again
I go to find the mayor and work out what I can
But he is not at his office, he is not at his home
When I find him in the countryside he is not alone
He is holding a woman and imagine my surprise
As she jumps back from his arms, I look into my mother's eyes
All my thoughts of outrage, embarrassment and pain
Were washed away by what came roaring through my brain
The Mayor's at my mercy and I hear my own voice say
Your run for re-election is just one month away
And the world will never know of what I've seen here, sir
But I'll be with your daughter, is my meaning clear?
My mother looks in horror at the compromise we made
But the Mayor's rueful smile says the piper must be paid
I had a month of joy in heaven from this deal I'd made in hell
What was to happen then my friend a prophet could not tell
The day after his re-election and the victory celebration
The Mayor takes his family on a month long foreign vacation
Oh Coleen, you know how much I love you
There is no one I'd ever place above you
Oh Coleen, you don't even know me
To have you there's nothing that's below me
But time always passes after all
And as the summer follows spring so does the winter follow fall
The day that they return I stand waiting on the road
I watch the car drive up, I watch the passengers unload
Of course she isn't there, of course I should have known
The Mayor says that she has stayed, the decision was her own
I spit out my hatred and my fury at his lies
When he says you tried to blackmail me, you're just as bad as I
He says, go and do your damndest, throw your mother to the streets
You know it's been too many years, I had to be discreet
And as he stands there saying we're just two of a kind
It hits me like a thunderbolt exploding in my mind
As I look into his leering aged wrinkled mirror of my own face
He laughs and sneers and says, of course dear son
Where do you think you came from in the first place?
The Mayor of Candor lied
When he offered me his only daughter
The Mayor of Candor tried
To take her across the water
What a thing to do to a young man in love
She said,"I watch him walk down Main Street
A sweet one man parade
He'd tip his hat and just like that
Another score he'd made"
"I'd watch the girls all watch him
Moths drawn to the flame
The money showed, the laughter flowed
From the way he played the game
He played the game"
"Some said he was a rambler
Some said he was a rake
Some said he was a gambler
Some said he was a fake"
"But I knew him like no one else
A gentleman was he
His days belonged to himself
His nights belonged to me
Belonged to me"
"And they're talkin' in the town square
In the taverns and the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops"
"But all their words of wisdom
Won't make you go away
The day they closed the factory down
They had nothing, nothing left to say"
She said, "I take care of my momma now
Since my father died
I'm raising baby brother too
The way my father tried"
"His thirty years in the factory ended
In that furnace blast
But they settled up for ten bucks a week
And the bitterness is past
It did not last"
So they're moving somewhere else now
With their cloths and fabric press
They found themselves another town
Where they'll make shirts for less
And that is why he said last night
He won't watch the old town die
But I would not take what he tried to leave
When he told me 'Good bye'
Ah, it's good bye
And they're talkin' in the town square
In the taverns and the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops
But all their words of wisdom
Won't make you go away
The day they closed the factory down
They had nothing, nothing left to say
So they're talkin' of the changes
The closing brings about
Talkin' of the hard times
And the young folks moving out
Yes, they're talking as if talking can make
Everything all right
But all the talking ever done
Won't bring him back tonight
Ah, tonight
And they're talkin' talkin' talkin' talkin'
Talkin' in the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere
Their talkin' never stops
But all their words of wisdom
Won't make you go away
The day they closed the factory down
It was raining hard in 'Frisco
I needed one more fare to make my night
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down
She got in at the light
"Oh, where you going to, my lady blue?
It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain"
She just looked out the window and said
"Sixteen Parkside Lane"
Something about her was familiar
I could swear I'd seen her face before
But she said, "I'm sure you're mistaken"
And she didn't say anything more
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror
And she glanced at the license for my name
A smile seemed to come to her slowly
It was a sad smile, just the same
And she said, "How are you Harry?"
I said, "How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
And the too little smiles
I still remember you"
It was somewhere in a fairy tale
I used to take her home in my car
We learned about love in the back of a Dodge
The lesson hadn't gone too far
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off to find the sky
Oh, I've got something inside me
To drive a princess blind
There's a wild man, wizard
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind
Oh I've got something inside me
Not what my life's about
Cause I've been letting my outside tide me
Over 'till my time, runs out
(falsetto)
Baby's so high that she's skying
Yes she's flying, afraid to fall
I'll tell you why baby's crying
Cause she's dying, aren't we all
There was not much more for us to talk about
Whatever we had once was gone
So I turned my cab into the driveway
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns
And she said we must get together
But I knew it'd never be arranged
And she handed me twenty dollars
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change"
Well another man might have been angry
And another man might have been hurt
But another man never would have let her go
I stashed the bill in my shirt
And she walked away in silence
It's strange, how you never know
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for
Such a long, long time ago
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off for the sky
And here, she's acting happy
Inside her handsome home
And me, I'm flying in my taxi
Taking tips, and getting stoned
I'm a tangled up puppet
Spinning round in knots
And the more I see what I used to be
The less of you I've got
There was a time that you curled up
In my lap, like a child
You'd cling to me smiling
Your eyes wide and wild
Now you slip through my arms
Wave a passing hello
Twist away and toss a kiss
Laughing as you go
You used to say, "Read me a story
And sing me songs of love"
For you were Princess Paradise
On the wings of a dove
Now I chase you and tease you
Trying to remake you my own
But you just turn away
And say, "Please leave me alone"
And I'm a tangled up puppet
All hanging in your strings
I'm a butterfly in a spider's web
Fluttering my wings
And the more that I keep dancing
And spinning round in knots
The more I see what I used to be
And the less of you I've got
You are a drawer full of makeup
And rinses and things
You keep changing your moods
Like your earrings and rings
But tonight while we played tag
For five minutes in the yard
Just for a moment
I caught you off guard
And I'm a tangled up puppet
All hanging in your strings
I'm a butterfly in a spider's web
Fluttering my wings
And the more that I keep dancing
And spinning round in knots
The more I see what I used to be
And the less of you I've got
Now you write your secret poems
In a room just for your dreams
You don't find time to talk to me
About the things you mean
What I mean is
I have watched you take shape
From a jumble of parts
And find the grace
And form of a fine work of art
Hey, you, my brand new woman
Newly come into your own
Don't you know that you don't need
I can see myself it's a golden sunrise
Young boy open up your eyes
It's supposed to be your day
Now off you go horizon bound
And you won't stop until you've found
Your own kind of way
And the wind will whip your tousled hair
The sun, the rain, the sweet despair
Great tales of love and strife
And somewhere on your path to glory
You will write your story of a life
And all the towns that you walk through
And all the people that you talk to
Sing you their songs
And there are times you change your stride
There are times you can't decide
Still you go on
And then the young girls dance their gypsy tunes
And share the secrets of the moon
So soon you find a wife
And though she sees your dreams go poorly
Still she joins your story of a life
Story of a life
Story of a life
So you settle down and the children come
And you find a place that you come from
Your wandering is done
And all your dreams of open spaces
You find in your children's faces
One by one
And all the trips you know you missed
And all the lips you never kissed
Cut through you like a knife
And now you see stretched out before thee
Just another story of a life
So what do you do now?
When she looks at you now?
You know those same old jokes all the jesters tell
You tell them to her now
And all the same old songs all the minstrels sang
You sing 'em to her now
But it don't matter anyhow
'Cause she knows by now
And every chance you take don't mean a thing
What variations can you bring
To this shopworn melody
And every year goes by like a tollin' bell
It's battered merchandise you sell
Not well, she can see
And though she's heard it all a thousand times
Couched in your attempted rhymes
She'll march to your drum and fife
But the question echoes up before me
Where's the magic story of a life?
Story of a life
Story
Now sometimes words can serve me well
Sometimes words can go to hell
For all that they do
And for every dream that took me high
There's been a dream that's passed me by
I know it's so true
And I can see it clear out to the end
And I'll whisper to her now again
Because she shared my life
For more than all the ghosts of glory
She makes up the story
She's the only story
It was a very cold September
Colder than I'd ever care to make it
I had a kind of empty feeling
But no place to go where I could take it
So I took a walk beside the railroad tracks
And I thought about the facts of my life
And of my sometime, somewhere wife
At times like this I lose my head and think of her
Empty spaces always ask for filling
I wonder why I never stopped to marry her
It wasn't 'cause she was not more than willing
Walking puts a window to my mind
And brings thoughts about this kind of a life
Without my sometime, somewhere wife
I guess I walked about a mile and maybe some
And I come upon a rusty railroad crossing
And suddenly I knew that time had come again
The winter wind had set the trees to tossing
So I returned to where I'd left my stuff
Yes, I knew I'd had enough of my life
Without my sometime, somewhere wife
I got to find her, I've got to find her
I got to find her, I've got to find her
I've got to find my lady, got let her know, I don't know why I let my lady go
I got to find her, I've got to find her
Somebody said, "Where's the music goin'?"
Somebody said, "It's gone"
Somebody said, "With this bad wind a blowin'
Will the music keep a rolling on?"
I had to ask myself why it is makin' me
A minstrel man from cradle to grave?
Should there be somewhere else it could be takin' me
As it rolls on over like a wave?
Somebody said, "We got to find the words
There got to be an answer there"
Somebody said that you never get heard
'Cause nobody really cares"
You know that you can dance when the waves begin
Stop thinkin' as you're sinkin' below
Or do you take this chance to sail on the wind
When so many in the water choose to row
Some may curse the crippled
Some try to hide the hurt
Some may hate the hungry
But who's dyin' down there in the dirt
Somebody said, "Has the man enlightened us?"
Somebody said, "Who knows"
And the little boys said, "Well, I may be frightened
But the emperor has got no clothes"
Passion dies but the beat goes on
The conductor got us singin' his song
He's been feedin' these lies that we've been feasting upon
But we've been at the banquet too long
Somebody said, "Where are the dreamers?"
Somebody said, "Dead"
Somebody said, "Here comes the holy rollers
Tryin' to sell us all the screamers instead"
Since we were once deceived when we received the call
Now the cynics are the prophets of the day
And now the weak ones greater as the strong ones fall
And the rest of us have nothing to say
Some suffer in silent sadness
Some come to worship pain
Some just welcome madness
Till you can't come in from the rain
Somebody said, "Where's the music goin'?"
Somebody said, "It's gone"
Somebody said, "With this bad wind a blowin'
Will the music keep a rolling on?"
