Hey ma, wake up it’s me, it’s your boy, Tom Joad
I’d love to but I can’t stay long, I’ve gotta hit the road
In the morning they’ll be lookin for me high up and down low
Cops from every county from Salinas to Frisco
But I only got a minute here so I won’t make this long
I ain’t always done the right thing, hell, sometimes I been wrong
But as long as I am gonna be an outlaw from now on
Wherever there’s a stone unturned, hereby, I swear—
I will be there, I will be there
Wherever you can go to think some lonesome thought
I will be there, I will be there
I will be there, so help me God
I’m ingredient to humankind, a partial to the whole
Tho I walk upon the stage of life I play a minor role
I am portion to the giant universal human soul
Which exists within everybody everywhere
So I’ll be there when you’re weary, when you’re lonesome and afraid
When the delivery of all that you’ve been promised aint been made
When there ain’t no superhero to come rushin to your aid
When you got everything to lose and no time to spare
I will be there, I will be there
When the road becomes too narrow and the wilderness too broad
I will be there, I will be there
I will be there, so help me God
I will be in every crevice of this bright world that’s gone dark
I will be in every desperate hallow achin broken heart
Long after its all over and well before it starts
Anyplace that folks can’t go or just don’t dare
Wherever there’s a stranger sayin I’m too young to die
Wherever there’s a prayer that’s bein prayed up to the sky
Wherever there’s an angry cop just beatin up some guy
And the fight just don’t seem justified nor fair
I will be there, I will be there
So the one’s that go unseen unheard won’t be forgot
I will be there, I will be there
I will be there, so help me God
Wherever fights’re brewin up so that hungry folks can eat
Wherever there’s a cry for revolution in the street
Wherever there’s a stranger who ain’t marchin to the beat
Who repels his last companion as he draws a stare
In the way that guys start yelling when they’re stark raving mad
In the sighin folks’re doing who’ve lost everything they’ve had
In the singin and the laughin of the children when they’re glad
In the cryin and the quiet of when they’re scared
I will be there, I will be there
In the worry of the guilty ones that ain’t yet been caught
I will be there, I will be there
I will be there so help me God
I guess I’d better go now, ma, cause soon it will be dawn
I’d just like to say I’m sorry for all the screwing up I done
But just cause I ain’t here no more it doesn’t mean I’m gone
I will be with you on every step of every stair
Tomorrow when they come for me, you tell em I was here
Tell em that you saw me but that you didn’t see me clear
Tell em I’m the echo that’s been whispering in your ear
Tell em if they’re looking for me anywhere
I will be there, I will be there
Wherever someone’s lonesome in a stranded spot
I will be there, I will be there
Wherever folks are thirsty and can’t find a drop
Wherever there’s a road that ain’t been tried or trod
Wherever I am wanted pursued or sought
I will be there, I will be there
I will be there, so help me God
Come mothers and fathers, come sisters and brothers
Lend an ear to the stories they’re telling
Of the neighborhood watchman in the Florida town
Who shot and killed Trayvon Martin
O, the time it was night and the evening was cold
And the month it was late February
Trayvon Martin at only seventeen years old
Too young for an obituary
On his way back home from a convenience store
Through the yards of his neighbors was walkin
George Zimmerman spied him while making his rounds
And made a call down to the station
“HQ, HQ,” Mr. Zimmerman said,
“This is nightwatchman Zimmerman calling,
I have just spied a suspicious black male
In our gated community walking—
“How shall I proceed, shall I make an arrest
Shall I follow and see where he takes me?
Could this be the man whom we’ve been looking for
Who committed those robberies lately?”
“Well this is HQ,” the headquarters said,
“To nightwatchman Zimmerman calling,
Do not pursue—repeat—do not pursue,
For you haven’t the grounds to suspect him.”
“Ten four, ten four,” Mr. Zimmerman said,
But he pulled up to roll slowly by him,
And when the young man saw the slow police car
He took off a fearfully runnin
“No grounds? No grounds?” Mr. Zimmerman thought
“If there’s no grounds then why is he running?”
And quick as a flash he leapt out of his car
Bringing his handgun with him
Well over a fence and through the back yards
The armed officer chased Trayvon Martin
A distance in excess of one hundred yards
Til he finally cornered and caught him
O down, O down to the ground they did fall
The ground where they both had been standing
Trayvon to fight for his life gainst the man
The man for to somehow subdue him
“Submit, submit!” ficer Zimmerman cried
“Submit and throw down your weapon!”
“I will not submit!” Trayvon Martin replied,
“For I’m unarmed and I haven’t done nothing!”
And as the two fought on the ground in the dark
A gunshot rang out clear as crystal
Trayvon Martin had been shot through the chest
At close range by Zimmerman’s pistol
Come mothers and fathers, come sisters and brothers
Lend an ear to the stories they’re telling
Of the neighborhood watchman in the Florida town
Who shot and killed Trayvon Martin
For a day and a night the body went without name
As he was when his mother had birthed him
Until a call came from his father at home
Saying that his son had been missing
O down, o down to the morgue he was called
To see if this was his son who’d been missing
“O, God, it’s him!” his bereaved father cried,
“That’s the body of Trayvon Martin,”
“My son, my son, O Trayvon, my son—”
His poor mother cried, nearly wild,
“He wasn’t no symbol, didn’t die for no cause,
He was only my baby, my child,
“And what did he do, for what was he killed,
For wearing dark clothes and a hoodie?
Is it just me or does it still feel
Like it’s a crime to be black in this country?”
Well charges were pressed and a trial was set
And a jury was formed all at random
And of the twelve who were chosen to serve,
There wasn’t one black face among them
“The defendant, George Zimmerman,” the prosecution declared,
“He is getting away here with murder;
How can you defend a defender of peace
Who says shoot first and ask questions later?”
“Yes, that was my gun, I fired that round,”
George Zimmerman finally admitted
But despite all the facts in the end he was found
Not guilty and was fully acquitted
The defense lawyers claimed he had just stood his ground
And no evidence showed the contrary
Trayvon Martin by then for more than a year
Neath six feet of ground had lain buried
And for all you who say that here justice was done,
Here is something for you to consider:
When a white man shoots and unarmed black man to death
They do not define it as murder
Come judges, come kings, come you counselors on down
Who maintain the law’s fair and equal
Come look what they done in a florida town
And say it would be the same for all people
Two geese flew over the house lastnight, a gentle music played upon their wings
The sun had softened to an evening light, my mind was overfilled with things
They came from somewhere well behind the sun, made their way out over the pond
And tho I didn’t see from where they’d come, I watched them til they’d gone
Perhaps it was the way they flew so close
That silence seemed to sail between them both
Perhaps I’m only more bemused than most
And by the simplest things I see
But something bout the way those two geese flew
Reminded me of you
I turned from the window and I went downstairs, and I stepped out into the yard
December’s always been this wet and cold, but it’s never felt this hard
I pulled the clothes in down from off the line just as the stars began to cloud
And tho I hadn’t in the longest time, I said your name out loud
Perhaps it was the way they stayed in stride
Flying freely tho side by side
Perhaps I haven’t anything to hide
Or very much that’s left to lose
But something bout the way those two geese flew
Reminded me of you
I brought a log in down from off the pile and I tossed it on the coals
I fanned and coaxed it for a little while until that flame burned bright and full
And as the fire raged within the hearth and I grew more conscious and wide awake
A peace within my soul was perched, but those two birds I couldn’t shake
Perhaps it was the way they flew so fast
Out of the future right into the past
Perhaps there’s nothing that’s really meant to last
That wasn’t born to stay
But something bout the way those two geese flew
Reminded me of you
Now, the midnight sky in east Vermont is darker than you might suppose
And the stars you wait upon and want are seldom undisclosed
I read for a while, and then I went to bed, feeling distracted to say the least
And for a long time after I put down my head, I thought about those geese
Perhaps it was the way they seemed to fear
That they were too far north for this time of year
Or something about the way they disappeared
Right when they were close enough to hold
But something bout the way those two geese flew
Reminded me of you
I woke this morning to a shade of sun, pressing warmly up against my face
And tho I knew I’d be the only one, I did not disturb your place
I got to my legs and then I stood upright, before the window I threw wide the blinds
Two geese flew over the house last-night, this morning you were on my mind
Perhaps it was the way it seemed their fate
That after nearing they would separate
Perhaps it’s just that it was getting late
And they’d come right out of the blue
But something bout the way those two geese flew
Reminded me of you
Might be raining, might be snowing
That old north wind, she might be blowing
Through the treetops, down the sidewalks,
Past the rest-stops of this restless world
But tonight, babe, I am not afraid
I will not be roused before the dawn
For I have travelled a thousand miles
And cept to sleep I don’t know where I’m goin
Come tomorrow but please come slowly
Shine your lights on but shine them lowly
For in the nighttime sweet sleep she takes me
Through my dreams until she forsakes me
Beyond the brink of what I can think of
With my weary waking mind
Let her lead me, let her deceive me,
But o please let me leave my cares behind
I may be unlovely, may not have money
Seldom a ceiling over and above me
May come a beggar and leave a debtor
Having only my dreams to offer
But in my dreams you are always with me
Lying beside me up within my bed
And dreaming’s easy, when you’re weary
I do it every place I rest my head
A while back I spose it hasn’t been too long
To a certain institution I used to belong
Where I spent four years and learned all the rules
And how to tell between the wise and the fools
I’m not talking about prison
It was a college, of the liberal arts variety
Well we all got told to save the date
As the time was comin for us to graduate
And I guess you could say we were pretty excited
Everyone we knew had been invited
Folks and friends, friends of friends,
Heck, even the neighbors were there
Well until at last the day was come
And our dean was standin up at the podium
And he made this speech it didn’t sound too subtle
He said, I’ll be honest, you’re all in trouble
And I’m not talking about academics
I’m talking about life now, now’s when the learning starts
I can say right now it didn’t feel too good
To have to hear all that I knew I would
But we all went up and we shook his hand
And he said someday we’d understand
And I took my diploma
No secrets, that thing was just a piece of paper
Well somehow I had made the grade,
Had a scholarship for my financial aide
And everyone was saying it would all be fine
You just take it easy, now, and take your time
You’ll have a job soon
Just gotta see what’s there—stay positive
Well before I cleared out they sent me a notice
Said they wanted to see me at the financial office
So they called me in, said Take a seat
Wrote me out this big receipt
I said, what is this?
They laughed at me, said, You’re kidding, right?
Well I told the woman to knock it off
It’ll take me ten years to pay this off
She said that’s right it’s called a ten year plan
That should be easy enough to understand
Aint it? for a smart-looking college graduate like you
She said not to worry though, I’m sure
Youll find a job somewhere with that degree of yours
She said maybe I can help you, say what’s it in
I said 19th century American Literature—she laughed again
A veritable cackle that woman had
I never knew I was so funny
Now in college you can learn to think
To read to write to speak to drink
And all of that can be put to use
As a post-graduate on the career caboose
Especially the drinkin—job huntin
And no luck on account of you’re overqualified
Well it wouldn’t be so bad I guess
Cept the conomy’s broke and the world’s a mess
And you can’t get hired for a minimum wage
And there’s nothing for you on the classifieds page
You just sit around, feeling sorry
Got lots of time to read though
Well, when I was finally through procrastinatin
I filled me out a labor application
Took a little math test, they gave me a cup
Showed me to the bathroom and said, filler up!
I passed that math test
The other one came back inconclusive
Few days later they got a hold of me
Said they had a job waiting for me at the factory
Said to show on up and to be on time
You’ll be standing all day on the ssembly line
And they weren’t kidding—I stood in one place for 8 hours
Didn’t have a productive thought the whole time
Well I did this I guess for about a week
Losing all kinds of time to work and sleep
And one day the foreman says I look like hell
And I says I know it man, he says well—
What can you do? Sometimes life just slips away
You gotta work though, or its hell to pay
He said you know I always meant to go to college
To fill my head up with all kinds of knowledge
I said if I were him, I’d be apprehensive
It’s grand and all, but man, it’s expensive
He looked at me, he said, you mean you been to school?
I said, yeah, of course!