Somebody said
Somebody said
Somebody said
The very day I purchased it
I christened my guitar
As my monophonic symphony
Six string orchestra
In my room I'd practice late
They'd leave me alone
My mother said, "You're nothing yet
To make the folks write home"
I'd play at all the talent nights
I'd finish, they'd applaud
Some called it muffled laughter
I just figured they were odd
So I went up for an encore
But they screamed they'd had enough
Or maybe I just need a group
To help me do my stuff
And so I'd dream a bass will join me
And fill the bottom in
And maybe now some lead guitar
So it would not sound so thin
I need some drums to set the beat
And help me keep in time
And way back in the distance
Some strings would sound so fine
And we would play together
Like fine musicians should
And it would sound like music
And the music would sound good
But in real life I'm stuck with
That same old formula
Me and my monophonic symphony
Six string orchestra
Oh, I write love songs for my favorite girl
And sing them soft and slow
But before I get to finish
She says she has to go
She's nice and says "Excuse me
I've got to find a bar
I think I need refreshment
For I hear you play guitar"
Oh I sent a demo tape I made
To the record companies
Two came back address unknown
One came back C.O.D
Of course I got form letters
All saying pleasant things
Like suggesting I should find a trade
Where I would not have to sing
And so I'd dream a bass will join me
And fill the bottom in
And maybe now some lead guitar
So it would not sound so thin
I need some drums to set the beat
And help me keep in time
And way back in the distance
Some strings would sound so fine
And we would play together
Like fine musicians should
And it would sound like music
And the music would sound good
But in real life I'm stuck with
That same old formula
Me and my monophonic symphony
Six string orchestra
I've been taking guitar lessons
But my teacher just took leave
It was something about a break down
Or needing a reprieve
I know I found my future
So I will persevere
And hold onto my dream of
Making music to their ears
And so I'd dream a bass will join me
And fill the bottom in
And maybe now some lead guitar
So it would not sound so thin
I need some drums to set the beat
And help me keep in time
And way back in the distance
Some strings would sound so fine
And we would play together
Like fine musicians should
And it would sound like music
And the music would sound good
But in real life I'm stuck with
That same old formula
Me and my monophonic symphony
Six string orchestra
Oh finger tip
Have you ever been up?
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been lost?
Have you ever been found?
Have you ever been right?
Have you ever been wrong?
Have you come up short?
Can you come along?
Have you left a mark?
Have you left alone?
Have you seen the way?
Can you come back home?
Short stories
That's what we live
Short stories
Babe, just take what they will give
Short stories
That's all it's ever been
Don't worry 'bout the ending
Babe, before we begin
I have seen the sun
That's behind the rain
I have felt the joy
That's behind the pain
Did you ever go soft
Did you ever run wild
I've been a hundred years old
I been a newborn child
And I have found a smile
In the midst of tears
And I can find a heart
In the midst of fear
Short stories
That's what we live
Short stories
Babe, just take what they will give
Short stories
That's all it's ever been
Don't worry 'bout the ending
Babe, before we begin
Don't you know I need you near me
Or my happy ending's gone
And I see now so very clearly
That our story must go on and on
And if I give myself
Can I ask for you
If I give you hope
Can we make it through
You know I need a dream
Just like I need my breath
We got to take the life
Before we get the death
You know I need your love
Just like I need the light
Yes, I need a chance
Can it be tonight?
Short stories
That's what we live
Short stories
Babe, just take what they will give
Short stories
That's all it's ever been
Don't worry 'bout the ending
Babe, before we begin
Short stories
That's what we live
Short stories
He was crazy of course
From the first she must have known it
But still she went on with him
And she never once had shown it
And she took him off the streets
And she dried his tears of grievin'
She listened to his visions
She believed in his believin'
Ah, he was the sun, burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy, holy
He was dancing to some music
No one else had ever heard
He'd speak in unknown languages
She'd translate every word
And when the world was laughing
At his castles in the sky
She'd hold him in her body
Till he once again would fly
Ah, he was the sun, burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
But, she could make them holy, holy
But she gave him a daughter
And she gave him a son
She was a mother and a wife
And a lover when the day was done
He was too far gone for giving love
What he'd offer in its stead
Was the knowledge she was the only thing
That was not in his head
He took off east one morning
In the rising sun's red glow
She knew he was going nowhere
But of course she let him go
As then she stood and watched him dwindle
Much too empty to be sad
He reappeared beside her saying
"You're all I've ever had"
Ah, he was the sun burning bright and brittle
And she was the moon shining back his light a little
He was a shooting star
She was softer and more slowly
He could not make things possible
I was thrown on the cobblestones, tossed at her feet
My fool's mouth was filled with the dust from the street
An out of work court jester with nowhere to go
And no need to speak, for she seemed to know
She sings the songs without words
Songs that sailors, and blind men, and beggars have heard
She knows more of love than the poets can say
And her eyes are for something that won't go away
This mad mocking town, and its dishonored guest
Disappeared in the colors that danced on her dress
She led me to safety in a forest of green
And showed my stale eyes some sights never seen
She sings the songs without words
Songs that sailors, and blind men, and beggars have heard
She knows more of love than the poets can say
And her eyes are for something that won't go away
She spins magic and moonlight in her meadows and streams
And seeks deep inside me and touches my dreams
The morning comes smiling and I laugh with no sound
And snuggle in silence and the sweet peace I've found
And she sings the songs without words
Songs that sailors, and blind men, and beggars have heard
She knows more of love than the poets can say
And her eyes are for something that won't go away
No they won't go away
She has no fear of failure
She's not bent with broken dreams
For the future's just beginning
When you're always seventeen
It was nineteen sixty-one
When we went to Washington
She put her arms around me
And said, "Camelot's begun"
We listened to his visions
Of how our land should be
We gave him our hearts and minds
To send across the sea
Nineteen sixty-three
White and black upon the land
She brought me to the monuments
And made us all join hands
And scarcely six months later
She held me through the night
When we heard what had happened
In that brutal Dallas light
Oh, she is always seventeen
She has a dream that she will lend us
And a love that we can borrow
There is so much joy inside her
She will even share her sorrow
She's our past, our present
And our promise of tomorrow
Oh, truly she's the only hope I've seen
And she is always seventeen
It was nineteen sixty-five
And we were marching once more
From the burning cities
Against a crazy war
Memphis, L.A. and Chicago
We bled through sixty-eight
Till she took me up to Woodstock
Saying with love, it's not too late
We started out the seventies
Living off the land
She was sowing seeds in Denver
Trying to make me understand
That mankind is woman
And woman is man
And until we free each other
We cannot free the land
Oh, she is always seventeen
She has a dream that she will lend us
And a love that we can borrow
There is so much joy inside her
She will even share her sorrow
She's our past, our present
And our promise of tomorrow
Oh, truly she's the only hope I've seen
And she is always seventeen
Nineteen seventy-two
I'm at the end of my rope
But she was picketing
So here she's acting happy, inside her handsome home. And me, I'm flying in my taxi, taking tips, and getting stoned.
I got into town a little early. Had eight hours to kill before the show. First I thought about heading up North of the bay, then I knew where I had to go.
I thought about taking a limousine, or at least a fancy car, but I ended up taking a taxi, 'cause that's how I got this far.
You see, ten years ago it was the front seat, driving stoned and feeling no pain. Now here I am straight, and sitting in the back, hitting Sixteen Parkside Lane.
The driveway was the same as I'd remembered, and a butler came and answered the door. He just shook his head, when I asked for her, and said "She doesn't live here anymore." But he offered to give me the address, that they were forwarding her letters to. I just took it and returned to the cabby and said, "I got one more fare for you."
And so we rolled bakc into the city, up to a five story old brownstone. I rang the bell that had her name on the mailbox. The buzzer said somebody's home.
And the look on her face, as she opened the door was like an old joke told by a friend. It'd taken ten more years but she'd found her smile, and I watched the corners start to bend. And she said, "How are you Harry? Haven't we played this scene before?"
I said, "It's so good to see you, Sue. Had to play it out just once more. Play it out just once more."
She said "I've heard you flying high on my radio."
I answered "It's not all it seems." Thats when she laughed and she said "It's better sometimes when we don't get to touch our dreams."
That's when I asked her "Where was that actress?"
She said "That was somebody else." And then I asked why she looked so happy now. She said, "I finally like myself. At last I like myself."
So we talked all through that afternoon. Talking 'bout where we been. We talked of the tiny difference between ending and starting to begin. We talked 'cause talking tells you things, like what you really are thinking about. But sometimes you can find what you're feeling, 'til all the words run out.
So I asked her to come to the concert. She said, "No, I work at night."
I said "We've gotten to damn good at leaving, Sue."
She said, "Harry, you're right."
Don't ask me if I made love to her, or which one of us started to cry. Don't ask me why she wouldn't take the money that I left. If I asnwered at all I'd lie.
Sandy is the seashore
And Sandy is the sea
Sandy is the clear blue sky
Or so it seems to me
Yes, I see her everywhere
In everything I see
She can turn to anything
That she would like to be
Sandy is the summer's day
She laughs inside the brook
Sandy is an autumn moon
She shines down when I look
Sandy is a cozy fire
On a snowy winter's night
And Sandy is the soft spring rain
In the early morning light
Oh Sandy, my mirror
There are secrets in her eyes
And every single morning
She dawns a new disguise
She has caught the mystery
Of all that's wild and free
Oh yes, I see the world in her
You're a living walking dream
You're the best I've ever seen
Oh God I wanted you!
I've often dreamed what I would do
If I could give myself to you
Oh God I wanted to!
But up till now you've not been free to be
Fooling around with the likes of me
But it's changed now, though it's strange how
He's the one that arranged it now
But he's a poor damned fool
'Cause he went and let you go now
Just a poor damned fool
He never will know now
Maybe someday he'll be sad
I say that that's too bad
He never knew how much he had
I'm glad I got you now
Yes, I've had my ups and downs
As I've been rambling around
And I'll be candid
I could not believe my eyes
When I finally realized
Just what that man did
Yes I've heard 'bout finders keepers
And how losers are the weepers, that's okay
I know it's my lucky day
Still I just got to say
That he's a poor damned fool
He went and let you go now
Just a poor damned fool
He never will know now
Maybe someday he'll be sad
I say that that's too bad
He never knew how much he had
I'm glad I got you now
Oh, how I'd love to hear you say
You're glad that it worked out this way
And you'll forget about yesterday
'Cause you feel so good
It's worked out real good
You make me feel so good
I've been trying to find a way to cope
With grasping straws and fallen hopes
But he's made a way
And now his misfortune is my gain
Though for now it gives you pain
It'll fade away
And you'll find that as the years roll by
And the memories of the time you cried
Will be laid away
Yes, they'll fade away, fade away
And you'll forget that poor damned fool
'Cause he went and let you go now
Just a poor damned fool
But he never will know now
And though maybe someday he'll be sad
I got to say that, that's too bad
He never knew how much he had
I'm glad I got you now
Well I hear you are a painter now
Though you're almost halfway through
You pulled a pallet knife, you cut away a wife
And you started something new
But it was not the strife of married life
That ordained what you would do
A quick look back through your history
Shows the same things goading you
It's just like you to try painting
Because you're color blind
Each time you conquer something
That's the time you change you're mind
And now your new preoccupations
Give you your handicap to start
Yes you're happiest when you're chasing clouds
With a halfway broken heart
Paint a picture of yourself
Let the images flash past
Don't weep on watercolors
Michael make this moment last
Paint the kid with restless eyes
Yeah the way you looked back then
'Cause the man keeps getting frightened
When that boy's not born again
I remember how you led us
Back when we all were kids
And the fact that you were older
Made us copy what you did
And that day you bought that cheap guitar
We all fell into line
We got hooked on music
But you drifted off in time
So I can see you at your easel
Splay legged there you stand
And your eyes are darting back and forth
Brush flashing in your hand
Yeah you're reaching always for that dream
You need to make you real
Leaning in a heavy wind
That no one else can feel
Paint a picture of yourself
Let the images flash past
Don't weep on watercolors
Michael make this moment last
Paint the kid with restless eyes
Yeah the way you looked back then
'Cause the man keeps getting frightened
Mr. tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest
And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best
But he also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes
He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows
His friends and neighbors praised the voice
That poured out from his throat
They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats
But music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul
He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole
His friends kept working on him to try music out full time
A big debut and rave reviews, a great career to climb
Finally they got to him, he would take the fling
A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing
And there were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to rent the hall
It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all
But music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul
He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole
The evening came, he took the stage, his face set in a smile
And in the half filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle
But the concert was a blur to him, spatters of applause
He did not know how well he sang, he only heard the flaws
But the critics were concise, it only took four lines
But no one could accuse them of being over kind
Mr. Martin Tanner, baritone of Dayton, Ohio
Made his town hall debut last night
Be came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation
Was not up to contemporary professional standards
His voice lacks the range of tonal color
Necessary to make it consistently interesting
Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order
He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends
Then he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again
Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed
He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes
Music was his life, it was not his livelihood
And it made him feel so happy, it made him feel so good
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul
At first you seemed just like my dream of a finer better life
Much more than I could ask for in a lover or a wife
Though I work with my body and my work makes my hands rough
There are gentle things inside me that are anythin' but tough
There are lessons you could teach me, things I do not know
Things I've never done, girl, and places we could go
But you only wear your tailored suits for me to rip and tear
Ah, can't I hold you quietly and smell your perfumed hair
I saw you as the answer that I never dared to dream
I saw you as the window into a world I'd never seen
I saw you as the vision come to raise me from the mud
But you came to use my sweat to cool, the fever in your blood
I'm not Marlon Brando on his motorcycle bike
When you call me your animal, it's a name I do not like
Oh, please, do not tear my back, yes, of course I bleed
The violence you thirst for is not what I need
Your silken skin is armor that begs for brutal hands
But why can't I be gentle and tell you of my plans
And I know now that you're usin' me, not I just usin' you
And you're not so scared of losin' me, as I of losin' you
At first you seemed just like my dream of a finer better life
Much more than I could ask for in a lover or a wife
Though I work with my body and my work makes my hands rough
There are gentle things inside me that are anythin' but tough
I saw you as the answer that I never dared to dream
I saw you as the window into a world I'd never seen
I saw you as the vision come to raise me from the mud
One two three two two three three three two three four
It's a slow motion night
In the hot city lights
Past time when the good folks
Are snoring in bed
On a loose jointed cruise
To recolor your blues
An' with illegal notions alive
Alive in your head
And you are back from some war
That you've been fighting for
Some old blue blood bastard
In a dark pinstripe suit
And the word from your loins
Has your mind in your groin
And your back pocket burning with blood
With blood money loot
And you walk past the glow
Of the flicker picture shows
Where the raincoat men wait
For a child to come by
And the women in doorways
Who have nothing to say
'Cause your money is talking
To the ones that you would try
And she owns the block
With the dead pawnshop clock
She's the answer to dreams
That you pay to come true
She's got no heart of gold
But that's not what she's sold
She just sees herself doing what she
What she has to do
And she's all that you're hoping
As her coat falls open
Give her bread and she leads you
To a bed on the floor
Where the ten million years
And through ten billion tears
The armies, bootmen have marched
Back from their wars
She's in that state of grace
Before time finds her face
With a mind of old wisdoms
And a body still young
And she tastes as sweet
As a child's chaco chit
Before the butts and the whiskey
Had wasted the taste of your tongue
Play the music again
Of the Grey stubble men
That groaning blue symphony
Moans evermore
And you watch as she fakes it
And of course you just take it
She's better than others
You never paid your money for
And you've used up your booty
And the girl's done her duty
And the turnstile has turned
And you learn you are done
And you're back on the street
Joining fresh marching feet
You see more soldiers coming
And your girl chooses one
And the medic has brought
Shots for what you have caught
And your leave is all over
You're back on the line
And you joke in the trenches
Of the hot blooded wenches
And the things that you'll do
When they next give you the time
And you're back in your army
Back shedding red blood
And you dream of the girl
As you sleep in the mud
And you know you'd swap with her
If the deal could be made
'Cause you'd rather be working at love
Did you ever hear the one about?
Oh, God I love myself when I've got it on
I know, I'll live forever, babe, all my fears are gone
Then suddenly I'm dyin', they turned the laugh track off
I'm drownin' in the silence, crucified by coughs
Oh, I am the Laugh Man, half clown and half man
Half out and half in, mister can't you see?
I'm supposed to leave you laughin'
Why don't you laugh at me?
I started out by starvin', desperate for money
My belly crackin' dirty jokes that didn't come out funny
My neck stuck out so far like a gawky giraffe
Screamin' on a guillotine,"Come on, sucker, laugh"
Oh, I am the Laugh Man, half clown and half man
Half out and half in, mister can't you see?
I'm supposed to leave you laughin'
So why don't you laugh at me?
Oh I'm the guy who always catches the pie
I specialize in pratfalls
I am the goon who flashes the moon
A mouse in a house of catcalls
I'm your jester your juggler, your joker, your friend
I'm nothin' more or less than a horse's nether end
My ego is a bubble that I realize just broke
And alone without a microphone, my real life's a joke
Oh, I am the Laugh Man, half clown and half man
Half out and half in, mister can't you see?
I'm supposed to leave you laughin'
So why don't you laugh at me?
Oh, I'm supposed to leave you laughin'
So why don't you laugh at me?
Oh God, they got you gun shy
You know your skin's as cold as ice
Your eyes are double filtered babe
You're so afraid to be nice
There's no way you're ready
To let your defenses down
Though I won't come on heavy
There is a lesson that I've found
If you try to look but you don't touch
Then you won't touch but you'll never feel
And if you don't feel, you'll never cry
And if you don't cry, then you'll never heal
There are lessons to life
That the lovers got to learn
There are corners out there
You know they're waitin' somewhere
And you've got to be prepared to turn
There are callouses that come
That the lovers got to earn
In the years of your youth
You can't be fire proof
You know you've got to get burned
If you try to look but you don't touch
Then you won't touch but you'll never feel
And if you don't feel, you'll never cry
And if you don't cry, then you'll never heal
Can't you feel excitement
Feel it welling up inside
What makes you think emotion
Is something that you hide
Yes, I might take advantage
But I'll be gentle if I do
And I'll be here in the morning
Still lookin' at you
There are lessons to life
That the lovers got to learn
There are corners out there
You know they're waitin' somewhere
And you've got to be prepared to turn
There are callouses that come
That the lovers got to earn
In the years of your youth
You can't be fire proof
You know you've got to get burned
If you try to look but you don't touch
Then you won't touch but you'll never feel
And if you don't feel, you'll never cry
And if you don't cry, then you'll never heal
If you want to heal babe
Oh, you know you got to feel babe
Oh, don't you want to feel it babe
Feel it babe, feel it babe
I would not be so stoned
If my Mary were here
And I don't think I'd have phoned you
If my Mary were here
I'm a sad sack Sir Galahad
Who's sword's around his knees
With a Grail no longer holy
And a prayer that's saying please
I would not be alone
If my Mary were here
But she took off
And Lord I'm lost
You know I don't think I'd be drinking
If my Mary were here
And I know what I'd be thinking
If my Mary were here
We'd be wrapping up a blanket
Full of cheddar cheese and wine
And packing up our camper
With a rendezvous in mind
And we'd picnic out in Lincoln Park
If Mary were here
But she split
So I got lit
I'm sorry that I called you
In the middle of the night
But you're the one who listens
When I need a little light
I know we haven't talked
Since I dropped you in the dirt
I know you're not my lady now
But Baby, how I hurt
I would toss away my troubles
When my Mary was here
But now I'm lost inside the ruble
'Cause my Mary's not here
So could I come on over
With my heart in my hands
And place it on your pillow
Like a rusty old tin can
I'm drunk and seeing double
But my Mary's not here
Once again be the friend
That you've been
And take me in
Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
What would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
Now if a man tried to take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
And if a woman, she used a lifeline
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
As I look around us there's such strange things
There's muggers and there's jugglers and we are led by clowns
If an answer ever found us, would we change things?
Or are we just a people rotten ready for the ground
And if our future lies on the final line
Are we brave enough
To see the signals and the signs
I wonder what would happen to this world?
We see the people, we see them marchin' down
Do we join the parade
Or do we try and turn around
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
Disciple children walk the streets, selling books and flowers
Can they be last ones with a semblance of a dream?
If we say that no one's out there and we say we're goin' nowhere
And we avoid the question, is this all that it means?
Oh, if a man tried to take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
And I wonder what would happen to this world
Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
I'm the green young gentleman
And you're the lady with the past
I admit I'm insecure about
How long we will last
I sort through in my mind
The little that I know
But the only things I find
From where my musings go
Is that kind of confusion
That just makes more questions come
About the wild and shady world
That you must have wondered from
You see, I have no real complaints
Of how you've left your past behind
I guess what gets me worried
Is you've erased him from your mind
I wonder what happened to him
Your past is a canyon
I'm a stranger on the rim
Looking down below
To where it's misty and dim
But, where there's still shining
A faint glow from a light
It makes me wonder where he is tonight
That drawer of your old photographs
Sits there like detective's leads
With the packets full of letters
That I do not dare to read
And then there is that negligee
That is made for candlelight
You know, I've never seen you wear it
Was it used on other nights?
You see, dream lover of a lady
What shakes me to the core
Is the thought as you caress me
You've done this all before
I think about the future
With me out and others in
Will I, too, have disappeared
Like I've never ever been?