Well I don’t think my comments were appreciated
Next day I found out I’d been terminated
I said what gives he says You wont miss it
You got a diploma—go do something with it
Well I’ve had a couple of jobs since then
Couple of gigs with a couple of friends
Bought a bus ticket, pulled an all-nighter
Moved to Nashville, became a songwriter
It’s a pretty shabby way to make a living
All tips, and not too many of em, either—
I don’t want to say I’m sorry
I don’t want to make it better
I don’t want to tell you I was wrong
I don’t want to be a grown-up
I don’t want to write no letter
I don’t want to show you I can be strong
All I want is to be left alone
For to lick my wounds and nurse my bruise
To get old quickly and remain unknown
But to sing—the blues
I don’t want to listen to ya
I don’t want to be there for ya
I don’t want to reach out no helpin hand
I don’t want to hear what you think
I don’t want to owe you nothing
I don’t want no one to understand
All I want is to be sent on home
For my behavior to remain unexcused
To reap far less than what I have sewn
But to sing—the blues
I don’t want to keep my voice down
I don’t want to hold my head up
I don’t want to play the game no more
I don’t want to hold my tears in
I don’t want to keep from hurting
I don’t want it to go on like before
All I want is to roll my stone
To know my fate ain’t mine to choose
To lose my joy along with all I own
But to sing—the blues
I don’t want to make you happy
I don’t want to hear your answer
I don’t want to hope it’ll turn out fine
I don’t want to plan the future
I don’t want to look behind me
I don’t want to keep on trine
All I want is for the wind that’s blown
To carry off any last good news
To know that sorrow is all I’ve known
And to sing—the blues
From inside the walls through the chambers and halls every call falls in deafening echo
Back onto the ears of the ones still in here whom the system condemned from the get-go
Hear tell of a place where no man has a face on account of his case was mishandled
Its called Jericho it’s the old status quo it was left long ago undismantled
But the day soon shall come when each voice raised as one
Will erupt from the crowd in a shattering sound
And the trumpets will blow and the warden will know
That the walls of Jericho must come down
They step off the trains and they’re put into chains and their names’re all changed into numbers
It’s all an attempt to make someone exempt from recognizing himself in another
The one who presides presumes to decide that who lives and who dies is up to him
Its based on the facts but the conclusions, they lack all the feelings they used to get to em
(The political line that claims to be tough on crime and aims to punish the worst and the baddest
Has foregone the facts and’s just trine to keep blacks in a permanent second-class status
The government funds for education and low-income housing’s out-moded
While the money’s increased for cops and police, and the population of prison’s exploded)
But the day soon shall come without lifting a gun
Every voice will the edge of the city surround
And the trumpets will blow and the governors will know
That the walls of Jericho must come down
They’re poor to begin they’re taught they can’t win when they’re brought in it aint to bear witness
They’re deemed by a judge unfit to be much call it justice but its just a business
The one who presides claims that his eyes have been cleansed by their own colorblindness
He and the rest all think they’re doin their best, and that the age of racism’s behind us
(But the ones on lock-down are mostly black or they’re brown and they’re poor and they’re misrepresented
And as far as the count on who’s been in and out–the numbers are unprecedented)
But the day soon shall come where by ceasing to run
We’ll not be turned back nor told to turn round
And the trumpets will blow, and the judges will know
That the walls of Jericho must come down
The prisons’re run by the corporations so your freedom’s the price of a profit
And no one’s to blame cause to them it’s a game, trying to fill in a bottomless pocket
The cycle won’t break it accounts for mistakes and it knows that you’ll make and repeat em
But the killers ain’t killed as long as they’re killed and the prisons’re as filled as they need em
But the day soon shall come when the songs that we’ve sung
Will within every breast alight and resound
And the trumpets will blow and the hangman will know
That the walls of Jericho must come down
They’re brought into here to do what it ain’t clear to where no one can say what he’s seeing
They’re hated and scorned and their cries are ignored and they won’t hear the words human being
(Jesus spake from the hill “go and do what you will, but treat thyself as thou wouldst others
Is it so hard to see that you do unto to me what you do to the least of my brothers?”)
Hear tell of a spot where a man is forgot spite of whether or not they convict him
Its called Jericho it’s the place that you go from the criminal into the victim
But the day soon shall come where by beating the drum
Every voice from the silence shall again be unwound
And the trumpets will blow and all you will know
Is that the walls of Jericho have come down
Last time we talked we didn’t say too much I don’t guess
Something about how maybe we were finally getting to be a little bit too old for this
There was a little bit of time yet then wrapped around your wrist
The end of the autumn in a November evening mist
But you should’ve seen your face that day it was the color of the gentle rose you wore in your lapel
While the captain raised a clamour and the widow clanged that old church-bell
They say lightning never strikes the same place twice
And I’m standing here thinking if it struck anywhere, just once would be more than nice
If I were not me, and you were not you
And we did not both know what we’ve both been through
I guess then I’d just be in someone else’s shoes
I guess I’d be singing someone else’s blues
Your eyes once in a fleeting car moved past, and I swear I only caught the briefest glimpse
You did not see my standing on that street-corner to which by the way I have not been back since
I used to go out wandering from drug- to department-store
thinking maybe that I was the one who’s not who he sposed to be anymore
But it’s not an easy thing I don’t guess, to know you were not born alone and when
You can still go anywhere but you can’t go home again
They say lightning never twice the same place strikes
They say there’s no difference at all between some look alikes
If I were not me, and you were not you
What would there be left for us to misconstrue
Two vacant seats now in that old church pew
For someone else to sit with someone else’s blues
Tomorrow we’re gone, at least today we’re still here
And you can still see the sun in that mud-puddle of yours that you call a mirror
Remember the time we got so turned around and ended up in some old playhouse?
And before the last act we both left to let the midnight river serenade us?
Come out, come out, wherever you are, the children scream
The games they play reminding us that this is not just some crazy dream
They say lightning never twice strikes the same place
As though when you try to repeat, all you do is erase
If I were not me, and you were not you
And we had not drifted the older we grew
I guess then I wouldn’t be here trying to choose
Now between mine and someone else’s blues
Those were the days of the wind and the rain
The only difference is that now, well, they’re exactly the same
I sent you a letter a while back just to see how you are
And can you still play piano on that old worn out guitar
But you should’ve seen your face that day it looked not a thing like mine
Why’s it always the common sense that says it’s alright to just be yourself sometimes
Lightning never strikes the same place twice, they say
But even if it did they might not believe that anyway
If I were not me, and you were not you
Not I would not want not to not be not you
The hardest part about lovin you
Is that it has never been that hard to do
You will know her by her eyes
that will see right through your disguise
You will know by the way that the room falls away After she walks through the door
That for all that you’ve said about love’s being dead You’re not sure you believe anymore
And should you decide that not to have tried
Would afterwards only upset you inside
Don’t come crying to me, wanting to see, as if there could be any doubt
Whether that was the girl I was telling you bout
You will know her by her voice
that will ask but will leave you no choice
You will know by the wish that she beckons you with By the way she says please to your lighter
That even if she says no, that she don’t want to go She don’t want you not to invite her
And should you admit it’d’ve been much better to quit
Before you went and got yourself all mixed up with it
I won’t say I was right, and I won’t pick no fight, but you know that I might have to shout
That that was the girl I was telling you bout
You will know her by her hands
that not even she understands
You will know by the length of time that it takes To collect yourself after she’s left you
That you gave up too much in exchange for a touch That never consoled or caressed you
And if now and then you think you might do it again
If only this time to be prepared for the end
Well I guess that’s too bad you can’t want what you have but you know that I’m glad you found out
That that was the girl I was telling you bout
Met a lady at a party she was hardly my type
But she invited me closer and I said, alright
Underscored me, ignored me, and she bored me to tears
But of all gazes hers was the gentlest
Had me over got me sober even gave me a key
As she pulled the rug out from under me
Tried to sit up tried to get up to pick up the debris
But the odds they were stacked up against us
Well you know me, Mr. Wait-and-see,
Mr. Cant-you-please-be-somewhat-kinder
As I’ll know by the sun when the morning has come
I will know my true love when I find her
I been put up, I been stood up, been let up and let down
I been told to pick up and get out of town
Rejected, disrespected, and neglected so oft
I can’t tell anymore if you know me
At the station congregations destinations unknown
Either tell me you love me or leave me alone
Among maestros in her plainclothes while the train pulls away
She says you don’t have to pay what you owe me
Well you know me, Mr. wait-and-see
Mr. there-is-no-joy-separate-from-sorrow
And just like I would trade every heart for a spade
For yesterday I’d give all my tomorrows
Well it’s lonely having only your memory to keep
As though I’d awakened to find that I was asleep
In the darkness cold and heartless will you part with your half
Whose hands were the words that you whispered with
Was I dreaming, am I reading too much meaning into it?
Did you intend what you offered before you withdrew it
Do you miss me? Dismiss me? Would you kiss that mouth now
Whose words were the hands that I begged you with?
Well you know me, Mr. Wait-and-see
Mr. upright-with-impeccable-posture
As you’ll not know the word for the thing you’ve endured
You’ll not know your true love til you’ve lost her
Matthew he’s a friend of mine, used to put him up from time to time
Used to lend him nickles, quarters, dimes and dollars
Never had too much to say, went step by step and day by day
But soon every man must stray from what he fallers
He always did alright in school never made the team but he played it cool
Each exception only breaks the rule it learns on
One day he got the thought to leave, shoved all his tricks in up his sleeve
He told them all one day they’d see he’d be gone
Matthew, where are you?
Matthew, where are you?
Matthew, where are you?
Where are you?
Can’t be sure but last I heard he was in a psychiatric ward
And he’d only sent home word so he could blame ya
Return address said San Marcos, letter said he was headed for the coast
Anywhere, he said, that’s nowhere close to Pennsylvania
I’d know him now no more than you, couldn’t find him if I wanted to
I tried it once, without a clue to guide me
Just followed in his footsteps some, tried to get behind the sun
But just got lost without someone beside me
Chorus
You left your home and left no trace for supper they still set your place
Fold their hands and all say grace without you
Your father still sits up to dawn in his bathrobe with his porchlight on
And folks they say he carries on and on about you
And LeeAnn she still thinks of you, wonders what you’ve been up to
Says I only wish I knew that he was breathin
And your mother she’s still sleeping sound six feet underneath the ground
And once a year they all gather round a grievin
Chorus
Matthew, do you still recall comin here with me when we were small
You wrote your name up on the wall in marker
Matthew won’t you please come home or try to find a telephone
Cause the days are getting shorter now, and darker
Matthew, are you cold tonight, can you find your way without the light
Do you see the star that’s shining right above you?
Matthew, can you keep em shut, your ears from hearing you know what
They know you’ll never need it but they love you,
I know you’ll never want it but I do, too
Chorus
My mother was a shadow, or so I’ve heard the story told
My father rode the saddle, he never came in from out the cold
And I was born one hazy midnight, into a blanket I was rolled
Left upon a stranger’s doorstep when I was fifteen minutes old
Folks think that if I could find em now, I’d want to see em, they presume
Well as far as I’m concerned, I say,
Never again would be too soon
Never again would be too soon
Never again would be too soon
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to go and leave my home
Whether on account of cause I always was, or else cause I was never left alone
Seems like every town I come to now is like every other town I’ve known
I come just long enough to learn of one more thing I’ll never own
And somewhere tween the sweepin floors and getting beaten with the broom
I say if I come back here anymore,
Chorus
Well I loved a girl in New Orleans, although her name I don’t recall
She was kind and good to me, I was no good to her at all
I remember one night we’d just come back in from a ball
She had taken my possessions and locked them in the hall
I asked my girl how long it’d be for she’d let me back into her room
Well as far as I’m concerned, she said,
Chorus
Well I found me a friendly Christian, said I could stay with him for cheap
Said there was only one condition under which that contract he would keep
Said I had to start to livin clean, said he’d test me every week
Told him not to worry tho, I could do it in my sleep
Things were fine til they got hard again, and he found my needle and my spoon
I asked him when he’d let me back, he said,
Chorus
I killed a man in Kansas, I killed one in Tennessee
Both times I was as sorry as a man could ever be
Somewhere on the highway the law apprehended me
For one I got life in prison, for the other the death penalty
I asked the Lord if when I died he meant to raise me from my tomb
And something in the silence said,
Chorus
Well I don’t know who I’m talkin to, I gues it doesn’t matter now
Anyone with ears’ll do, if the timin will allow
I’m only trine to figure out if there’s some way out of this somehow
If I never asked for help before, well, I’m sorry, but I’m askin now
The warden says my time’s been moved, so now I’m due to die at noon,
So if you’re wondering when to pray for me
Chorus
Loved a girl once with all my heart
I told her so right from the start
Eager to unite, we fell right apart
I should’ve seen it coming
Tried again though, the second time was worse
The world’s a stage, but you can’t rehearse
Goin forward’s the same as in reverse
With maybe one exception— that
I am in no hurry now
I am in no hurry now
I am in no hurry now
I am in no hurry now
Had a hometown where I grew up tall
It had commercial industry and basketball
Public school and a shopping mall
I ran away so often
Left home early so as to beat the rush
My bike broke down, I had to catch the bus
It went the wrong way, I should’ve known as much
But since then I’ve been riding—for
Chorus
Had a car, I drove it fast
I had appointments to keep, I gave it gas
I had a best friend, he had a crash
Since then things have slowed some
Thought I knew what all my time was for
My life seemed finished, I was twenty-four
I went out looking for what was here before
Turns out the whole world’s fast and lonesome—but
Chorus
Chorus
Lately I’ve been visiting a stranger, he says that he’s a doctor of a psychiatric nature
He asks me all about you, he says I need a hobby, says it will make me happy to keep busy for a while
He only asks me things I know, he says that it’s important, though
I wish instead of asking he would tell me what to do
He’s quite encouraging, as if he thought I could make anything
Besides another failed attempt at getting over loving you
Lately I’ve been looking at the stars, trying to learn the constellations, making observations
I know Orion by now, and Cassiopeia, and I’ve a pretty good idea where the big and little dippers are
But astronomy is not for me, as anyone with eyes can see
I could watch that sky until the midnight turned to blue
And even if I knew the myths, what would they only leave me with
But another failed attempt at getting over loving you?
Lately I’ve been smoking long cigars, I imported them from Cuba, from Barbados and Bermuda
I’m not sure I like the taste of them, the sticky burning flavor, tho I’m quite fond of the paper that they wrap them in
But who am I trying to kid? I don’t like smoking and I never did
And I don’t give one good Goddam about where my tobacco grew
And even if I smoked incessantly, what would it only ever be
But another failed attempt at getting over loving you?
Lately I’ve been reading Russian novels from the latter nineteenth century, mainly Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
Sometimes I think I feel the same way as the characters they mention, who love in violent passion and dismay
Who always seem to know what’s best, who get what they want and then get depressed
Who suffer, bleed, and fight and die in search of something true
But every time I reach the end, I realize all my reading’s been
Is another failed attempt at getting over loving you
Lately I’ve been seeking some vocation, I need a new bad habit, I’m afraid I still don’t have it yet
I’ve tried coin- and stamp collecting, chocolate and wine tasting, bicycle and horse-racing
But I bet the coins on a losing horse, the stamps I sent to you, of course
Along with all my letters and every chocolate that I knew
And the wine that used to fill my shelf, I drank it quickly by myself
In another failed attempt at getting over loving you
Lately I’ve been listening to music, I’m learning the piano, I’m really not that good, tho
I can play a couple major chords, a few scales in the minor, I find the latter kinder to me
But what is all my practice for? I’m not improving, of that I’m sure
And I don’t know the song to play that has my kind of blues
And even if I found it out, what would I have to sing about
But another failed attempt at getting over loving you?
Other day I got a phone call from a friend of mine,
Friend I ain’t seen in the longest time
Said he’s passin through town, like to pay me a visit
He says, you’re not busy, Sam, it’s not inconvenient is it?
I said, Busy? Boy it has been a while
I ain’t been busy since the late 1990s
I said when’ll you be here, he says, One day or the next
Says, how bout when I’m close I shoot you a text
I said, What? He says, I’ll send a text-message
I said, And what’s that, exactly?—Sounds impressive
He says don’t tell me you don’t get text messages
I said, of course I do—post man brings em all the time
He says, What’ve you been doing man, where’ve you been
Don’t you know what year it is? It’s 2014!
Now I don’t mean to startle you, but I’ll make no apology
But there’s a thing we’ve got now it’s called modern technology
I tell him I’ve heard of that—science fiction and whatnot
Gene splicing—animal cloning—drone strikes
He says Not all of it’s bad for your information
Some of it’s improved our communication
I say, And how’s that?—he says, Well, for instance
Like you and me here, we’re talkin long distance
I asked him where he was calling me from
He said he’s sittin on the toilet in an airplane
Flying over the Atlantic ocean at a cruising altitude of 22,000 feet
He says cell phones make it easier to keep in touch
With friends you don’t see or hear from much
Then he accuses me of being a reclusive-type
Then he says, Hang on a minute, I’ve got to wipe
I wonder at what point does information
Become too much information
A minute later he comes back on
Picks right back up with the thread he’s been on
Says it’s also made working a breeze
I can talk to whomever wherever whenever I please
I made the mistake of asking him what line of work he was in nowadays
He says he’s a telemarkerter for Verizon Wireless
Cell phone salesman—spokesperson
Well at no promptin of mine he starts to striking a deal
Lays it on me, goes into his spiel
He says, Do you ever find that your signal’s weak
And you’re getting cut off every time you try to speak?
I said what signal? I’m talking to you on a landline
Rotary telephone, circa 1948
He says, Now hold the phone—let me get this straight,
You don’t even have a cell phone, am I hearing you right?
I’m about to respond when he says, Hold the line
I’m getting a call on the other line
Talk about getting cut off—
seems sometimes good reception’s not about where you’re talkin
but who you’re talkin to
I tell him to call me back, he asks for my number
I said You’re the one who called me, remember?
I asked him how he found me after all this time
He says he looked me up in the phone book—online
I said man, I remember when the yellowpages were actually yellow
And actually pages, too!
Well I hang up and wait for him to call me back
And I’m waiting a while, a whole month, in fact
One day the phone rings, it’s my old pal
He says, Sorry about that, I been tied up a while
Talking to friends, relatives, callin up strangers
Makin sales
First thing he asks me is did I get his parcel
I’m about to say no when I hear the doorbell
Sure enough it’s the postman right on time,
He’s got a package for me, shows me where to sign
And it’s a cell phone, complete with phone, charger, instruction manual,
Service guide, return policy, insurance policy, etcetera…
I said what’s all this, he says No need to thank me,
But welcome, at last, to the twentyfirst century
He says now I don’t have to sit at home
Whenever I want to use my telephone
He says you’re a free man, liberated from the cord
Welcome to the world of wireless
I ask him how much am I gonna have to pay
To live like him in the technology age?
He says it varies but it’s likely to cost
Anywhere between thirty and a hundred bucks
That’s per month, though, he says—but just think of the benefits!
Unlimited minutes, roaming, plus texting
I open the box, remove the packaging foam
There’s nothing inside even looks like a phone
Just a slab of metal the size of a bar of soap
I said, You are kidding me, right, I hope
Where do you aim your mouth on this thing?
Which end is the listening end? Durn thing doesn’t even have buttons on it!
Well he explains to me how to turn it off and on
Gets into an explanation that’s a little overdrawn
All about how its not just a telephone
Its also a camera, a computer, a thousand things in one
You can record a video and send it in an email with a message attached
And you don’t even have to get out of bed—talk about shared experience
Well I tell him I appreciate everything he’s sayin,
But I just can’t buy in to this game he’s playin
And I certainly don’t understand the attraction
To a device that can only cause you more distraction
Make you a rude theater-goer, an even worse driver
Pretty clumsy pedestrian, too
I tell him, don’t get me wrong, I’m not ungrateful
I guess there’s a couple ways this could be useful
I tell him I got a door in here that’s always swingin open
I been meaning for a while to prop it open with something
This looks like it’d be just about the right size
Make a good paper-weight, too
Ruth was married in the days of yore, at the altar made on the threshingfloor
A man said, “Will you take my hand? Will you wear my weddingband?
Will you say you love me evermore?”
Ruth said, “Yes,” even though she wasn’t sure; she knew that men are often insecure
That night they went to bed, when she woke up he was dead
She cursed him for what he’d promised her: he’d said,
Whither thou goest, I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge
Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God
What thou wouldst have me do, I would d
Where thou diest, there will I also die; when no more tears are left to cry
Let it ring out through the land, your wish is my command
Just don’t send me away from you
At the funeral, his mother wept and prayed, then when everyone was gone she stayed
The rain fell lightly down, all was quiet in the town,“Tell me, what am I supposed to do? If there’s anyone can help me tell me who
Is there anything that rhymes with a grief as deep as mine?
I get older but the pain is always new.”
For a whole week they knealt there without bread, without moving and without sleeping in a bed
And when the eighth day dawned, the woman said to Ruth, “Be gone!
What are you waiting for?” And then Ruth said,
Chorus
The last time you left, you told them goodbye
You told them you’d write, or call, or at least try
And they said, alright, they said, all our love,
And when you get back, we’ll pick up right where we left off
Will you remember my name? the way I’ll keep yours
Inside of my heart and soul and my kitchen drawers
Or some other place, somewhere it won’t get lost
So we can pick up right where we left off
If we could go back, or maybe go on ahead
If I could remember some of those lovely things we said,
Maybe that’d be alright, maybe that’d be enough
Maybe then we could pick up right where we left off
I wish I could fly, I wish I could swim
I wish I could do any of those things that remind me of him
I wish they’d come back at whatever the cost
I wish I could pick up right where we left off
Maybe there’d be a way, through some kind of grace
Where I could hold on to a light in this pointless chase
Where everything’d freeze every time you said ‘stop,’
Where we could pick up right where we left off
We’ll bust into that room, we’ll go back in time
We’ll show ourselves to ourselves and we’ll tell em everything’s gonna be just fine
And the record will play and the sound will be soft
And then we’ll pick up right where we left off
Just like turning a page to write the next line
Or saving a word so you’ll have something to say next time
You got to hold on, there will be no pause
And then we’ll pick up right where we left off
My love sends me roses cause she knows I’m allergic
She pulls off the petals and marks the box ‘urgent’
Then she stands in the doorway and makes no disturbance
Even the light seems to soften for her
She used to come closer we used to be gentle
To say how I loved her was unsentimental
And everyone said we had so much potential
But nobody knew how unhappy we were
I used to get sore about breaking a promise
I didn’t want love if it couldn’t be honest
But of all my regrets I’d have to say that the fondest
Is that I will never forget you again
You were the deathbed and I was the funeral
You were a number and I was a numeral
I never thought once to think that unusual
Until I thought it over and over again
And now that I have the advantage of hindsight
And all of my life has been cast in the limelight
I can see I was wrong but don’t know how to make right
All of the troubles you wear on your brow
If only I could endure what I’m made of
If I could explain what I was afraid of
Maybe that’d be enough to complete us
To hear from those who know that they need us
Just what they would think if they could only see us now
Sometimes the day feels like a tedious project
A striving one tries for without any object
Without even laws or so much as a precept
To steer you or guide you or lead you back home
You have to make do with what you’ve been given
Say that you meant to be where you were driven
Pretend you’re content with the life that you’re living
And maybe they’ll promise to leave you alone
You said you were sick and I hoped you’d get better
I wrote you a song in the form of a letter
And your father wrote back and said, You’d better forget her
Whoever this is that you think that you are
I thought what’s forbidden was all that’s worth loving
I thought he was kidding, didn’t know he was bluffing
You take the long shot and you’ll end up with nothing
His postscript I kept like the pain of a scar
But after a while I spose you get used to
Knowing the things that used to confuse you
And even the habits to which they introduced you
Begin to seem like you need them somehow
If only I had a little more imagination
If I could withstand any duller sensation
Or maybe if they would only heed us
Whenever we told them to please believe us
Perhaps they would hear if they could only see us now
The anguish pours out in a language of nonsense
The present and future are both in the past tense
And history sits on the rim of a sequence
It cannot acknowledge and will not restart
What is the point though, of making distinctions?
Between an injustice and just an extinction
There’s only a ballet of juxtapositions
And all of the dancers are moving apart
The prophets are drafting their new manifestos
Leaving them published in coffeeshop windows
And sprayed on the backsides of boxcars whose cargoes
Are headed for a junkyard outside of Tucson
Musicians are musing composing their movements
Jesters suggesting digestive amusements
To nobles bequeathing their thrones to a nuisance
Who will sell his own birthright before he moves on
And when it comes down to the easiest option
To simply proceed without care or precaution
To throw up your hands at the back of the auction
And say that you’ll pay it back some day somehow
Will you remind me of the original prices
We paid to be left to our own devices
They said not to snap at the hands that feed us
Sometimes I wonder how they would treat us
And what they would think if they could only see us now
She never wore cotton she always wore satin
When I first met her, she only spoke latin
And she made me promise to let nothing happen
I couldn’t undo or take back if I did
You’ve taken advice from your supposed superiors
Whose practiced experience would not stoop to hear yours
You’ve learned every inch of all the interiors
But your nakedness somehow remains rather well hid
I lived for a year as the ghost of an attic
Seeking a way that was more democratic
Screaming lost verbs in a downpour of static
Beneath a large hole I had carved in the roof
And then I awoke as from a terrible nightmare
Groping the darkness and tangled in your hair
Murmuring echoes I recall reading somewhere
That was about when I parted with Truth
As the voices of angels surround the cathedrals
And stand with the peasants who begin the upheavals
And teach it was goods that gave birth to the evils
With which we’ve been dealing our whole lives til now
Will you recall why it was that we came here
And what we are doing inside this container
What were the words we were told that would ease us
Angel, joseph, mary, jesus,
What would they think if they could only see us now?