I wondered what happened to him
Your past is a canyon
I'm a stranger on the rim
I'm looking down below
To where it's misty and dim
But, where there's still shining
A faint glow from a light
It makes me wonder where he is
I wonder where he is
I come fresh from the street
Fast on my feet, kinda lean and lazy
Not much meat on my bones
And a whole lot alone, more than a little bit crazy
And the old six-string, was all I had
To keep my belly still
And for each full hour lesson I gave
I got a crisp, ten dollar bill
You see, she was married for seven years
To a concrete castle king
She said, she wanted to learn to play the guitar
And to hear her children sing
So, I'd show up about once a week
In my faded tight-legged jeans
With a backlog full of hobo stories
And dilapidated dreams
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wannalearn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Wanna hear you play"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"
So, I tried to teach her a couple of chords
And an easy melody
But it always turned out, she'd rather listen
To my guitar and me
I could hear her old man laughin' in the den
Playin' stud poker with the boys
While I sang so soft in the living room
Too scared to make much noise
I came one week and the den was dark
And she met me at the door
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
'Til I could not sing no more
You know, the silence kept on buildin'
And her eyes grew much too wide
I could hear both of our heartbeats
But there was no place to hide
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Wanna hear you play"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"
Guess, you know what happened
My God, I never been so clean
Yeah, I feel like I'm workin' in a Hollywood movie
Or livin' out a good bad dream
And all them pin-up girls in that tinsel world
Never touched me, like she can
It took another man's wife in the real world life
To make this boy, a man
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Wanna hear you play"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song
Before you go away"
It's midnight at the depot
And I drag my bags in line
Travellin' light, I got to go
But the bus won't be on time
Everybody's looking half alive
Later on the bus arrives
They punch my ticket, I find a seat
And we move out past the lights
Come on driver, where's the heat?
It's cold out in the night
I keep telling to myself that I don't care
Come tomorrow, I'll be there
Take the Greyhound
It's a dog of a way to get around
Take the Greyhound
It's a dog gone easy way to get you down
Tired of watching this night go by
So I look across the aisle
The window's frosted, I can't sleep
But the girl returns my smile
She reminds me of someone I knew back home
So I doze, so it goes
I'm wrinkled on my stool at the rest stop
The waitress being cozy with the highway cop
My coffee's tasting tired, my eyes roll over dead
Got to go outside and get the gas out of my head
Oh, to be in bed, you got me driving
I'm on your Greyhound bus and you're driving
But there's nothing new about Greyhounds
Nothing new about feeling down
Nothing new about putting off
Or putting myself on
Looking to tomorrow is the way the loser hides
I should have realized by now that all my life's a ride
It's time to find some happy times and make myself some friends
I know there ain't no rainbows waiting when this journey ends
Stepping off this dirty bus first time I understood
It's got to be the going not the getting there that's good
That's a thought for keeping if I could
It's just no good
(Fall in love with him)
You know that you should
(Fall in love)
I wish that you would
(Fall in love with him)
If only you could
(Fall in love with him)
More than my friend he has been my brother
He said to me he's dreamed, you'd be his wife
When I think of you, it's as just another lover
It's a simple choice of how you see your life
A singer's just another traveling salesman
Another night, another town to sell my wares
And the times that you'd be riding the excitement
Won't make up for times when no one would be there
He's an open book, why don't you read him?
He's already hooked, why don't you lead him?
Take a look, you just might need him someday in some way
(Some way)
And I'm the medicine man, I've started to mumble
A tight-rope walker, I've started to stumble
Humpty Dumpty's already tumbled down, haven't you found?
It's just no good
(Fall in love with him)
You know that you should
(Fall in love)
I wish that you would
(Fall in love with him)
If only you could
(Fall in love with him)
You know I've never thought I'd ever hear me saying this
Turning down a chance for touching something fine
But I'd rather have you happy and completely his
Then have you waiting for me when I find the time
He's an open book, why don't you read him?
He's already hooked, why don't you lead him?
Take a look, you just might need him someday in some way
(Some way)
And I'm the medicine man, I've started to mumble
A tight-rope walker, I've started to stumble
Humpty Dumpty's already tumbled down, haven't you found?
It's just no good
(Fall in love with him)
You know that you should
(Fall in love)
I wish that you would
(Fall in love with him)
If only you could
(Fall in love with him)
(Fall in love with him)
You know that you could
(Fall in love with him)
I wish that you would
(Fall in love with him)
If only you could
(Fall in love with him)
It does no good
(Fall in love with him)
You know that you should
All I got is time, nothing else is mine
All I want is you and one more tomorrow
Nothing lasts to long, when I leave it's gone
So I send my mind ahead and hope to follow
Yes, I know I have a lifetime coming
But I've got it all figured out
Everybody's lonely, everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely, that's what it's all about
I've had my share of heartaches, misfortune and mistakes
Occasionally this life has left me battered
But I can't blame no one else, 'cause what I've done to myself
Is the only kind of history that matters
Yes, I know I have a lifetime coming
But I've got it all figured out
Everybody's lonely, everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely, that's what it's all about
Now, maybe you'll come with me and maybe you will stay
And maybe you'll just watch awhile then wander
It seems like all the good things in my life just drift away
But maybe you will stay this time, I wonder
Yes, I know I have a lifetime coming
But I've got it all figured out
Everybody's lonely, everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely, that's what it's all about
Empty closet, empty heart
Empty morning, day won't start
Well, I got no place to go now
I really do not know how to like my life
Now that you're gone
Empty mailbox, empty head
Empty promise, empty bed
I really can't believe in
The thought of you just leaving
But no one's here, you must be gone
I guess, I took you for granted
I thought of us as one
But now the laugh's on me
'Cause you're half of me
Just took off with the sun
Empty pockets, empty day
Empty feeling won't go away
Well, I never meant to use you
And I never thought I'd lose you
But no one's here and you are gone
Empty closet, empty heart
(As it gotta be, act the circus man)
Empty morning, day won't start
(Swallow the night, as well as the [Incomprehensible])
I got no place to go now
I really do not know how to like my life
Now that you're gone
I got an empty icebox, I got an empty head
And it's an empty morning in my empty bed
There's nothing in the mailbox there's nothing in my heart
Up in Massachusetts, there's a little spit of land
The men who make the maps, yes, they call the place Cape Ann
The men who do the fishing, call it Gloucester Harbor Sound
But the women left behind, they call the place Dogtown
The men go out for whaling, past the breakers and the fogs
The women stay home waiting, they're protected by the dogs
A tough old whaler woman who had seen three husbands drown
Polled the population and she named the place Dogtown
There's all these gray faced women in their black widow's gowns
Living in this grave yard granite town
Yeah, you soon learn there's many more than one way to drown
That's while going to the dogs here in Dogtown
And she speaks, my father was a merchant all in the Boston fief
When my husband came and asked him for my hand
But little did I know then that a Gloucester whaler's wife
Marries, but the sea salt and the sand
He took me up to Dogtown the day I was a bride
We had ten days together before he left my side
He's the first mate of a whaling ship, the keeper of the log
He said, "Farewell, my darling, I'm going to leave you with my dog"
And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls
I've heard that crazy widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves
Sitting by the fireside, the embers slowly die
Is it a sign of weakness when a woman wants to cry?
The dog is closely watching the fire glints in his eye
No use to go to sleep this early, no use to even try
My blood beats like a woman's, I've got a woman's breast and thighs
But where am I to offer them, to the ocean or the skies?
Living with this silent dog, all the moments of my life
He has been my only husband, am I a widow or his wife?
Yes, it's a Dogtown and it's a fog town
And there's nothing around 'cept the sea pounding granite ground
And this black midnight horror of a hound
I'm standing on this craggy cliff, my eyes fixed on the sea
Six months past when his ship was due, I'm a widow to be
For liking this half living with the lonely and the fog
You need the bastard of the mating of a woman and a dog
And I have seen the splintered timbers of a hundred shattered hulls
Known the silence of the granite and the screeching of the gulls
I've heard that crazy widow Cather walk the harbor as she raves
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves
At the endless rolling whisper of the waves
Now he was a man who worked with his hands
Only in a motor, he found peace
He could make an engine sing like a bird
He could find his only kind of release
When he was up to the elbows in the grease
She dreamed of a time for painting
As she was cleanin' up his stains from the rug
She'd play all day with their children
And try to meet him with a welcome and hug
As he came shufflin' through the house with a shrug
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails
And hate gets under the skin
But a dream got a way of gettin' down to the bone
And the heart of a body that it's in
While he was makin' magic with his piston machines
She was cleanin' up the mess, he'd left behind
She was tryin' to make it through to the end of the day
With a little empty time
And do the paintin' that meant peace of mind
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails
And hate gets under the skin
But a dream got a way of gettin' down to the bone
And the heart of a body that it's in
Well one day she didn't bother 'bout makin' his bed
She hurried all the children out the door
And she let the bills and the marketing go
And she went and almost bought out an art supply store
It just so happened that day he got to thinkin'
Of the grease that always covered up his skin
So he left the garage a little early
He got a shave and a manicure and trim
Came out clean as a plaster mannequin
He came home in a hurry
But he almost didn't recognize the place
It looked like, it'd been hit by a hurricane
There was canvas fillin' every open space
And she had paint all over her face
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails
And hate gets under the skin
But a dream got a way of gettin' down to the bone
And the heart of a body that it's in
They both stood stunned into silence
Then their laughter exploded like a shout
And he went out to make some magic in the kitchen
The clean man learnin' what cookin' was about
And the dirty girl paintin', her messy heart out
I tell you dirt gets under the fingernails
And hate gets under the skin
But a dream got a way of gettin' down to the bone
Old John Joseph was a man with two first names
They left him in the railroad yard when they took away the trains
And only one run a week comes on roaring down that lane
So, all he's got to worry 'bout is time
I come by in the evening to hear 'bout where he's been
He says, ?Come on sit down kid, where shall I begin??
He starts telling me the stories of the glories of his past
But he always saves the story of his Corey for the last
And he says, "My Corey's coming, no more sad stories coming
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory's coming aren't you girl?
And like I told you, when she holds you she enfolds you in her world"
I was quite surprised to find out all the places that he knew
And so I asked the towns folk if his stories were true
Well they said, ?Old John was born here, he's lived here all his life
He's never had a woman, let alone a wife?
And very soon you'll find out as you check around
That no one named Corey's ever lived in this town
So I chided the old man 'bout the truth that I had heard
Well he smiled and said, ?Reality is only just a word?
Can't you see my Corey's coming, no more sad stories coming
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory's coming aren't you girl?
And like I told you, when she holds you she enfolds you in her world
I came by one evening but he did not hear my shout
I looked in the window and I saw the fire was out
When he would not wake up I forced in the door
And I saw that old John Joseph would tell stories no more
The scene at the graveyard, just three of us were there
Me and the gravedigger we heard the parson's prayer
He said, ?We need not grieve for this man
For we know that God cares?
They put the cold dirt over him and left me on my own
And when at last I looked up I saw I was not alone
So I said, ?If you're a relative, he had a peaceful end?
That's when she said, ?My name is Corey you can say I'm just a friend?
Corey's coming, no more sad stories coming
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory's coming aren't you girl?
And like I told you, when she holds you she enfolds you in her world
So, that's the old man's story, I'm glad you came tonight
To see a busted down old railroad yard sure makes a lonely sight
You may wonder why a young man would work out here alone
Well the job pays enough to keep some flesh on my bones
And I confess I get to missing the old man a bit
And there's one other reason I guess I could admit
Can't you see my Corey's coming, no more sad stories coming
My midnight-moonlight-morning-glory's coming aren't you girl?
If you were looking for a way to make me mad
It was a sure fire way you found, acting like a half wit fool
Laying your money around, well, I came back here to tell you Lou
'Bout what you almost did
Don't you ever put the cash on the counter Lou
When I'm with my kid, yeah, the kid's thirteen he's growing Lou
Two years and he'll be bigger than me, still he thinks I'm strong
As a blacksmith and straighter than the tall oak tree
I raised him alone ten years now since his mama ran away
And you ain't gonna blow his image of me
For the stunt like you pulled today
They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
You've got to treat me like a living saint Lou whenever my son's around
Yeah, the kid wants to be a policeman just like me
You know he'll be a good one the way I started out to be
And he just might end up police chief
Now wouldn't that be something to see? 'Cause then the kid
Would kick right off of the force all the two-bit grafters like me
They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
I guess it was when my old lady left me
And she took off with a salesman guy, I started to see things
So differently, cut your own slice out of the pie, yeah I grew up
And it came clear to me all the smart cops on the make
You get a silver badge not an old tin star
When you're on the take, it's pimps and whores, punk gang wars
Robberies and homicides, when you walk the beat with the creeps
On the street, well there ain't no way to hide
I spent half my life without no wife ridin' herd
On the scum of the earth, I learned the tricks of the trade from
The gutter parade and then I prayed for all I'm worth, don't you know
I appreciate the money Lou? 'Cause it all goes into the bank
And when I send my kid to college someday, I'll have guys
Like you to thank, yeah, ten bucks a week on your grocery store
Means you don't have to worry 'bout crime but hold our money
When the kid's with me you can pay me double next time
They took the copper right out of the penny, Lou
They got the pig locked up in the pen
But you're in big trouble with me, yes you
If you ever do that again
Ten bucks a week protection don't mean I can't knock you down
And all the changes keep on changing
And the good old days, they say they're gone
Only wise men and some new born fools
Say that they know what's going on
I was cramped into a coffee house pew
Two dollar coke in my hand
Listenin' to the music run
Through and out of a drowning man
Ten years ago I first heard him singin'
To a screamin' crazy crowd
Now there's thirteen loyal people
Tryin' to sound that loud
And I wonder as I watch him now
Why his songs don't turn me on
He got me into music
Where has the fragile magic gone?
And all the changes keep on changin'
And the good old days, they say they're gone
Only wise men and some new born fools
Say that they know what's goin' on
But I sometimes think the difference is
Just in how I think and see
And that the only changes goin' on
Are just goin' on in me
And that the only changes goin' on
Are just goin' on in me
There I was in you Air Force
Uncle Sam, you owned my brain
I tried to see myself as a sex mad savior
Sailin' on a silver plane
I started out to do my duty, ended up just doing time
What is it about you my mother of a country
Makes so many change our minds
You know you had me on your honor roll
For your dream, I would die
Now I would not even cross the street
To help you live a lie
And all the changes keep on changing
And the good old days, you know they're gone
Only wise men and some new born fools
Say that they know what's goin' on
But I sometimes think the difference is
Just in how I think and see
And that the only changes going on
Are just going on in me
And that the only changes going on
My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' before I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you, yeah
I know I'm gonna be like you"
(chorus 1)
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little Boy Blue and The Man On The Moon
"When ya comin' home Dad?"
"I don't know when, but we'll get together then, son
Ya know we'll have a good time then"
Well my son turned 10 just the other day
He said "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can ya teach me to throw?"
I said "Not today, I got a lot to do"
He said "That's OK"
And then, he walked away but his smile never dimmed
He said "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
Ya know I'm gonna be like him"
(chorus 1)
Well he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son I'm proud of you, can ya sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile
"What I'd really like Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See ya later, can I have them please?"
(chorus 2)
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and The Man On The Moon.
"When ya comin' home son?"
"I don't know when, we'll get together then, Dad
Ya know we'll have a good time then".
Well I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said "I'd like to see you, if you don't mind"
He said "I'd love to Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle
and the kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy, was just like me
Caroline
Comes from the rain
Glistening and shivering
She laughs as she shakes off the weather
Caroline
Whispers her words
Saying she'll always love me
At least when we are together
Caroline
Starts closing in
Surrounding the spot
Where watching in wonder I stand
Caroline
She's shedding her rings
Her bracelets and stockings
And placing her skin still moist in the palm of my hand
You're pressing she smiles
It's too soon to ask
For me to cast off my cover
You assume that I'm caught
Up there in your head
So now I must go to my lover
Her world is such a sudden place
A minute flashed before my face
To fly to feel to fall from grace
Oh Caroline, I'm leaning, careening
This bubble that I choose to chase
Keeps breaking on the brink of space
Just as I'm about to taste
It's meaning, Caroline
Caroline
Comes from the full moon
Trembling and grieving
Afraid of the march of the seasons
Caroline
You're too young to be running
Too old to be lying
Too wise not to see all the reasons
Caroline
Hangs her cape and her jeans
And surrenders her tears
To christen my pillow with sorrow
Caroline
Remains after times
To explain what she means, she speaks of today
More than she dreams of tomorrow
She says, never has life
Been so full of the urge
To let go of the night and believe
She collects all her things
While she's still of a mind
So soft it's like breathing she leaves
Her world is such a sudden place
A minute flashed before my face
To fly to feel to fall from grace
Oh Caroline, I'm leaning, careening
This bubble that I choose to chase
Keeps breaking on the brink of space
Just as I'm about to taste
She was crazy
(She was beautiful)
I guess she had to be
And I was angry
(You were blind)
Because I could not see
Except for what her cigarettes
Had done to her skin
I should have known the outside world
Would reveal what was within
But she was burning herself
And her hair was filled with ashes
She was burning herself
And her life became a flame
She was burning herself
And the flame became her passion
She was burning herself
And her passion, her passion was her pain
She was trusting
(You could have saved her too)
All hope had passed for her
And I was lusting
(And she gave to you)
That's all I asked for her
The marks upon her body
And the marks upon her mind
I knew I could have erased them
If I'd only taken the time
But she was burning herself
And her hair was filled with ashes
She was burning herself
And her life became a flame
She was burning herself
And the flame became her passion
She was burning herself
And her passion, her passion was her pain
I never saw her do it
I only saw the scars
I never could imagine
What could make her go that far
I wondered was she driven
By a desperate need to feel
To find out she was really living
To discover that her life was real
Or was it that the pain
Slicing through her like a knife
Was easier to take
Than the emptiness of life
Had a strange sense of drama
Caught her inside a role
Or was she trying to cauterize
The changes on her sole?
I don't know, I don't know
The kid heard the word up in Brooklyn
It was his second year of medical school
He went and stashed some jeans into his guitar case
His father said, "You're a fool"
But the boy jumped on board a Greyhound bus
It took him two days to get to Mobile
And though it took two weeks to track the old man down
He never doubted that the rumor was real
But there the old man stood by the store front
With his white cane hanging from his belt
And he was bending the steel of his guitar strings
So it seemed like the metal had to melt
He was the last of the street corner singers
Paying his final years of dues
The voice in his throat was like a bullfrog croak
Yes it's he who invented the blues
"To play the blues, boy, you got to live 'em
Got your dues, boy, you know you got to give 'em
Got to start sweet like a slow blues rhythm
Like a heartbeat you'll always be with 'em
When you're married to the blues, boy
Your guitar is your wife
It's like that fine old woman
Who you're faithful to for life."
Well the kid walked up as the blind man finished
And was bent to put his guitar away
The old man heard him and said, "Who are you?"
"I'm the kid you're gonna teach to play."
The old man laughed but the kid kept talking 'bout
How he'd help him get around
That's when the old man said
"I don't need no fool to get me where in the hell I'm bound"
The kid nods his head with a great big grin and says
"When do we begin?"
That's when the old man said
"If You're staying with me
This is how it's got to be "
"To play the blues, boy, you got to live 'em
Got your dues, boy, you know you got to give 'em
It was just after dark when the truck started down
the hill that leads into Scranton Pennsylvania.
Carrying thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Carrying thirty thousand pounds (hit it Big John) of
bananas.
He was a young driver,
just out on his second job.
And he was carrying the next day's pasty fruits
for everyone in that coal-scarred city
where children play without despair
in backyard slag-piles and folks manage to eat each day
about thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Yes, just about thirty thousand pounds (scream it
again, John) .
He passed a sign that he should have seen,
saying "shift to low gear, a fifty dollar fine my
friend."
He was thinking perhaps about the warm-breathed woman
who was waiting at the journey's end.
He started down the two mile drop,
the curving road that wound from the top of the hill.
He was pushing on through the shortening miles that ran
down to the depot.
Just a few more miles to go,
then he'd go home and have her ease his long, cramped
day away.
and the smell of thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Yes the smell of thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
He was picking speed as the city spread its twinkling
lights below him.
But he paid no heed as the shivering thoughts of the
nights
delights went through him.
His foot nudged the brakes to slow him down.
But the pedal floored easy without a sound.
He said "Christ!"
It was funny how he had named the only man who could
save him now.
He was trapped inside a dead-end hellslide,
riding on his fear-hunched back
was every one of those yellow green
I'm telling you thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Yes, there were thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
He barely made the sweeping curve that led into the
steepest grade.
And he missed the thankful passing bus at ninety miles
an hour.
And he said "God, make it a dream!"
as he rode his last ride down.
And he said "God, make it a dream!"
as he rode his last ride down.
And he sideswiped nineteen neat parked cars,
clipped off thirteen telephone poles,
hit two houses, bruised eight trees,
and Blue-Crossed seven people.
it was then he lost his head,
not to mention an arm or two before he stopped.
And he slid for four hundred yards
along the hill that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania.
All those thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
You know the man who told me about it on the bus,
as it went up the hill out of Scranton, Pennsylvania,
he shrugged his shoulders, he shook his head,
and he said (and this is exactly what he said)
"Boy that sure must've been something.
Just imagine thirty thousand pounds of bananas.
Yes, there were thirty thousand pounds of mashed
bananas.
Of bananas. Just bananas. Thirty thousand pounds.
Leon wrote a song for his special girl
and Elton and bernie did too!
But you've been mine for such a long time
baby
it's my turn to write one for you
and this is the best
that this poor boy could do.
You see I don't know what to tell you babe
I can't say thanks a lot
for I know I really owe you
for almost everything I got.
You were with me in the good times
and when things were going bad
you were with me when your love
was the only thing I had.
I have been a song man
for a long long time
coming up with some melodies
trying to find some words that rhyme.