My baby called me up lastnight, asked me if I felt alright
I said I’m okay, she said, alright, I’ll be there in an hour
She picked me up and took me to, every bar along the avenue
I tried to say when I was through, but it wasn’t in my power
By the time the morning rolled around it seemed we’d been through half the town
I drunk so much I thought I’d drown if I didn’t die of thirst
She looked at me said aint this fun, and to think the weekend’s just begun
I said, now wait just a minute, hon, I got to break it to you first
Now I don’t know what you’re taking that keeps you going like you been
Coffee, cocaine, benzadrine or some amphetamine
But my energy is finite and it’s darn well near expired
And you know I hate to tell you, but my darling, I am tired
Next morning she’s as good as new, got ten thousand new things to do
And every one she puts me through like it’s a test for me
Wants to run a race and ride her bike, swim cross the river and take a hike
And everything she says it like its as easy as can be
Politely, I try to suggest that maybe we could just take a rest
Stop a while and catch our breath, or take a nap, at least
I just need a place to rest my head, don’t even need to be a bed
Just dig a hole and call me dead, but let me rest in peace
Now I ain’t exactly lazy and in fact I work quite hard
I’m out of bed fore sunrise and I come home well past dark
I’m in debt up to my eyeballs and I’ll never be retired
But I ain’t exactly kidding when I tell you I am tired
We made it home at half past three and right as I’m about to fall asleep
My babe says babe make love to me, and how could I refuse
We made it til the sun was high and the time for sleep had passed us by
I felt like I was gonna die if I didn’t cut her loose
So I got dressed she said, What’s wrong, I said, I gotta be a getting on
She said, Wait, I said, So long, and climbed down from her arms
She said don’t you care for me? I said, I do, but can’t you see
Exhaustion, it breeds apathy, and your love’s bound to do me harm
Now I’m tired of the homestead and I’m tired of the road
And I’m so tired of being tired I’m just about a ready to explode
Just a quiet place and darkness is all that I desired
From the moment that I met you all I been is well past tired
Well, when I finally got a chance to sleep, I slept quite fast and hard and deep
Never mind the counting sheep, I just went out like a light
I slept for days and weeks and months, slept through my birthday more than once
I slept through all the arguments I might’ve had to fight
Through earthquake fire flood and more, everything come knocking at my door
I slept right through the third world war and woke up all alone
I wandered through abandoned scenes in a vacant town among my dreams
To an empty port where a shanty leans and nobody is home
Now if anyone can hear me, if there’s anybody left
That ain’t packed up in a graveyard waiting for a rest
I used to be so tired, but to sleep was my mistake—
If I could do it all again I’d wish for strength to stay awake
Yonder she walks overtop of the rocks,
and every so often she thoughtfully stops
To untie her shoes, and to pull off her socks
Her beauty abounds beyond measure; I cannot handle the pressure
For even if somehow I
Could but capture her eye
And only to tell her, “I’m sorry—goodbye,”
There’d still be no way for to stand or to stay
For I’d not know what name by
which she goes to address her
She carries her clothes and the wind her hair blows
And the ocean beside her it ebbs and it flows
Erasing her footprints and kissing her toes
As she tenderly wades through the mosses; she don’t know the pain that she causes
For even if I was sure
Of the sly conjecture
That what I feel for her is love, plain and pure
I’d still have to start
With a half-broken heart
That hopes, bears, believes and endures
Despite how all of its gains become losses
Beneath the salt-waves, her fair body she bathes
And the seagulls above her observe her charades
Strongly she swims, to dive deeply, she saves
In her lungs, all the air she can gather; that it won’t last for long doesn’t matter
For even if I could change
Or only just rearrange
The conditions by which I’m made free in my chains
She still would beseech
Me and be out of reach
Of the arms that when she was in range
Could’ve swore that they had her
From the watery deep she sings me to sleep
And slowly become I her question to keep
In my dreams she accosts me and asks me to speak
From inside the bounds of her clutches, she tells me to walk without crutches
And tho I’m to blame
For remaining the same
Despite and because of the size of the pain
She still won’t relent
Won’t requite or resent
And you can’t quite prevent how insane
She turns everyone that she touches
You can stay in the stable, Cain, if you are able
And if you ain’t ready I’m sure that she’ll understand
She loves them all equal, the strong and the feeble
But you know to a new friend she prefers second-hands
Her heart it is golden and her fingers are porcelain
And her hair ravenblack flows as long as her veins
You can borrow a dollar and from the fence you can call her
By any one of her ten-thousand-twenty-two names
When the time comes to leave her, she will ask you to stay
And you’ll have to be honest, and just say you ain’t strong
Course I hope that you’re smarter than to put it that way
But whatever you tell her, you can’t make it too long
She’ll sit in the chapel and chew on her apple
That somebody gave her, she didn’t see who
If you ask where it came from she’ll ask “Why, do you want some?
For the life of me, sweetheart, I thought it was you.”
She lives in the country midst pastures of plenty
Where the wheat bravely staggers and the rye gently blows
When she needs a diversion she’ll make an excursion
To a place in the forest where nobody goes
When you come to a clearing she will tell you to halt
And you’ll have to be honest and say you’re really surprised
And while you make your excuses and say it wasn’t your fault
Best be sure that you’re speaking with tears in your eyes
Far from the centers she exits and enters
And stealthily glides midst the unnoticed crowds
You can follow her shadow, pretending she had no
Reason for drawing you underneath of her cloud
She’s cold as a crystal and she carries a pistol
That carries six bullets she fires at will
When she blows you her kisses, know that she never misses
And you’d already be dead if just lookin could kill
When she tells you her story and it runs your frame cold
Well, you’ll have to be honest and just say what you thought
Tho she’s only a child, she’s already too old
To remember that all that she knows she’s been taught
The district attorney made a hell of a journey
One midsummer’s Sunday at the end of july
Even pulled by a bloodhound there was nothing to be found
In the end he just told her he only came to say hi
Several months later in the onset of winter
When the lakewater surface had but frozen part way
A man was out huntin and he stumbled on something
That made him feel that he’d seen enough blood for one day
When they came to arrest her with their shotguns unsheathed
Crying “Keep your eyes careful, boys, she needs to be watched,”
She came out on the porch and said, “Will you poor bastards, please,
Say what you think you could take from me I ain’t already lost?”
You don’t have to sell it but that’s how they tell it
Hithers her homestead and yonders her grave
You could put up a statue, a figure of virtue
And Adonis-madonna for all the damn that she gave
Born to an orphan who was born to an orphan
In east Oklahoma where she lived till she died
Late Christmas evening, the year 1919
Died the twentyfirst of April 1935
God called to Abraham, said “Abraham, my son,”
Abraham said, “Here I am—what is it you want done?”
Said, “Abraham, the time has come, go and get me your dearest son, And by tomorrow’s setting sun—
I want you to offer him up to me.”
Well Abraham he went on home, and he sat down to his supper
Sarah asked him what he’d done, as he looked so pale and sober
He said, “I’ve done nothing, that’s just it, I must be dreaming or getting sick I think I just need to lie down quick!”
And he got up from the table
That night he did not sleep a wink, but he lay in his bed tryin
The only thoughts that he could think, were of his young son’s lonesome dyin
For his life he couldn’t understand why it had to be by his own hand, why this had been his Lord’s command—
He couldn’t think of any reason
Next morning, early, he arose—well before the sun had risen
Put on his hat and his morning clothes—brought along a knapsack with him
Then he stole into Isaac’s room, Brought him out beneath the moon And like a corpse, fresh for the tomb--
Isaac went on sleepin
“Lord,” he said, “I’m beggin you—if ever you’ve been with me
For what I am about to do, I hope you will forgive me,”
Then Isaac, who had just woke up Said, “Forgive you, father? But for what?” He said, “Son, you know I’d tell you but—
Myself, I do not know yet.”
Then Abraham he told his son of a journey he was makin
He said “If you choose I’ll let you come, but it has no destination
Bring up a mule and pack a tent, A rope, some tinder and some flint,” And obediently, Isaac went—
To do as he was bidden
Then Abraham to Isaac called, “Isaac my dear son,”
Isaac answered, “Here I am—what is it you want done?”
He said, “Isaac, now the time has come Go and get me my Remington, the very best of all my guns—
And offer it up to me.”
Well the rode until their shadows grew much taller than their figures
The frigid autumn evening blew the leaves against dead fixtures
And when the sky had turned to red Abraham to Isaac turned his head “Gather up some wood,” he said
“Here’s where we’ll build the altar.”
“What will be our offering?” Isaac asked unto his father
“A lamb to kill we didn’t bring.” Abe said, “We needn’t bother,
What we brought will be just fine, Now hurry up, there ain’t much time,” And while Isaac went for some wood to find—
Abe loaded up his rifle
Isaac left and then came running back, crying, “Father! Please come quickly,
I’ve spied a deer in a bramble patch—he’s caught up well and thickly,”
Abraham said, “Show me where,” Isaac took him, said “Right there,” And sure enough, within a snare—
A healthy deer was struggling.
Abraham said, “Lord, my God—if ever you’ve been with me
For what I am about to do, I hope you will forgive me
I don’t pretend to understand Why you gave me that command But if I do or don’t I’m damned—
This is my situation.”
And sayin that he raised his gun and laid his cheek against the barrel
In his range were both his dearest son and the deer so wild and feral
For a moment he observed the scene Like a man who can’t decide between Who needs someone to intervene—
To make his decision for him.
But from the sky no angel came to stay his quaking finger
No spirit Abraham could name brought his hot hand to the trigger
And midst the depths of his deepest doubt “Shoot, father!” Isaac shouted out And from the woods one shot rang out—
Followed closely by another.
And whether he first shot the deer, thinking that would be sufficient
And afterwards shot the boy when he realized that it wasn’t
Or whether he first killed his son, then himself when he realized what he’d done Or fired twice at the setting sun—
To this day, there is no telling.
The kettle is screaming from its place on the stove
Still dark but it’s morning, Mary’s in her bathrobe
Those boys better wake up, she says to herself
But she knows they ain’t sleeping—no, they’re somewhere else
She pours out the coffee, and she throws on a quilt
Steps out on the front porch that her late husband built
And as she stares at the ocean, she recalls how she felt
To be a young woman who longed to be somewhere else
But she’d married a sailor who’d married the sea
And she’d borne him three children uncomplainingly
And whenever they took sick she’d nurse them right back to health
By feeding them stories about somewhere else
Then one day in November, her husband called All Aboard
For the very last time and was lost overboard
They brought her his jacket, his boots and his belt
Said, “He might not be drowned, ma’am, might just be somewhere else.”
For ten days they waited, then they waited ten more
For his body or his clothing to wash up on shore
But it only got colder and the ice wouldn’t melt
So they finally concluded he was just somewhere else
And her boys grew to manhood—tho much to her dismay
And despite how she urged them, they took up the old trade
First was lost near Tahiti, the second drowned way down south
The third his brothers went seeking, and wound up somewhere else
They say not to lose hope, they say not to despair
Just because they don’t come back don’t mean they ain’t there
They say to have courage, you know but it hardly helps
When your heart is in one place and your love’s somewhere else
The ships have come back now, they’re moored at the pier
And the sailors are drunk now, on their whiskey and beer
And upon barroom counters captains divvy their wealth
But the wives and the widows, aw, they’re somewhere else
The Lord he may giveth and he may taketh away
But if you need a good reason, the Bible won’t say
And as she blows out her candle, and puts the book on the shelf
She thinks, “If God’s in his heaven, I must be somewhere else.
Taxi lady, tell me where to—can I take you long the avenue?
You still lookin for that prince you said you knew? And does he still have your other shoe?
Taxi lady, I guess it’s been a while—I’m glad to see tho that you still ain’t lost your style
But say what happened to your winning smile? It used to be worth more than just a mile
Taxi lady, how’d you get to be so sad—you look just like you lost whatever chance you had
But nevermind you’ll see it ain’t that bad, once you’ve had a ride in my good ol taxi cab
Taxi lady, won’t you tell me what you want, expensive dinner at some four star restaurant?
To spend a whole night at the hotel Altamont? You name the date and I can take you if you want
Taxi lady, can I take you for a ride, up to the highway or the lonesome riverside
You seem like the kind of girl with nothing left to hide, I’m the kind of man with nothing left inside
Taxi lady, tell me where you’re comin from, it’s so cold tonight my hands are getting numb
I can’t tell you how many miles I’ve just come, not to get to you but just to anyone
At the next stop take a right, then go down there right on through that trafficlight
You can circle the block a couple times it’s alright, but taxi, take me home tonight
Taxi lady, well, now that you asked, I got lots of troubles all up buried in my past
I try to get away but this taxi ain’t too fast, seems like some of what is there is there to last
Taxi lady tell me how you been, you know I haven’t always driven this machine
I used to have a job I wrote songs for a queen, it was a lot like this if you know what I mean
Taxi lady, keep your change this one’s on me, you find me again and you can always ride for free
I ain’t scared of having no place to be, I’m just afraid of having no one to take with me
Taxi lady won’t you take the whole night off, we’ll go wherever you can possibly think of
And if by the end you still ain’t had enough I got a bottle waiting back in the garage
Taxi lady tell me what you got to lose, another evening settin at home with the blues
This ain’t no limosine but it’ll do for just a cruise, down past the marquis and the crowded avenues
Taxi lady, say again where do you live, I hope it ain’t among that crowd I seen you with
Don’t say you’re sorry I don’t know what that is, I’m one of those whose done too much sinning to forgive
Chorus
Taxi lady, will you ever find your prince? I heard he lives up in those project tenements
You know I barely make enough to pay my rents, but I don’t want your money, I’ll just take your compliments
Taxi lady, how bout some other night, we’ll get together, we’ll do it right
Give me a signal but please make it bright; you put out your hand and I’ll put out my light
Taxi lady, I must bid thee now, adieu; I feel somehow that our acquaintanceship ain’t thru
I can’t tell you who to be or what to do, but there’s a thousand more out here tonight like you
Well I went to visit grandma just the other week,
she seemed so glad to see me doin well
She didn’t look so bad herself for a woman of her age,
that she was almost 93 you’d never tell
Well we got to catchin up a bit as it had been a little while,
granny said she’d done a bit of traveling of late
I figured she meant around the house or down the road a little ways—
that was my first mistake
Said she’d been all over Europe, all through England and through France,
said she’d swam across the Adriatic sea
Then she came back to the United States and she visited each one,
and then got home just in time for hostin me
well every story that granny told me seemed a little more surprising than the last
til finally I had to interrupt her at some length
I said, Granny, I believe you, but I just have to ask
What is the secret to your strength?