And while I have been singing
you've been there to see me through
and so I think it's long past time
that I wrote this song for you.
I was going to keep it simple
and not make it too long
but I had hoped to make it beautiful
for after all it is your song.
You know how I love my music
it is my life and my livelihood
but of all that's happened to me babe
you are everything that's good.
There's no tick tock on your electric clock
But still your life runs down
There's no tick tock on your electric clock
But still your life runs down
I'm halfway to heaven and my home in Forest Hills
It's half past the eleven and I've got some time to kill
I missed my bus connection my train got in too late
And I'm forced into reflection by this half hour wait
Now I have been a straight man and I've played it by the rules
I been a good man, a good husband, a good old fashioned fool
I have a fine wife and two children just like everybody's got
But after fifteen years of marriage the fires don't burn too hot
Ah, someone played a trick on me
They set me up so perfectly
They gave me their morality
And then changed the rules they set for me
Someone must be laughing now
Though it don't seem funny somehow
How the world's accepting now
What they once would not allow
Back in my younger days
The world has changed in so many ways
My mother once said to me
So many years ago now
Don't you touch those bad girls
So I never had girls
Until I had my Mary when we married
My Mary then had my two sons
My life as a lover was already done
It was over before it had really begun
Ah, someone played a trick on me
They sent this little girl to me
She is my new secretary
And she's something to see
Yeah, she's a nice girl
But it's a young world
And she lives her life so free
And she sure gets through to me
She brings her pad into my office, she wears a sweater and a skirt
And somewhere deep inside of me something starts to hurt
She's wearing nothing underneath, I can see what's there to see
She smiles and says, "You wanted me?" I'd have to agree
You know how much I want her
And I, I know that I could have her
I know I could, I know she would
Make love to me, so wonderfully
God damn, I'm one crazy mixed up mixture of a man.
In my head all my life I've been a sinner
And in my bed with just my wife I'm still a beginner
But tomorrow night I'm taking that little girl out to dinner
No, no tick tock
Electric clock
Run down
No, no tick tock
Electric clock
Run down
No, no tick tock
Electric clock
Run down
Oh, barefoot boy
Once he came unto a land
Of forests and of streams
That tumbled through
The meadows to the sea
He called it home
For many were its wonders
And he learned to live upon the land
Taking only what he needed
Barefoot boy
He don't like your concrete
He seek the country
Any way he can
Barefoot boy
He's fading down your street
Yes I know he'll never
Come this way again
And time passes on
In this life of always changing
People coming building cities
Cut your forest pave your highway
Oh, barefoot boy
He wraps his blanket 'round his shoulders
He says goodbye to misty mountains
Once more he sets off to wander
Oh, barefoot boy
He don't like your concrete
And he seek the country
Any way he, any way that he can
Barefoot boy
He's fading down your street
Yes I know he'll never
Old College Avenue
by Harry Chapin
Of course I picked a rainy night
To try to find our past
The street lights all were flickering
The leaves were falling fast
I walked down the winding road
Looked up through the trees
And I saw the corner window
That you once shared with me
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
That you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
That fall turned into winter
The winter into spring
And all the while, you led me through
The sweet awakening
But summer never came that year
It's what you went to find
And you took my future with you
And you left your past behind
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
The tiny room and the single bed
Though the tangled trails of time
Have led us far astray
The membrance seems to stay
And through all the roads
That led me on
And through all the years
that you've been gone
I have found that it would never go away
It was Old College Avenue
And in the time of having you
I remember it as if it were today
I remember you
As if
It were
Today
Holdin' on tight to my pillow
Wish it had a life of its own,
Starin' at the ceilin,'
Such a funny feelin,'
But nobody's home.
But I know you're out there somewhere
And that you feel the same way too,
Now my only problem is trying to find
A way of getting through to you.
There's a lot of lonely people tonight,
Trying to make it through 'til the morning light.
There's me and you, babe, that's alright,
There's a lot of lonely people tonight.
I guess we share the same old dream
Or maybe it's the same old lie,
There's only one thing I'm sure of, babe
And that's our time keeps rolling by.
And far too many days run out
And nights begin this way,
With my half of a hopeful couple
Trying to hold the dark at bay.
Meet me on a city street
Meet me by a country stream,
Meet me on a mountain top
But don't you meet me in my dreams.
Meet me tomorrow morning
Baby, maybe you met me back when,
You can meet me now inside this song
'Cause I don't wanna sleep alone again.
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times
I have heard that cold hard truth so many time before
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times, baby
'Cause I don't want to hear them old heart breaking sad songs anymore
Ah, don't you listen to my lyrics
'Cause they don't make much sense
And if they rhyme every other line
It's only coincidence
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times
I have heard that cold hard truth so many time before
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times, baby
'Cause I don't want to hear them old heart breaking sad songs anymore
I'll help you with your burden, babe
I'll help you lug your load, lady
I'll skip up a smile each and every mile
As you're skipping down the road
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times
I have heard that cold hard truth so many time before
Stop singing these sad songs
Just tell me 'bout the good times, baby
'Cause I don't want to hear them old heart breaking sad songs anymore
Well, hold it now and feel it
I don't want to hear them old heart breaking sad songs anymore
Now baby, I don't want to them sad songs any,
One more time for time for the kids in the hospital,
I don't want to hear these sad songs anymore
The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man
I'm paintin' flowers he said
She said... It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one
And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen
But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one
Well the teacher said.. You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me.....
And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen
But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one
The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. It's for your own good..
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said.. and he said
Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen
Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin'
She said...Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one
But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said.. and he said
Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Why did the little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grow tall
The boys were taught to tumble
The girls told not to fall
The girls answered the telephone
The boys answered the call
That's why little girls grew crooked
While the little boys grew tall
Why did the little girls grow crippled
While the little boys grow strong
The boys allowed to come of age
The girls just came along
The girls were told sing harmonies
The boys could all sing songs
That's why little girls grew crippled
While little boys grew strong
Why did the little girls come broken
While the little boys came whole
The little boys were set aflame
The girls told to fan the coals
The boys all told to be themselves
While the girls were told play the roles
That's why little girls came broken
While little boys came whole
Why were the little girls all frightened
To be just what they are
The boys were told to ask themselves
How high how far
The girls were told to reach the shelves
While the boys were reaching stars
That's why little girls were frightened
To be just what they are
And still they bled for us all
As the moon rode the sky
They carried our seed
When our need ran high
They fed all our children
In the night as they cried
Womankind wept
As mankind died
Why were the little girls left hurtin'
When all the boys were done
And the girls left in the moonlight
When the boys went to meet the sun
And when the girls were open
Why had the little all won?
That's why little girls were hurtin'
When the little boys were done
Why did the little girls grow crooked
While the little boys grew tall
It's maybe because the little boys
Didn't ever have to grow up at all
Just after I screamed at you--
What the hell is it all about
You spilled your coffee
Onto my sleeve
And you said
Don't expect the tears
To come from me babe
For I've already grieved
But that's when you let me
Back into your dream
And I know you're frightened
By my laughter
But you're not afraid
To hold my pain
You see I'm never sure
Just what you're after, Babe
But it seems you only love me
When it rains
You never treat me
Like you treat a gentle man
You only hit me
When you know it hurts
But then why bother reaching down
To where I'm battered
To raise me up
>From the dirt
But that's when you let me
Back into your dream
And I know you're frightened
By my laughter
But you're not afraid
To hold my pain
You see I'm never sure
Just what you're after, Babe
But it seems you only love me
When it rains
Yes I have sworn
To myself to stay protected
So I have strapped on
A sword and shield
But my armour
Yes it ends up meltin'
When you come along tumblin'
Across the field
Once again I yield, I yield
Yes you get me crazy
'Cause you never even wear my presents babe
You wear flowers tucked into your hair
But when I'm cursin' in the night
In my frustration
That's when suddenly you are there
Once again that's when you let me
Back into your dream
And I know you're frightened
By my laughter
But you're not afraid
To hold my pain
You see I'm never sure
Just what you're after, Babe
But it seems you only love me
When it rains
How come you only love me when it rains
He's the man with the banjo and the 12-string guitar.
And he's singing us the songs that tell us who we are.
When you look in his eyes you know that somebody's in there.
Yeah, he knows where we're going and where we been
And how the fog is gettin' thicker where the future should begin.
When you look at his life you know that he's really been there.
Still, what is the name that they're calling that man?
What is the name that they're calling that man?
You know, it's always the "Old Folkie"
They say he's always bleedin'
But whenever somebody's needing him,
He's the one who cares.
It's always the "Old Folkie"
Whenever somethin's burning,
Or a lesson needs some learning,
Or a tide that needs some turning,
To a better world somewhere,
Yeah, the "Old Folkie's" there.
Yeah, for forty years now he's been pushin' on.
Carrying the dream 'cause Woody's long gone.
He's the last voice singing that "Bound for Glory" song.
And if you never seen him you might take a look
He's the man who put the meaning in the music book.
Yeah, the world may be tired but Pete's still going strong.
Still, what is the name that they're calling that man?
What is the name that they're calling that man?
You know, it's always the "Old Folkie"
They say he's always bleedin'
But whenever somebody's needing him,
He's the one who cares
It's always the "Old Folkie:'
Whenever somethin's burning,
Or a lesson needs some learning,
Or a tide that needs some turning,
To a better world somewhere, Yeah, the "Old Folkie's" there.
What is the name that they're calling that man?
What is the name that they're calling that man?
You know, it's always the "Old Folkie"
Singing for some hopeless cause.
Shouting at the mountain top
The wind is his only applause.
It's always the "Old Folkie"
We don't know what we're missing
'Cause nobody ever listens,
'Cept the lovers as they're kissin'
Oh, he's singing for them somewhere.
Yeah, the "Old Folkie's" there. The"Old Folkie's" there.
She moved so well 'cause she was a dancer,
She went sliding through my questions,
gliding 'round the answer.
Whatever it was, she knew it was holy,
And each time I tried to hold her
her smile came sad and slowly.
She said, No one knows me.
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
She had a dream, I had my typewriter.
While I was hacking out such a heavy world
she was weaving one much lighter.
But I'll never know just how much it cost her,
and as I slept beside her something turned and tossed her.
And it did till I lost her.
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
Bright times were brighter than they'd ever been before, I tell you,
Night times were lighter, But they'll never, never be no more.
Could you put your light on please, it's kind of dark tonight.
And I feel a little lonely, yes, I need a little light.
Could you put your light on please, let me hear a friendly sound.
I could make it through 'til morning if you could let your light shine down.
Hello Honey, it's me
What did you think when you heard me back on the radio?
What did the kids say when they knew it was their long lost daddy-o?
Remember how we listened to the radio
And I said 'That's the place for me'
And how I got the job as an FM Jock the day you married me?