She said, “Aw, well that’s an easy one, you know I always watch my weight
And I’ve always kept my posture good so that I wouldn’t stoop
I take vitamins and exercise and every day I have one bowl
Of grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup”
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll cure blindness! It’ll make you whoop (Wahoo!)
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why, it’ll almost make you young again
Now I must say when granny said all this my curiosity was aroused,
I said, Now of what does this here said soup consist?
Before she even answered me she said, “Would you like a taste of some?”
I shrugged and said, “Well, if you insist.”
Then she went over to the fridge and she pulled out a great big pot
That looked to be leftovers from the latest batch
And takin off the lid she exclaimed, “Darn—fresh out!
Not to worry though, we’ll just start again from scratch!”
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll cure baldness! It’ll make you whoop (Wahoo!)
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why, it’ll almost make you young again
Well the first thing that she did was bring some water to a boil
Added salt and pepper and vinegar and a little gin
In another pan she heated up a little bit of olive oil
Then she cut up an onion and some veggies and threw em in
Then while all of that was cookin she went out into the yard
Told me to keep an eye on that there bubbling broth
She came back in with a live hen, tossed it whole into the pot
Didn’t even kill it first or take it’s feathers off
And before I could object, she had left the room again,
Went and gathered every soiled bedsheet in her home
And when all the laundry was collected she nonchalantly stirred it in
Said, “It’s like killing two birds with one stone!”
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll cure arthritis! It’ll make you whoop! (Wahoo!)
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why, it’ll almost make you young again!
Well, when she had taken out her laundry and had hung it out to dry,
She said, and now we’ll add the noodles to the mix
But upon inspection of her pantry, not a morsel caught my eye
Granny looked and said, “Well aw—fiddlesticks!”
Then a look came over granny that was at first desperate and then fierce
Then she snapped her fingers and said she knew just the thing
She said, “Well you’ve got shoes on,” I said, “Yes, and what of that?”
She said, “Well—get em off! We need them strings!”
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll take the paint off—it’ll make you whoop (Wahoo!)
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why it’ll almost make you young again!
Well when everything was in there and it had simmered for a while,
Granny stirred it up and said it was almost done
Then she got me out a bowl and she got me out a spoon
And said, “I’ll bet you just can’t wait to try you some,”
Now I’ve never been a one to treat my elders with disrespect
And I’ve never been one to deliberately seem rude
But after seeing what I had of those ingredients and all,
I should have hesitated to call what that was food
So I said, Granny, I’m obliged, but I think I’m gonna pass,
She said, “Now, I don’t want to hear none of that there lip!”
She ladeled me a bowl and set it down and crossed her arms
I gulped and shut my eyes and took a sip of
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll clean you out—it’ll make you whoop! (Wahoo!)
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why, it’ll almost make you young again
Well the next thing that I knew I was passed out cold upon the floor
Granny was standing over me, saying, “Do you know where you are?”
I said, “Go and get a doctor,” but she had no phone or car,
And so she carried me all the way to the E.R.
Few days later I was better all laid up in my hospital bed,
The doctor said he’d never seen a case so bad
He said, “I mean it’s like you were poisoned or something!” I said, “Yeah, pretty much,”
He said, “Do you know what you ate?” I said, “All I had was
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll give you courage—it’ll make you whoop!
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
Why it’ll almost make you young again!
Well granny came to see me later on that afternoon
Brought me some flowers and some home-made medicine
She said, “I have no idea how you got so sick, but this here will cure you sure!”
I rolled my eyes, and said, “Here we go again—”
Grandmas’ famous chicken noodle soup
Some say it’s a blessing, some say it’s a curse
Grandma’s famous chicken noodle soup
It’ll cure you—if it doesn’t kill you first!
Well when I was a much younger man I traveled all through this here land
From up around the new England parts to down where the land called Mexico starts
And in between there I visited a lot of places, shook a lot of hands, saw a lot of faces
I got pretty close to some things you wouldn’t want to go near, I heard some things you’d probably not want to hear
But of all the towns that I can recollect now there’s one I remember being different somehow
Cause there was this man, I don’t guess you’d doubt it, he did this thing, well let me tell you about it:
Well, it was a midsummer’s evening if I remember right, I’s hunting up a place where I could stay the night
And I came on a crossroads about a quarter past seven, only thing there’s a hotel and a tavern
Well the door was open, and there was a candle burning, it wasn’t anything too fancy or nothing
But it looked like a place you might get a drink, have a spot to sit and some time to think
So I go on in, I’m the only one there, except for the bartender of course and two other guys there
And they was rough old boys, you should’ve seen em, so I go on up sit down in between em
I say, “Busy night?” No one laughs; tender comes over he’s wiping a glass
He says, “I never seen you in here before,” I said, “That’s cause I never been in here before,”
He says, “Where you from?” I say, “Nowhere special,” he says, “Passin through, eh? Right on schedule…”
Well, we talked that way for a little while, neither one of the other two even crackin a smile
Finally the bartender tells me that I look thirsty, I say, “Thanks, friend, I ain’t had a drink since Thursday,”
So he pours me a beer, I thank him for the service, he says, “You alright, man? You seem kinda nervous…”
Well I guess I must’ve been moving my eyes back and forth betwixt these two other guys
So I say, “What’s the story with these two fellas?” Tender perks up, says “Well, let me tell you
“The man to your right is a righteous man, man I’d trust about as far as I can
He doesn’t say much that ain’t worth saying, but a word from him is a word worth saving
The man to your left’s a whole other story, belongs to his very own category
I don’t guess there’s much that man ain’t said, gainst friend or enemy, livin or dead—”
As soon as he says that this bottle comes flying, the tender ducks and it breaks behind him
One of em threw it I couldn’t tell which, and then the other one called him an old son of a bitch
Then he says, “You wanna see something really funny?” I said “That all depends, what’ll it cost me?”
He says, “Nothin, just a minute of your time,” I say, “Alright, well that ought to be just fine,”
He says, “Ask this fine young handsome gentleman,” and he’s pointing to the guy standing right across from him,
He says, “Ask him to tell you about that other fella, the one there sittin on the other side of ya,”
So I say, “Why? What for? What’ll happen?” he says, “Nothing probably,” and he starts laughin
I say, “I don’t get it,” he says, “Well I can see I’m borin ya, just don’t try telling me that I didn’t warn ya
And then the phone rings and he walks off somewhere…
So for a minute I paused, I just sat there drinkin, nobody’s talking and so I started thinking
I mean, what in the heck could be so hilarious about these two fellas, he can’t be serious
So I’m drinking, feeling a buzz, I ask the man to my right what his name was
He says “I’m Jake,” I said, “And who’s your brother?” He says, “For that you’re gonna have to ask my mother,”
I said, “Alright, and where’s she?” he says he doesn’t know, points down the bar, says “My brother might, though,”
I said, “Alright, well this is getting exhausting,” So I go up to his brother and I practically accost him,
I say, “Howdy friend, putter there! Now what can you tell me bout that man down there?”
Well he shrugs some, and turns his back, he’s pouring out shots, knockin em back
So I try again, I always been persistent, he resists me again, like he’s all against it
Finally the tender calls out, “Naw man, you can’t force it!—I know he drinks it faster than he pours it
But you just let him finish that there swaller, and you’ll see, he’ll begin to holler—”
Sure enough, no sooner had he set down his glass, he says: “Alright, I’ll tell you, but just cause you asked:
He’s a no good long haired dirty yella double crossin son of a low-down lyin
cheatin stealin rank-smellin onion-peeling lazy inbred foulmouthed grassfed
ugly useless two-bit unread urine-drinkin whistle-blowin storytelling feces-throwin
draft-dodgin muck-rackin unamusing ambulance-chasin money-grubbin motherlovin counterfeittin
good-for-nothin unmannered lame bland inconsiderate stupid selfish weak illiterate helpless
hopeless heartless desperate—hang on a minute, now, I ain’t done yet—measly little sneaky
snivelin treacherous leacherous daughter-diddlin cold-blooded back-stabbin two-faced disgraced
carpet-baggin unenlightened foolish misanthropic uncreative oafish idiotic brown-nosin bootlicking
fingerpointin ass-kissin needy greedy angry jealous underhanded sideways overzealous dishonest
careless gross disgustin, disgraceful hateful enemy-trustin beer-bellied knock-kneed sorry excuse
for a cross-eyed hook-nosed snaggly toothed pigeon-livered humpbacked chicken-hearted don’t even
go a getting me started, he’s a genuine trash-feedin lower-than-bottom-dwelling fun spoilin trouser
soilin door-to-door-insurance-sellin bootlegging egglayin naysaying no-payin spit-sprayin belly-achin
windbreakin time-wastin unreliable ruthless unrelenting freeloadin freedom-hatin, not to mention
he’s a card-carryin, proselytizing, sister-marryin fascist-sympathizin—
And he aint no friend of mine, no, he ain’t no friend of mine
He may be a one of a kind, but he ain’t no friend of mine
He aint no friend of mine, no, he aint no friend of mine
He may be my brother, but he ain’t no friend of mine
I went down to the chapel last easter morning,
Hadn’t been for a while, it seemed like a good time
I was counting on hearing a beautiful sermon
By the preacher there who’s an old friend of mine
I’s a few minutes late, the service was crowded
An usher escorted me into my seat
Soon as I had sat down the sermon had started,
The next thing that I knew, I had fell fast asleep
And while I was sleepin while the preacher was preachin
A most peculiar vision visited me
I dreamt that the person sittin beside me
Was none other than jesus of old galilee
Well he put out his hand, and he said, “Nice to meet you,”
There wasn’t no halo hangin over his head
He looked old and tired and he smelled sorta pungent
As you’d imagine a man who just came back from the dead
He wanted to know if I’d show him around some
And keep him a secret, he didn’t want to be seen
I agreed to his terms and he asked what the date was
I said, “It’s easter Sunday, 2014”
It occurred to me then just what jesus was in for
Having never set foot within our day and age
He’d probably never seen a car or an airplane
Or watched a television or read the sportspage
Well out of the church we two then proceeded
While the preacher in the pulpit was left carryin on
I asked old jesus what he thought of the sermon
He said he thought it had gone on too long
We stepped outside into the city
Where the wind blew a newspaper right up to our feet
Jesus picked it up and he started to readin,
And the words that he said, he was bound to repeat, he said:
Aint it a pity? Aint it a shame?
I’m gone two thousand years and the world hasn’t changed
There’s still wars bein fought, there’s still people in chains
Aint it a pitiful shame?
Well we walked for a while through the slums and the alleys
Jesus took it all in like he’d seen it before
Healing the sick, feeding the hungry
Helping the needy, the grievin, the poor
Somehow or other we made it to wall-street
Where we stood out like bums at a rich folks’ parade
Jesus pulled on the coat-tails of a shiny tuxedo
Asked the fella who wore it how his money was made
Well the fella turned red and told us to get lost
He said, “That’s my business and none of your own!”
He said, “If I had a dollar to give every beggar
I’d be out of a job and out of a home!” Jesus said,
Aint that a pity? Aint that a shame?
I’m gone two thousand years and the world hasn’t changed
Sure the buildings are taller, but the people’s the same
Ain’t that a pitiful shame?
While jesus was talkin, the man lets out a whistle
And up comes this officer lookin servile and all
He says “What’s the trouble?” and the man points right at us
The officer makes us put our hands on the wall
And while he is friskin, jesus starts talkin
Says, “You won’t get to heaven by buyin your way!”
When the officer heard that he started to beat him
Dragged us both to his squad car to haul us away
Down at the courthouse they questioned and searched us
Took prints of our fingers and asked us our names
When I told them mine, they didn’t say nothing
When jesus said his, well they called him insane, jesus said,
Aint that a pity? Aint that a shame?
I’m gone two thousand years and the world hasn’t changed
To the people in charge the truth still sounds insane
Aint that a pitiful shame?
Well we went fore the judge who asked what our crime was,
The officer said we’s tryin to steal from the rich
He said he’d be doin both us a favor
Brought down his gavel, said the sentence was death, jesus said,
Aint that a pity? Aint that a shame?
I’m gone two thousand years and the world hasn’t changed
They kill you once, if you come back, they’ll kill you again
Aint that a pitiful shame?
Well when I awoke I was still in the chapel
The sermon was over, everyone had gone home
Except for one person way up in the front row
Who had his head bent and was prayin alone
Well I got up to leave so as not to disturb him
I tried to be quiet so I wouldn’t be heard
But when I got to the front, and started to pass him
I couldn’t help overhearing some familiar words
Aint it a pity? Aint it a shame?
It’s been two thousand years and the world hasn’t changed!
When I think of the violence that’s been done in christ’s name
Aint it a pitiful shame?
Rich folks get—richer and richer
Sick folks get—sicker and sicker
And the gap between em gets—bigger and bigger
And the days go by—quicker and quicker
Hired on Monday Tuesday I’m fired
Rent keeps getting higher and higher
Money keeps getting scarcer and scarcer
While my pantry keeps getting barer and barer
Somebody mustve made an error somewhere
Cause my own kids I can’t keep fed
I gotta remind em when they tell me they’re hungry
That you cant be any poorer than dead
Chorus
I tried to hide it but I guess its apparent
Nothing for my kids to hand down from my parents
Nothing to lose or to gain as inheritance
Save for maybe a hatred of arrogance
Last week I made out my last will and testament
And golly do you know what it said
It said you can’t be any richer than to know you’re alive
And you can’t be any poorer than dead
Chorus
Population keeps increasing
Earth’s resources are near depletion
Our furthest limits we’re near to reachin
And the brakes of progress are hardly screechin
In a schoolhouse somewhere a teacher’s teachin
This is the observable trend
You can’t be any richer than to know you’re alive
And you can’t be any poorer than dead
Chorus
World is getting warmer and warmer
Soon it’ll be perpetual summer
With an ice-cube salesman on every corner
Sellin ice cubes at a hundred and a quarter
And I’ll take ten tho I can’t afford em
But what’s just a little more debt?
When you cant be any richer than to know you’re alive
You cant be any poorer than dead
Chorus
Scientists are workin harder and harder
To make machines that’re smarter and smarter
That can kill more people cheaper and faster
That’ll lead us right to nuclear disaster
Everybody thinks that it’s power he’s after
Cause everybody wants to forget
That you can’t be any richer than to know you’re alive
And you can’t be any poorer than dead
Chorus
Job! I need a job! I need a job, job, job
Job! I need a job! I need a job! Job! Job!
I filled out your applications, I supplied my resume
I can’t wait until tomorrow you got to let me know today
Are you hirin? Are you firing? Are you letting people go?
If there’s room in there for new recruits you gotta let me know.
I’m the best that you could hire, I’m persistent as they come
I don’t never quit a project til the project is all done
I won’t complain I won’t talk back I’ll be as servile as can be
If you want someone who’ll be faithful then you got to hire me
I’ll come early I’ll stay later, I’ll do more than what I’m asked
I’ll exceed your expectations in every chore and task
Chorus
What position am I looking for? What positions have you got?
I’ll do anything you pay me to, reasonable or not
I’ll clean toilets, I’ll mop basements, I’ll sweep chimneys, roof to floor
I’ll bake muffins, I’ll make coffee, I’ll sell insurance door-to-door
I’ll sort clothing, I’ll deliver pizza, I’ll answer telephones all day
As long as you are payin me I’ll do anything you say
I’ll throw papers, give directions, I’ll tear tickets to the show
I’ll ring up groceries, make inspections, I’ll watch watermelons grow
I’ll collect garbage, I’ll wash dishes, I’ll write tickets by the score
I’ll dance around in public just to advertise your store
Chorus
Check my background, check my birthday, check the references I’ve named
Tho if you’d just take my word for it, it’ll amount to about the same
Qualifications, certifications, education—I got those
And as for my experience, well I got that too I spose
I been a farmer, been a baker, been a fast hand on the line
Been a salesman, been a showman, been in trades of every kind
I’m quick to learn, slow to forget, I’ll be the easiest to train
Everything’s my occupation, and hard-work’s my middle name
I ain’t beggin for no handouts, I aim to work to make my wage
I’ll do whatever work you ask me, at whatever rate it pays
Chorus
I got kids and they are hungry I got a wife that’s hungry too
Mouths to feed from Pennsylvania all the way to Timbuktu
My landlady is a hounddog and I’m three months late on rent
The inheritance I just received, well somehow it got spent
I got bills and fees and fines to pay, the none of which I can
I would have to be ten people, but I only am one
I’m deep in debt, you bet, seems I owe everybody some
Ain’t got two dimes to rub together, hell, I ain’t even got a one
I asked you once politely, now I’m beggin on my knees
Now I’m kissin your old bootstrings, just gimme that job, please
Chorus
Song! I got a song! I got a song! Song ! Song!
And if you don’t start to pay me I’ll just sing it all day long
Chorus
When your employer works you harder than you’re paid to
And you can’t ask for a raise cause you’re afraid to
And your money can’t be spent on anything except the rent
And you pray it will relent but nothing saves you
Hurry up, don’t wait
Don’t you flinch or hesitate
You got one chance to change your fate, it can’t be missed
If you got reason to complain
Against your labor or your pain
Step forth and put your name down on this list
When the doctor asks to see a form of payment
Fore he’ll lift a broken man up off the pavement
And he’ll tell you with a smile you only need to rest a while
And then he’ll charge you for what he calls the entertainment
Chorus
When the judge seldomer forgives than incarcerates
And crime numbers are inconsistent with arrest rates
And if you can’t afford the fine, you’ll have to do the time
For holding drugs that have been legalized in some states
Chorus
When money’s the only way to climb the ladder
And the fat cats at the top keep getting fatter
And the poor folk and the bums, everybody on the bottom rung
Have been told from early on that they just don’t matter
Chorus
When your rights have been put up on the block for auction
And they’d sooner shoot than speak to take precation
And non-resistance no longer is the way to go
On account of it no longer is an option
Chorus
Early one morning, the whole world fast asleep
A hobo was layin out dead in the street
Like a prayer left unanswered, a call left undailed
He was nobody’s darling, but he was somebody’s child
Had a thirst keen on whisky, but he always was blunt
Never had any money, always said so up front
What’ll it be, dad—the barkeep’d ask with a smile
“I ain’t nobody’s father—I’m just somebody’s child,”
He’d sleep on park-benches when he was down on his luck
And he’d ask for spare quarters when he was hard up
But he never liked hand-outs and he always desired
To be treated decent, like somebody’s child
With his hands on a bottle, as if in a pose
Near a mountain of garbage, he’d sat down and froze
For months he just sat there, preserved, undefiled
But even an old man’s still somebody’s child
The leaves changed their colors and the weather turned raw
And the rain fell in sheets by gravity’s law
while the snowflakes fell softly, so delicately piled
they covered the body of somebody’s child
The people walked by him, and some of them stared
Some threw out their pennies, but nobody cared
But where is there refuge for the city’s exiled?
Show me where is the person that ain’t somebody’s child?
Not a family to speak of, he didn’t have no home
Midst the crowds of the city, he was all alone
The name that the coroner wrote down and filed
In the absence of any was “somebody’s child,”
Some folks’re lucky—they’re born into it all
Some come out fighting with their backs gainst the wall
Some grow more civil, other’s just get wild
But everyone starts out bein somebody’s child.
Everybody knows that slavery ended with the civil war
Equality and freedom were well worth dyin for
And people claim that race is not an issue anymore
But of whites to blacks in prison the ratio’s now one to four
but if you ain’t pale and privileged, it’s hard to ignore
And everybody knows the story of how we won our civil rights
The blacks received the ballot, the same as the whites
We ended segregation and all appeared to be alright
But the dawn of a new era just brought on another night
Just look at the facts of the case, my friend
Its black and its white, time and again
As crime rates continue to slow and descend
“but we’re vanquishing crime,” the politicians contend
Meanwhile prison population just grows
And it ain’t cause the times haven’t changed
The more they have, the more they’ve just stayed the same
But you never call things by their names—under the new jim crow
But crime ain’t the thing being fought
Despite what you’ve been told and taught
You can’t prove innocence when you’re caught—under the new jim crow
That the US polices all the world I’ve heard it’s leaders claim
Incarcerationally speaking the US puts the world to shame
Using words of law and order, from seeming racist they’ve abstained
But slavery ain’t abolished, it’s just wearing a new name
It’d be hard to gage or guess how far the justice system’s failed
When millions of people in this free country have been jailed
Beneath the pretense of a war on crime, the cracking down’s entailed
A round-up of the ones without the means to pay the bail
Just look at the facts of the case my friends,
It’s black and it’s white, time and again
The pattern by nows a predictable trend
Whose numbers just go to show
that justice is still just a dream
Except for the whites with the means
That’s all that equality means—under the new jim crow
That you can’t blame the blind hand of fate
When the criminal is yours to create
And is judged less by his deeds than his traits—Under the new jim crow
When it’s expected that young poor black males will likelier serve time
Than receive their due diplomas in their graduation lines
And the judges in the courtrooms all claim they’re colorblind
While from the schoolyard to the jailyard there’s no black child left behind
And once you’ve been to prison, the lifelong label you will wear
But you know it will prevent you from ever getting anywhere
They’ll say it’s nothing personal as they tell you to prepare
To become someone about whom nobody has to care
Just look at the facts of the case my friends
Its black and its white, time and again
The rule of the law to the accused never bends
It was broken, a long time ago—
The rights that your laws are supposed to defend
Were suspended a long time ago
But the history’s too painful to trace
And the music’s just too sad to face
And no one wants to talk about race—under the new jim crow
And some cannot believe we could be further from the track
When even the president of the united states is black
You’d think it would mean something but it’s only been an act
In the name of social progress we’ve all turned our watches back
When the police shoot the people they ought to protect
And any motion for indictment the grand jury must reject
On account of police bullets in black bodies ain’t suspect
And black children have to wear “Don’t Shoot Me” signs around their necks
Just look at the facts of the case, my friends
It’s black and its white, time and again
And whether you’re free all seems to depend
Upon which way the wind wants to blow
With one percent of your people enslaved
In this land of the free and the brave
Tell me, America, O say
Does that star spangled banner yet wave—under the new jim crow?
Well I woke up with a bit of a condition
So I went in to consult with my physician
He told me I would need an operation
And that it just couldn’t wait
He said he’d need my authorized permission
In order to proceed with an excision
Gave me papers which I signed with the conviction
That soon it would be too late
The next week I was starting to feel better
That is until I got a letter
It was from hospital bill-collector
He said I owed him twenty-thousand dollars
I called and said, “tell me how can this be?
I’m being overcharged exorbitantly—
Isn’t my insurance going to front me?
I tell you I just can’t pay!”
Chorus:
They said, “You should’ve gone ahead and read the fine print
You might’ve understood a little different
It might’ve seemed like something that it isn’t
Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, might’ve—but you didn’t”
So I went down to the bank to take a loan out
They said okay just take and fill this form out
I asked them to tell me what it all was about
They said it’s just S.O.P.
They asked me what I needed all that cash for
I told them that I had to pay my doctor
they told me that my income was a factor
and did I have a full-time job
I told them at the moment I did not yet
my doctor said I’d have to wait a while yet
I couldn’t work until my bones were all set
The banker-lady said: No Dice.
they said I’d need a record of some credit
Without which I might as well forget it
they said its in the contract and I read it
and they pointed at my signature
I said “a man is not all he endorses”
They said, wait just a minute, hold your horses
They said the catch about this all, of course, is
That your interest starts today
chorus
So then I went out seeking some employment
Which you will imagine brought me no enjoyment
I applied without discretion or discernment
For any and everything
I got a job working at a factry
Worked there two full weeks and then they sacked me
Told me they’d do better if they lacked me
I said what about my two-weeks pay?
They pulled me out a crumpled piece of paper
they said I signed it: didn’t I remember?
they read me off my driver’s license number
Said I’d be getting none from them
They said that in my contract there’s a section
Where they reserved the right to termination
Any day or time or place for any reason
And to withhold pay
chorus
well, I decided this was an injustice
a situation legal action must fix
so I got myself a lawyer on the off-chance
that things could be resolved
I wrote up a complaint and a proposal
An amount for which I’d be willing to settle
They laughed and said that it would go to trial
And that I was bound to lose
My lawyer showed a fierce determination
To stand up against the corporation
And would not be swayed by their intimidation
No matter how they tried
Well after the judge and jury heard it
They came up with the following verdict
they said they didn’t quite know how to word it
except to say that I had lost
My lawyer declared it was an outrage
But even so it wouldn’t make the front page
He said “another worker’s robbed of his wage—
It happens every single day.”