We were two kids and I was was into AM rock
But I just had to run around
It's been eight years since I left you babe
Let me tell you 'bout what's gone down
CHORUS
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D
Playing all the hits for you wherever you may be
The bright good-morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five going on fifteen
The drinking I did on my last big gig made my voice go low
They said that they liked the younger sound when they let me go
So I drifted on down to Tulsa, Oklahoma to do me a late night talk show
Now I worked my way back home again, via Boise, Idhao
That's how this business goes
CHORUS
I've been making extra money playing high school sock hops
I'm a big time guest MC
You should hear me talking to the little children
And listen what they say to me
Got a spot on the top of my head, begging for a new toupee
And a tire on my gut from sitting on my
But they're never gonna go away
Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just drive off in my car
But you can travel on ten thousand miles and still say where you are
I've been thinking that I should quit disk jockeying
And start that record store
Maybe I could settle down if you'ld take me back once more
OK Honey, I see
I guess he's better than me
Sure, Old Girl, I understand
You don't have to worry, I'm such a happy man
W*O*L*D, W*O*L*D, W*O*L, W*O*L, W*O*L*D*D*D
I am the morning DJ on K*H*J
Playing all the hits for you Playing them night and day
The bright good morning voice who's heard but never seen
Feeling all of forty-five, going on fifteen
I am the morning DJ on W*O*L*D
We got married early
And just a little bit late
Baby came too early
But some things just can't wait
We were just beginning
But it was very clear
We grew up a little bit that year
I caught on as a meter man
You were caught at home
When I started night school
You ended up alone
But you had another baby
While I had my career
And we grew up a little bit
We grew up a little bit
We grew up a little bit that year
They put me in a office job
A young man on the move
We bought a house in Shaker Heights
You supervised the move
We were cashing checks, you were changing children
While I played engineer
And we were growing ever faster
Every year
I got bored of kilowatts
You were tired of kids
I started staying out at night
And soon that's what you did
At parties we'd go seperately
You'd wiggle and I'd leer
And we were growing faster
We were growing ever faster
We were growing ever faster every year
You learned to live in silence
I learned to live in lies
And we both igored the empty spaces
Growing in our eyes
Your breath became a gin and tonic
Mine became a beer
And we grew up a little more last year
Today at work they passed me by
And promoted John instead
I came home to find you'd wrecked the car
I guess I lost my head
Well, I can't believe I hit you
But the rage came on so strong
Ah, where did we go wrong?
As you sit there crying
I wonder who you are
The partner-stranger-friend and foe
Who's come with me this far
We stand here in the ashes
And I guess it is quite clear
We did not really grow too much
Each year
So you say we're going nowhere
Well I know that's where we've been
Still I can't help wondering
Can we begin again?
I feel so full of questions
Curiosity and fear
But could we grow a little bit
Could we grow a little bit
Can we grow a little bit this year?
She wore an S.E.G. when she came back home
Like the cat that ate the canary
And I stood befuddled, a chauvanist stud
With his mistress quite contrary
I was smack up against the moment
I was afraid i would face someday
But the truth is a wall that you can't blow down
And it won't be laughed away
You see, my old lady went and took herself
A young man last night
It got me crazy when she said,
"Baby, don't you get uptight,
I think maybe it's the time for you to see the light,"
She said, "It's alright now, boy, I'm yours tonight."
Now I admit my imagination's been
The sweetest sinner of all
Yes it lives like a snake in Eden
And it forgives each time I fall
So I've been Casanova
I've double-dated with Don Juan
And though I've been doing almost everything
I never dreamed she'd be carrying on!
You see, my old lady went and took herself
A young man last night
It got me crazy when she said,
"Baby, don't you get uptight,
I think maybe it's the time for you to see the light,"
She said, "It's alright now, boy, I'm yours tonight."
She says that she still loves me
She says that last night was no big deal
She says, "Why can't a woman play the same damn game
And act out what she feels?"
She says she's going to take a bath
I hear her singing in the tub upstairs
While I'm sitting here spitting out chunks of my heart
Forced into being fair,
While she's splashing rround up there,
I'm supposed to act like I don't care,
I hear the devil laughing somewhere!
You see, my old lady went and took herself
A young man last night
It got me crazy when she said,
"Baby, don't you get uptight,
I think maybe it's the time for you to see the light,"
She said, "It's alright now, boy, I'm yours tonight."
Dripping streetlights and darkened buildings
Wandering, head hung down low
As she's walking she can't help wondering
Does her mama know, where will she go?
Woman child, your eyes are wild
The rain runs down your hair
Woman child, mercy mild
What will you tell your teddy bear?
I turned you on to my solid body
My electric Gibson guitar
My clever fingers, they searched and found out
Exactly where you are, you went too far
Woman child, your eyes are wild
The rain runs down your hair
Woman child, mercy mild
What will you tell your teddy bear?
I was an, an early morning phone call
What news have I received
A halting voice is telling me
What we have both conceived
Asking how the dilemma, how can it be relieved?
I will give you money, honey, I set up a time
You got to go there on your own babe
'Cause I don't know that it's mine
Oh, woman child
Mama's little angel's been defiled
Took a taxi to the clinic
Where they do the modern thing
The white coat doctor laid her out
Said, "You won't feel a thing"
You got the sweet salvation
That a little old knife can bring
You don't have to worry 'bout no offspring
Woman child, your eyes are wild
The rain runs down your hair
Woman child, mercy mild
What will you tell your teddy bear?
That's that, go home and take a nap
It's just a two hundred dollar mishap
It don't mean a thing, it's all over now
Mrs. Smith and Mr. Jones have come to pass the night
They pulled off of the highway when they saw my light
It's a vacancy I offer them, what they offer me
Is fullness for a lifetime that's bare as can be
There's a vacancy, won't you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
I'm a motel man in a promised land
That's filled with empty faces
Won't you bring your sorrows, bring your dreams
It's a place for you to be
There's no more tomorrow or that's how it seems
So won't you come to me? I've got a vacancy
Another name, another key
Another pass to glory
Another night, another sight
Another bedtime story
Another stage, another chance
For gentleness or violence
Another birth, another dance
Another death in silence
There's a vacancy, won't you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
I'm a motel man in a promised land
That's filled with empty faces
Won't you bring your sorrows, bring your dreams
It's a place for you to be
There's no more tomorrow or that's how it seems
So won't you come to me? I've got a vacancy
Mr. John is coming on with his liaison
Mr. Soft is comin' off and soon he'll be gone
Mrs. Hart has come apart now that she's alone
Mr. Jive has come alive but nobody's home
Morning's come, checkout time with my pail and broom
I find what they've left behind in every tell-tale room
The sheets show their struggles, the glasses their fears
The ashtrays, the hours passed, the towels their tears
There's a vacancy, won't you come to me
And fill my empty spaces
I'm a motel man in a promised land
That's filled with empty faces
Won't you bring your sorrows, bring your dreams
It's a place for you to be
There's no more tomorrow or that's how it seems
When I rearrange the pieces of the puzzle of my past
I sigh at the heartaches, relive the laughs
And I think about the moments that have left their mark
And the too few faces that shine a little light in the dark
If you don't mind I'm gonna tell you a story
And I think that it won't bore you
For it's a tale that I've never told
To anyone before you 'cause it's for you
The sun of sixteen summers had put halos in your hair
If anything was in my head, twelve winters put it there
A dollar an hour is what Mama paid you to come and mind her kids
But no one could really pay you enough for what you really did
Many happy things keep happening on my journey through this world
And in ways that I will never understand
I was much too late to be the first to make you a woman
But you were the one who made my mother's son a man
You know I used to read myself to sleep when I went to bed
I guess I was a dreamer then who lived inside my head
But the nights you came you talked of things, I found, I had a friend
You brought my fears of people to a sure and gentle end
Many happy things keep happening on my journey through this world
And in ways that I will never understand
I was much too late to be the first to make you a woman
But you are the one who made my mother's son a man
Do you remember the night when you turned out the light
And you said to me, "Please hold me"
I did not know which way to go
So I did just what you told me, "Please hold me"
When I think about you now, it's not that my memory fails
There's just no need for graphic telling of all the details
Let's just say you taught me something that brought me from my shell
You gave to me that first sweet taste of the heaven here in this hell
Many happy things keep happening on my journey through this world
And in ways that I will never understand
I was much too late to be the first to make you a woman
I was laughing horizontally in my loose and lusty youth
I was feeling well self-satisfied, deliciously uncouth
When she slipped out from my covers with a smile
Saying,"You've got a lot to learn, dear boy, it's going to take a while"
She said, "Manhood means that you should
Get someone else beside yourself feeling good
You know, a real man would do much more than you could
You know, he'd wonder if he understood me"
I said, "I see, let's start again", she said, "You know you never can"
She put her clothes back on, she straightened up my bed
She hit me with a line that still does numbers on my head
She says, "Your mind chooses better than your hands do
Your heart chooses better than your glands do"
She said, "Manhood means that you should
Get someone else beside yourself feeling good
You know, a real man would do much more than you could
You know, he'd wonder if he understood me"
I said, "I see, let's start again", she said, "You know you never can"
So I stood there in my shorts, feeling naked just the same
With her last few words, I knew I was brand new at the game
She gave her gentle smile, she slipped out through the door
Saying, "You're my first and only love, just like all my loves before"
She said, "Manhood means that you should
Get someone else beside yourself feeling good
You know, a real man would do much more than you could
You know, he'd wonder if he understood me"
I came into town with a knapsack on my shoulder
And a pocket full of stories that I just had to tell
You know I've knocked around a bit
And I've had my share of small town glories
It's time to hit the city and that crazy carousel
I been feeling sorry for myself
But you know I was only lonely
Like everybody else
Until you brought your Sunday morning sunshine
Here into my Monday morning rain
You taught me happiness just one time
It keeps on coming back again
These streets were never highways
I had not known the sky above
These days were never my days
For I had not known your love
It's funny how a city
Can put on a different face
When it holds the one you care for
It becomes a different place
And I never felt so far from alone
Oh baby, you brought me halfway home
Oh baby, you brought me halfway home
You brought your Sunday morning sunshine
Here into my Monday morning rain
You taught me happiness just one time
It keeps on coming back again and again and a
You brought your Sunday morning sunshine
Here into my Monday morning rain
You taught me happiness just one time
It keeps on coming back again and again and a
You brought your Sunday morning sunshine
Here into my Monday morning rain
You taught me happiness just one time
At first I did not think it could be you,
But you're the only one that got off the train,
So you must be my wife, Miss Annie Halsey, yes, yes,
I must be your husband; Yes, I'm Harry Crane.
(chorus)
Mail Order Annie, never mind your crying,
Your tears are sweet rain in my empty life,
Mail Order Annie, can't you see I'm trying,
To tell you that I'm glad you're here,
You are the woman who's come to be my wife.
You know you're not as pretty as I dreamed you'd be,
But then I'm not no handsome, fancy dan.