Then he sincerely gave me condolences
And handed me a bill of his expenses
I asked him if he’d gone and lost his senses
What did he expect me to do?
I thought that if we lost I owed him zero
He said that’s just in cases of pro bono
He said that “in the contract…” I said “oh no—
Here we go again,”
Chorus
Now I don’t aim to keep you people guessin
About the moral of this story, or the lesson
The only thing I aim to be suggestin
Is to keep your eyes open wide
The next time that you go to see a lawyer
Or a banker or a doctor or employer
Or anyone who claims that they’ve got your
Best interest at heart
Make sure you bring along your readin glasses
Make sure you dot the I’s and note the dashes
Of everything that your signature passes
And make a copy for your files
This is the song for the unsung heroes
For the losers and zeroes no history records
For the plain and blameless quiet nameless
Many who never stray too far from the shore
Who work their hardest for no one’s notice
Who earn their money but have to steal their rest
Who lose their chances at the cheap salvation
As they fall far short of ever being second best
You daily grinders and watch-spring winders
Hopeless reminders of what all you might have been
I salute you in all your strivings
Remember there are more of you than them
This is the song for the ordinary sister
Of the beauty contest winner with the recessive traits
Whom no one stares at or asks to dinner
Or invites out dancing or wants to date
Who grows to old age and never marries
Who has no children to call her very own
But who gives her love out to all who’ll take it
And is, wherever she is, right at home
This is the song for the unknown soldier
Who grew no bolder the nearer war he got
Who aimed his rifle for his own survival
At his would-be enemy but never took the shot
Who died in battle, came home like chattel,
Was laid to rest in an unmarked pauper’s grave
Was unremembered save as young and foolish
And by a few who knew him as less than brave
You adventure seekers, timid time-keepers
Who watch the bleachers from the middle of the fray
As you go headlong into unknown country
May God bless and keep you safe upon your way
This is the song for the obscure explorer
Who winds up poorer than when he started out
Who never arrives at his destination
Whose explanation the world must do without
Who will lose his compass, his only atlas
Whose tears of madness will ingredient the sea
As the waves that pound him will lift and drown him
With his question sounding: will anyone remember me?
You billionaires in your big easy chairs
counting your coins and your dough
What do you need with all that money?
You can’t take it with you, you know
You’ve hedged all your bets, you’ve become a success,
your kingdom spreads out far and wide
but when will your stuff ever bring you enough?
When will you be satisfied?
Chorus:
When pigs learn to fly, when hell freezes o’er
When the rocks in the mountains can sing
But just cause they don’t, it don’t mean that they won’t
There’s a first time for everything
You big-business bosses who cut all your losses
Who pay less than the minimum wage
Whose labor’s on lease somewheres overseas
Cause it’s cheaper and all of the rage
What will you say to folks comin your way
When outside your door they are packed
Screamin for work and callin you jerk
Sayin, “When can we have our jobs back?”
Chorus
Now the healthcare debate in the united states
Is as fierce as it is anywhere
When the state of your health depends on your wealth
That don’t exactly seem fair
I need to be cured, but I ain’t insured
It’s the most I can do just to beg
When will I receive the care that I need
Without payin an arm and a leg?
chorus
You judges who sit, who condemn and acquit
Who hear bout the worst that men do
Aloft in your towers with your gowns and your powers
Who gets to pass judgment on you?
You’ll seal a man’s fate to be killed by the state
You’ll kill thinking your doing what’s best
But when will a man’s life be too high a price
To weigh in the scales against death?
Chorus
Now the world is at war over oil and ore
Over power and territory
Over whose God is in charge and whose is not
On that point no one can agree
Meanwhile bombs descend on women and children
When O when will it cease?
When will the fight desist for the night
When will the world live in peace?
Chorus
Now perhaps I’m naieve, as green as the leaves
That sprout on the trees in the spring
Maybe I’m touched to be thinking so much
We all know what wishin can bring
Perhaps I’m a dope to hope without hope
But there’s one thing that I’ve always known
If you want things to improve, well you gotta move
Cause they ain’t gonna change on their own
So get yourself wise and get organized
Lift up your voices and sing
Cause if you don’t, they probably wont
There’s a last time for everything
This morning I woke to the sound of a blast
“Who’s there? Who’s there? Who is it?” I asked
A man was outside wearing some kind of mask
Said he was with Halliburton Oil and Gas
He gave me a paper which he asked me to sign
What is it? I asked him, he said, “Nevermind,”
Said if I just put my name down on yon dotted line
Ten thousand dollars could be instantly mine
I was still a bit groggy but it sounded alright to me
I signed his paper and I went back to sleep
And when I awoke I wanted to shriek
They drilled a hole on my property 10,000 feet deep
Now where my yard used to be there’s an oil field there
They tell me I signed it away fair and square
But now I can’t drink my water and I can’t breathe my air
Please Mr. Gas-man, is it just that you don’t know what you’re doing—or that you don’t care?
Well I made several inquiries and asked for a report
About this hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for short
And when I tried to protest, to make them cease and abort
They laughed and just told me they’d see me in court
Shortly thereafter I realized my mistake
When they turned my pond into a gasoline lake
I wish someone had told me bout the risk I would take
That the losses would outweigh the money I’d make
Now oil companies claim that its cheap, and what’s more
we don’t have to rely on foreign oil anymore
but as time passes by you can’t fail to ignore
that gas is two bucks a gallon, but now fresh-water costs four
and where my fields used to be, there’s an oil-field there
and where my woods used to be, there’s an oil-field there
and you can’t drink the water and you can’t breathe the air
Please Mr. Gas-man, is it just that you don’t know what you’re doing—or that you don’t care?
and if you’re inclined to think it ain’t as bad as it sounds
you ought to check on the chemicals they’re putting into your ground
ethyl-methyls, and sulfates, in lethal amounts
plus 500 others I can’t even pronounce
Now the trees that once grew here have all been cut down
The air, once so clean, now looks dirty and brown
the birds all flew off, the fishes all drowned
next thing you know, it’ll be me skipping town
and tell me, what will you do when your well’s overdrawn?
When you’ve lost what you’ve built your tomorrows upon?
When you finally realize all along you’ve been wrong?
Tell me where will you go when our planet is gone?
When, where the earth used to be, there’s an oil-field there?
When you finally realize that you haven’t a spare?
I’ll ask you in hope, and I’ll plea in despair:
Please Mr. Gas-man, is it just that you don’t know what you’re doing—or that you don’t care?
Now I don’t know about you, what your tomorrows are worth
If you think it’ll get better before it gets worse
But when you damage the planet, everyone hurts
And you’re killing the future by destroying the earth
Now the gas and oil companies are rolling in wealth
But they need your permission to keep spreading their filth
So if they ask, in the interest of keeping your health,
Say: you can’t frack my land, you can go frack yourself!
chorus
If I wasn’t such a miserable failure—would you love me then?
If I looked more like Elizabeth Taylor—would you love me then?
If I was handsome and brave and strong and lean
Had my face on the cover of Time Magazine
If I was really as nice as you say that I seem—mm, would you love me then?
If I had a more agreeable personality—would you love me then?
If I had better hold of reality—would you love me then?
If I had a corporate job and made a lot of money
If I was smart, sensitive, sweet or funny
If I didn’t call you baby, dear, darling or honey—mm, would you love me then?
If I drove you around in a pink Ferrari—would you love me then?
If I swallowed my pride and said I was sorry—would you love me then?
If I gave you my word that I would always be true
And then whenever you called me I came running to you
If I didn’t have to ask you what do I gotta do?—mm, would you love me then?
If I went ahead and just did what you told me—would you love me then?
If I said I was yours, you could have and to hold me—would you love me then?
If I showed you I could act like I was older than five
If I put in the effort, if I actually tried
If I was the last human being alive—mm, would you love me then?
If I gave some time to think it over—would you love me then?
If I tried again later, maybe when I was sober—would you love me then?
If I wasn’t so lazy, so dumb, so slow
If I only had somewhere, anywhere to go
If for all of these years I had just something to show—would you love me then?
If you told me something and I didn’t doubt it—would you love me then?
If I told you I loved you and sang about it—would you love me then?
If I had influence, title, rank, or position
If I changed my name, my race, my religion
If I told you I was eager to hear your decision—would you love me then?
If I promised to leave you alone forever—would you love me then?
If I told you we didn’t have to be together—would you love me then?
If I took your advice, your offered suggestion
If I swore I wouldn’t make any public confession
If I promised not to ask you anymore questions—mm, would you love me then?
If the sun tomorrow should rise and find me gone from your side
If my life should transpire so quick as to fit to within the blink of an eye
If all of the dust of my days should be scattered in ten different ways
And the ocean complains that nothing remains to answer the one who asks why
Please know that the sky and the sea
Will not always be blue
That nothing will always be
The way that I will always love you
If all of my cries should fall short of the home t’where they fly
If they shatter and break on the walls of the gate that proves too strong and too high
If word of me never returns, and my whereabouts never get learned
And I’m somehow forgot despite how I fought to never surrender, but try
Please know that things as they seem
Will not always be true
That nothing will always be the way that I
Will always love you
If your heart like an overripe pear should grow sour and sore
If time should strengthen your will and you vow not to think about me anymore
If one day your forgetting succeeds, and your wounds, they no longer bleed
And no time’s left to waste, you’ve taken first place, but you just can’t remember what for
Please know that the ways you can see
Will not always be few
That nothing will always be
The way that I will always love you
You woke me with a question from your distant past you said it was not urgent but it would require some attention soon
I followed up by askin what you meant by that but this was later some time long after you had already left the room
The times we’ve tried have not been few, although communication has perhaps at times been rare
And tho I’ve said, it’s up to you, it’s clear to me that you’d prefer that it remain unshared
And that’s alright, if that’s your style
You’ve got that right, you’re not on trial
I’d appreciate it if the next time tho
You’d tell me something that I don’t already know
I recall that you returned to me, eventually, with an apology you said you couldn’t write but had to say to me
That spoke of things that never were, that tried to be, that might have been perhaps if only it hadn’t been for me
You called me names, suggested lies, pretended I had only been your enemy
You said, “Love is born, it lives and dies, and people change and are a challenge to their destiny—”
And you’re not wrong, that’s not quite it
Cause you don’t belong with me I’ll admit
But the next time that you come to say you have to go
Tell me something that I don’t already know
We’ve covered all this ground before, there’s nothing new to speak of with regards to where it leaves us, where we must remain
I know you’ll go on hoping I’m a wound to you while I’ll go back to dreaming at the drawingboard, my windowpane
And all that’s left of all that was in me will linger faintly as a residue
And looking down, from up above, perhaps at last you’ll catch the contrast in our points of view
But if you don’t because you choose
And say you won’t because you’d lose
The chance to tell the mighty that they’ve fallen low
Well tell me something that I don’t already know
Sky’s gone cloudy and the sun’s been dim
It seems the stars these days are always late
And it won’t be long now fore the rain sets in
But all there is to do is wait
Please take my picture when you go from here
As it will help me not to feel so far from you
And I’ll try less often to wish you near
When, or rather, if, I do
And if I should survive, as I think I probly will
As I only ever have before
It will not be because of me
It will be because you know I’m yours
I watched your shadow as you weaved the loom
Your clothing lay draped over the chairs
A Casanova with a pink balloon
Waiting like a child on the stairs
Please take me with you when you go from here
As it will help me not to feel so far from you
And I’ll try less often to feel the fear
If, or rather, when, I do
And if I should survive as I think I will,
As I only ever have before
It will not be because of me
It will be because you know I’m yours
Shes the sun at dawn, shes a dream you drawn
She’s a train you’ll chase forever that don’t never let you on
She’s beautiful, she’s both hands full
She’s cautious as a fledgling calf, and fragile as a fawn
She knows her bounds and your hopes she’ll drown
Her eyes are like the well you cast your lonesome wishes down
She’s a misplayed chord, she’s a two-edged sword
She’s a bird that’s fallen that never even left the ground
She cant be held, contained nor quelled
And she don’t reside even where she says she’s dwelled
She ain’t coming soon, but I wish she was
For she’s the only girl whom with all my heart I love
She’s a ragin tide, downright dignified
A wildfire wadin through a callow countryside
She’s my favorite song, my whole life long
She’s the failure I was faced with every single time I tried
She’s a waving flag, she’s a boundin stag
Free as a feather floating down a canyon crag
She’s a broken soul, she’s a lost-sheep’s wool
She’s a priceless linen mixed-in with a beggar’s bandage rag
She can’t be reached through spoken speech
And she breathes in vapors near the boundary’s breach
She ain’t comin soon but I wish she was
For she’s the only girl whom with all my heart I love
She’s a quiet smirk, she’s full of quirk
She’s like ivy growin upwards through the garden lattic-work
Her voice is sure, and her heart is pure
She’s a soothing salve for every wound you’ve got that’s hurt
She’s full of tricks, she’s too fair to fix
She’s a churchmouse crawling cross the crucifix