And out here looks are really not important, no, no,
It's what's inside a woman when she's up against the land.
(chorus)
You know it's not no easy life you're entering,
The winter wind comes whistling through the cracks there in the sod,
You know you'll never have too many neighbors,
There's you babe, and there's me, and there's God.
You know I'm just a dirt man from the North Dakota plains,
You're one girl from the city whose been thrown out on her own,
And I'm standing here not sure of what to say to you,
'cepting Mail Order Annie, let's you and me go home.
You keep looking out my window at the driftwood floating by
Like a flock of birds in fall time you're just itching to fly
I know I cannot hold you 'cause you live life to the hilt
So go on get out of here girl I don't want your guilt
Go on and roll down your river babe
I'll bet you'll make that muddy water churn
You've earned every scar that you brought with you baby
But there's one lesson that you'll never learn
What goes down that river don't return
What goes down don't return
What goes down don't return
Yes I remember when you washed up on my doorstep
You had a dirty face, a damp dress and a dream
But now you're just a fish out of the water baby
It's time to throw you back into the stream
So go on and roll down your river babe
I'll bet you'll make that muddy water churn
You've earned every scar that you brought with you baby
But there's one lesson that you'll never learn
What goes down that river don't return
What goes down don't return
What goes down don't return
Now don't you bleed on me about all our good times
Don't tell me that you'll never be the same
And don't tell me anything but goodbye baby
More than that would be just another game
So go on and roll down your river babe
I'll bet you'll make that muddy water churn
You've earned every scar that you brought with you baby
But there's one lesson that you'll never learn
What goes down that river don't return
You leave me with a month of your sweet madness
You leave me with your music in my head
You leave me with the mystery of the river rolling
You leave me with a desert for my bed
So go on and roll down your river babe
I'll bet you'll make that muddy water churn
You've earned every scar that you brought with you baby
But there's one lesson that you'll never learn
What goes down that river don't return
What goes down don't return
What goes down don't return
What goes down don't return
Remember when the music
Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire
And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire
For we believed in things, and so we'd sing
Remember when the music
Brought us all together to stand inside the rain
And as we'd join our hands, we'd meet in the refrain
We had dreams to live, we had hopes to give
Remember when the music
Was the best of what we dreamed of for our children's time
As we sang we worked, we knew time was just a line
Gift we saved, a gift the future gave
All the times I've listened, and all the times I've heard
All the melodies I'm missing, and all the magic words
And all those potent voices, and the choices we had then
How I'd love to find we had that kind of choice again
Remember when the music
Was a glow on the horizon of every newborn day
And as we sang, the sun came up to chase the dark away
And life was good, for we knew we could
Remember when the music
Brought the night across the valley as the day went down
And as we'd hum the melody, we'd be safe inside the sound
And so we'd sleep, we had dreams to keep
So now I feel that something's coming, and it's not just in the wind
It's more than just tomorrow, and it's more than where we've been
It's something like a promise, it's something like begin
Don't you know we're needing something worth believing in
So I remember when the music
Came from wooden boxes strung with silver wire
And as we sang the words, it would set our minds on fire
(chorus)
I let time go lightly when I'm here with you
I let time go lightly when the day is through
I keep a watch on time when I've have work to do
I let time go lightly with you
Morning, a time for breaking ground and sowing seeds
And yet we give up our sunshine
So we can buy what we need
That leaves the evening
to share a fire with a friend or two
To lose sight of the hours
To go lightly with you
(chorus)
Old friends, they mean much more to me
than the new friends
Cause they can see where you are
And they know where you've been
Music, has been my oldest friend, my fiercest foe
Cause it can take me so high, high
Yes it can make me so low
When I was a child my mother would help me along
She'd rock me to sleep and sing me a song
So I learned to love the music
of all the tunes in my mind
The changing of chords, the rhythm of time
(chorus)
Yes I let time go lightly with you
and a fire, and a friend or two
With you and a fire and a friend or two
It was when I rode off in my daydreams
Chasing that vision of light
It was then I got caught in the jet stream
And I dropped through a hole in the night
Then I knew it's not you that I run from
I saw each of us living alone
And I prayed that you still could be waiting
That's when I started for home
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
Oh my Jenny, my love
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
You are my rainbow above
I have seen a great city in the darkness
Dream lady dressed in cold concrete
And I've seen the City of Angles
With the names of its dead in the street
And for once I could see it all your way
And for once I knew I was all wrong
And I thought of you there in my door way
And I knew I'd been travelin' too long
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
Oh my Jenny, my love
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
You are my rainbow above
When I crossed to the heart of the country
I was lost in a forest of signs
And I laughed because life gets so funny
Here I was wasted from wastin' my time
So now shine down your sun on my shadow
Without you I don't mean a thing
And gather me one golden morning, babe
'Cause it's your song that I need to sing
And it's oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
Oh my Jenny, my love
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
You are my rainbow above
And it's oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
Oh my Jenny, my love
Oh my Jenny, oh my Jenny
I come fresh from the street
Fast on my feet, kinda lean and lazy
Not much meat on my bones, and a whole lot alone
And more than a little bit crazy
The old six string was all I had
To keep my belly still
And for each full hour lesson I gave
I got a crisp ten dollar bill
She was married for seven years
To a concrete castle king
She said she wanted to learn to play the guitar
And to hear her children sing
So I'd show up about once a week
In my faded tight-legged jeans
With a backlog full of hobo stories
And dilapidated dreams
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song before you go away"
So I tried to teach her a couple of chords
And an easy melody
But it always turned out she'd rather listen
To my guitar and me
I could hear her old man laughing in the den
Playing stud poker with the boys
While I sang so soft in the living room
Too scared to make much noise
I came one week and the den was dark
And she met me at the door
And we sat on the couch and we sang and talked
Till I could not sing no more
The silence kept on building
Her eyes grew much too wide
And I could her both of our heartbeats
But there was no place to hide
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song before you go away"
Well, I guess you know what happened
God, I, I never been so clean
Yes, I feel like I'm working in a Hollywood movie
Or living out a good bad dream
And all them pinup girls in that tinsel world
Never touched me like she can
It took another man's wife in the real world life
To make this boy a man
She said, "I wanna learn a love song full of happy things"
She said, "I wanna learn a love song, won't you let me hear you sing?"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song, I wanna hear you play"
She said, "I, I wanna learn a love song before you go away"
By the time I was thirteen I started takin' shape
At eighteen I was so beautiful that the strangers started to gape
They told me enter the ultimate contest
If you're as gorgeous as you seem
They said, "Please, please, please be our American dream"
But late that night beneath the grievin' moon
There's a dazzling sight in my motel room
For a grunting judge with his bulging eyes
I give my all for his cherished prize
Oh why, oh why?
I, I Miss America crying on TV
Silver clad in satin rags
But everything's where it should be
Oh say, can you see? Oh say, can you see?
After they showed me the game ball they told me put on weight
They told me I'd be so powerful, then they told me I would be great
They told me Uncle Sam he would coach you, his helmet on your head
And they said, "Please, please, please, please
Please win and beat the spread"
But the new game plan that the owners had made
Meant that win or lose there would be a little trade
For the team's become a real gold mine
And the kid's sold off for the bottom line
Oh why, oh why?
Mr. America sweating on TV
The winner's joy from the battered boy
For everything's where it should be
Oh say can, you see? Oh say, can you see?
At last we've come together, call it marriage or civil war
If it brings us to battle, babe, it must be worth our fighting for
Though today came up cloudy, there will be other days
Oh, please, please, please, please
What else is there to say?
But in plywood spread, by a plastic stream
And in separate beds with a borrowed dream
And with questions wide, the silence deep
We take two pills so at last we'll sleep
Oh why, oh why?
Mr. and Mrs. America, our story's on TV
Can you hear canned laughter?
For everything's where it should be
Oh say, can you see? Oh say, can you see?
My little boy he told me something just the other night.
He whispered it as I kissed him before I turned out the light
And of course he said it simple as only children can
He said, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, please
Dance band on the titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
Mama stood cryin' at the dockside
Sayin' "Please son, don't take this trip"
I said "Mama, sweet mama, don't you worry none
Even God couldn't sink this ship"
Well, the whistle blew and they turned the screws
It turned the water into foam
Destination sweet salvation
Goodbye home sweet home
I'm in the dance band on the titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
There was a trombone and a saxophone
The bass and drums were cookin' up the bandstand
And I was strummin' in the middle with this dude on the fiddle
And we were three days out from land
And now the foghorn's jammed and moanin'
Hear it groanin' through the misty night
I heard the lookout shout down
"There's icebergs around but still everything's all right"
Oh, the dance band on the titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
They were burnin' all the flares for candles
In the banquet they were throwin' in first class
And we were blowin' waltzes in the barroom
When the universe went crash
"There's no way that this could happen"
I could hear the old captain curse
He ordered lifeboats away, that's when I heard the chaplain say
"Women and children and chaplains first"
Well, they soon used up all of the lifeboats
But there were a lot of us left on board
I heard the drummer sayin'
"Boys, just keep playin', now we're doin' this gig for the Lord"
I heard the dance band on the titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
There's a wild-eyed boy in the radio shack
He's the last remaining guest
He was tappin' in a morse code frenzy
Tappin', "Please God, SOS"
Jesus Christ can walk on the water
Where a music man will drown
They say that Nero fiddled while Rome burned up
Well, I was strummin' as the ship go down
I'm in the dance band on the titanic
Sing, "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
Dance band on the titanic
Sing, "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?
Dance band on the titanic
Sing, "Nearer, my God, to thee"
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
There you stand in your dungarees, looking all grown up and so very pleased. When you write your poems they have so much to say, when you speak your dreams it takes my breath away.
You know I wanna be a ball player, a regular slugging fool. But both our dreams must wait awile, unil we fininsh school.
CHORUS
And so you and I will watch our years go by. We'll watch our sweet dreams fly far away (away). But maybe someday, I don't know when but we will dream again and we'll be happy then 'til our time (our time), just drifts away.
There you stand in your wedding dress. You're so beautiful that I must confess, I'm so proud you have chosen me, when a doctor is what you wanna be.
You know I wanna be a painter girl, a real artistic snob. But I guess we'll have our children first. You'll make a home, I'll get a job.
CHORUS
Listen to the seasons passing, listen to the wind blow. Listen to the children laughing, where do broken dreams go?
There you stand in your tailored suit, so many years gone by but you're still so cute. We'll take the car to go and meet the bus when our grandchildren come to visit us.
You say you should have been a ballerina babe, there are songs I should have sung. But I guess our dreams have come and gone, you gotta dream when you are young.
CHORUS
You and I, will watch our years go by. We'll watch our sweet dreams fly far away (away). By maybe someday, I don't know when but we will dream again and we'll be hap-hap-happy then 'til our time, just drifts away.
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