She’s a wisp of smoke, she’s a wooden spoke
She’s a spur upon a bootheel that’s never learned to kick
She can’t be caught, revealed nor wrought
She’s a matter of fact, upon a second thought
She ain’t coming soon, but I wish she was
For she’s the only girl whom with all my heart I love
She’s a friendly face, she’s a saving grace
She’s a trap-door hinged upon a hiding place
She’s a standing cliff, she’s a hieroglyph
She’s a strong defense that doesn’t have no case
She’s a windin brook, she’s a chance that’s took
She’s the same old story in a brand new book
She’s an ocean wave, she’s a shallow grave
She’s the knight that left the bishop to defend the rook
She can’t be known, can’t be left alone
She is my journey, my friend, my home
She ain’t coming soon, but I wish she was
For she’s the only girl whom with all my heart I love
I must be cursed; the fates must be against me
She’s taken no interest; she can’t even sense me
I’m a face in a crowd that’s well neath her status,
That’s an audience to her, that she’ll never notice
She don’t even know me, but that ain’t the problem
The one thing we share’s having nothing in common
A stranger with whom I wish I were familiar
If only so that I could finally tell her
That I’m helplessly, hopelessly, endlessly, openly,
Neverthelessly in love with you
Brokenly, quietly, quite unrequitedly
Somehow inspite of me, in love with you
I’m boundless and depthless and restless and breathless
And it’d be a short list to name what I wouldn’t do
To show you how sweetly, how madly, completely,
How badly, how deeply, I’m in love with you
Whenever she’s near, I can feel my pulse racing
Every minute she’s gone feels like time I’m just wasting
To somebody’s dreams she must be the native
But she’s just in my world—I’m not that creative
If I could imagine her daily and nightly
And all on my own, however unlikely
I’d probably need never roam any further
There’d be no cause to alarm or alert her
That I’m visibly, viably, undeniably
Certifiably in love with you
Joylessly, lucklessly, sorely, reluctantly,
It’s not even up to me, in love with you
I’m weary and woeful, I’m inconsolable
And from the depths of my own soul I wish it weren’t true
But I’m clinically, cynically, consciously, critically
Admittedly—in love with you
I looked all round the world for a love of my own
Now I’ve been everywhere and I’m still all alone
Just when I started thinking true love can’t be found
Who but I should start falling when who but you turns around
When I said that it takes time for new love to bloom
It might be that I might’ve spoke a little too soon
You know what they say, it ain’t good to presume
It might be that I might’ve spoke a little too soon
Well the first thing you told me is that youd be all mine
Next thing I know I’m half out of my mind
Feel like running and hiding, feel like walking right out
You say you just want to know what I’ve been thinking about
When I said as long as I had you I would never be doomed
Well it might be that I might have spoke a little too soon
Chorus
I know how to want you just as well as the next
Its remaining happy once you’re mine I don’t get
I know that you told me I was all out of tries
But that you weren’t kidding I guess I didn’t quite realize
When I said that nobody’d ever make me change my own tune
Well it might be that I might’ve spoke a little too soon
Chorus
When I told you I loved you unconditionally
I was under the impression you felt the same way about me
When I asked if you wanted to come be my wife
I thought it meant that I would be the only man in your life
But you got one in the stairwell and one up in your room
Well it might be that I might have spoke a little too soon
Chorus
Bout the hour the sun goes down, I get to thinking of leaving town
The trains and traffic they make their sounds, a blood within me begins to pound
She calls to tell me she’s on her way, she knows I get round that time of day
Feeling like I’d be stuck to stay, better off just a goin way
I feel my feet start to leave the ground
I step away and I’m fallin down
I feel your arms they’re around me now
But tell me, babe, do you have me, now?
I’m hardly home and I’m highway bound
I’m known to run at the smallest sound
I’m known to hide where I won’t be found
So tell me, babe, do you have me, now?
Lifted out of the mangled mess, I’m back out on the top, I guess
Just wrestling the restlessness, I won’t win but I’ll do my best
She’s sturdy as frozen stone, does alright when she’s on her own
The kindest of the kind of known, the closest I’ve ever been to home
I think I’d live if she left me now
And if I left would I be allowed
I could love if you’d show me how
But tell me, babe, do you have me now?
I feel your kisses against my brow
I hear you say that we should and shall
I hear you say you don’t need no vow
But tell me babe do you have me now?
She keeps me close and she holds me tight, walks me through each and every night
She ain’t afraid to put up a fight, makes it seem like it’ll be alright
But in the morning she leaves again, and tho she says she’ll come back again
And tho I tell her I’ll see her then, I always hope I’ll still be here then
I spread my wings and she holds me down
I try to swim and she helps me drown
I start to cry and she calls me clown
But tell me babe do you have me now?
Cause I can fly without leavin ground
And I can dive without goin down
And I can kid without foolin round
So tell me babe do you have me now?
About a mile down the railroad track, I get to thinking of thinkin back
I wonder if she would take me back, if she knew I was comin back
Left a note in her dresser drawer, sayin how I just wasn’t sure
Sayin how I would lock the door, but not to wait up for me no more
Tell me babe, would you have me now?
Now that you know that I’m broken down?
Now that you know I don’t wear no crown?
Now that you know I won’t stick around?
Tell me babe do you have me now?
Now that I’m somewhere behind you now?
Now that at least I can’t hurt you now?
Now that I can’t desert you now?
She may not even remember me now, it was so long ago
I recall when she left it was winter again, her footprints had trailed in the snow
And when spring came around they had melted away and by then I had learned to forget
That it wasn’t because she didn’t love me enough that she had been so upset
And I know it don’t do nobody no good to say it now after all this time
But it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault—but mine
There’ve been so many others since her, but she was the first
And maybe it’s just cause I loved her the most, that losing her hurt the worst
And maybe I am still just holding on cause I’m lonesome with everyone else
And maybe I only want her back cause I’m so tired of myself
But whatever it is that’s causing all this, there’s one thing to which I’m resigned
It’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault—but mine
This morning I found an old letter of hers in my desk’s bottom drawer
It contained a long list of things that she missed about me and loved me for
At the end of the note she apparently wrote I will always love only you
And after all of these years what makes me afeared is thinking that it might still be true
I wish I could say I was sorry now, how could I have been so blind
But it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault—but mine
Now as I sit here in familiar solitude, unvisited even by noise
I like to pretend that it had to be so, that neither one of us had any choice
Its easy to feel like she did it to me, like nothing I said was believed
But sometimes the truth creeps in through the roof and says you aint lyin, you’re just self-deceived
Cause she was the one who wanted to stay, and I told her to go, now she’s gone
And its nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault—but my own
For all of the lies that I told
For getting away with the fast ones I pulled
Persisting, even when it got old
For leaving you standing alone in the cold
For holding back when you asked me to share
And for wrecklessly leading you on
For promising you I would always be there
The list, I suppose, it goes on—
For all of our planning on things working out,
we’re just not very lucky, are we?
That it won’t make it up, I haven’t a doubt,
I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
For all of the pain that I caused
for burning the map and then getting us lost
for refusing to pay what it cost
for helping them nail your hands to the cross
for hearing you loud and clear when you cried
and keeping myself hidden from sight
for never once ever taking your side
even when I knew you were right
I know it’s too late to take anything back
And for new words it may still be too early
But for whatever it’s worth, if it has any impact,
I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
For leaving it all up to fate
For devising the trap and laying the bait
For offering too little too late
For destroying the plans that you tried to create
for being the one who was never around
and accusing you of disappearing
for ruthlessly kicking you when you were down
and afterwards trying to be so endearing
The time of the day I don’t even deserve
But I don’t need it, I’m in no hurry
I know that you think that I’ve sure got some nerve
But I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
for wanting you to be like you were
for acting so childish and so immature
for expecting you to be pure
and treating you like you were part of the tour
for letting you fall when you needed a hand
up from the floor you were sweeping
for pretending that I could not understand
the language in which you were speaking
I know that my efforts have not been enough
A gentleman I have been, hardly
But before you go writing me entirely off
I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
For totally wasting your time
For being unwell, saying that I was fine
For feeding you all the old lines
For failing to make you a priority of imine
For doing the absolute least I could do
And not even without complaining
And for taking even your umbrella from you
The minute that it started raining
If you don’t ever want to see me again
And if you never ans—wer me
I’ll understand, but I might as well then
Tell you now fore I go—that I’m sorry
For making you miss the last train
For keeping the torch lit for an old flame
For driving you slowly insane
For making you guess instead of saying it plain
For treating this all like no more than a fling
As you asked: O why must you tease me?
And then when it came time to do the right thing
For doing instead what felt easy
I know in the past, when I’ve said this before
Your silences have frequently scarred me
I know you can’t put up with me anymore
I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
For utterly failing to learn
For leaving long fore the meeting adjourned
For making you wait for your turn
To be treated decent, like it was something you’d earn
For salting the wound, and fueling the flame
Adding insult to your injury
for whimpering whenever saying your name
And making sure that you heard me
Your more patient with me than anyone else
I’d’ve featherd and tarred me
But this time I ain’t gonna ask for you help
I just want you to know—that I’m sorry
For throwing you under the bus
For staining your pride and abusing your trust
For making you feel that you must
For ditching you in a cloud of my dust
For gorging myself, meanwhile letting you starve
like some well-wishing judas
For handing you over to the people in charge
While you kindly mistook me for Brutus
And nevermind silver, nevermind gold
I’d’ve done it for thirty denari
And if it’s the last thing I ever tell to the world
I just want you to know—I’m sorry
You been a poor wife to your husband, you been a bad mother to your child
You ain’t been much to speak of to your folks in some long while
You been something of a let-down to your whole family
Aw, but you know you been a good friend to me
You been bad news to your landlord ever since you signed that lease
The only visitors you get in here are either junkies or police
You been wanted for a while now, everyone’s your enemy
Aw, but you know you been a good friend to me
You been a disgrace to your people, you’ve exhibited no pride
When the spies came you went to them and you invited them inside
You’d be called a traitor back in your home country
Aw, but you know you been a good friend to me
Everybody says you’re crazy, when you look they all turn around
Nobody seems to like you much you’re just too hard to be around
That’s the same way that people talk when they’re talkin about me
Aw, but you know you been a good friend to me
Should your laughter turn to tears, and should your smile straighten out
Should the minutes turn to years, and your assurances to doubt
And should there be only half as much love here as you say
If you never leave the path
You tell a joke and no one laughs
If you never learn to do the math,
I will still love you anyway
And should the ease become a strain, and should the work become a toil
And should our happiness be plain, and inseperable from soil
And should the tune become so flat which we always used to play
That the music won’t come back
We only hear it as a lack
Both because of and despite that
I will still love you anyway
And should your looks begin to go, and should your wits begin to dim
And should your age begin to show, through the wrinkles on your skin
And should you become so old that your hair has all turned gray
When your stories have been told
And your teeth have all been pulled
And when you’re far too frail to hold
I will still love you anyway
And when you are not here, and when I am by myself,
And when the future isn’t clear, and when you seem like someone else
I will not find you strange, nor will it be to my dismay
For in spite of how you change,
you come in and out of range
It can’t be helped, you won’t be blamed
I will still love you anyway
And if we never aren’t poor, and if I discover that you’re flawed
And if we always aren’t sure, and leave it mostly up to God
At least there will be love, when all else has passed away
And when pushing comes to shove
When I’m no longer who I was
And when nobody else does
I will still love you anyway
Rooster’s in the henhouse with his feathers all mussed
the hay-barn is burning and the milk’s gone sour
It’s harvesting time but the whole crop’s a bust
And that’s the third thunderstrike I’ve heard in the past half-hour
Been up for three days in a drippin cold-sweat
I called for a doctor and they sent me a vet
I’m losing my livelihood along with a bet
and I ain’t even had my coffee yet
the ship’s hit an ice-berg and the radio’s down
the captain’s in the crow’s nest trying to get drunk
Nero’s somewhere fiddling, and we’re all gonna drown
somebody send an S.O.S.—we’re sunk!
Throw out your preservers, cast wide your net
We gonna need all the mother-lovin luck that we can get
We’re in the middle of nowhere, and I’m all wet—
And I ain’t even had my coffee yet
Private detective’s in his best disguise
He’s already taken a few incriminating photographs
He’s got the evidence to prove whatever the defendant denies
He caught the guy with his secretary, takin a bath
A lady pulls up in her ex-husband’s corvette
As the private I.’s lighting his last cigarette
She asks if it’s done—he says, “We’re all set—
And I ain’t even had my coffee yet”
Productivity’s down, and the factory’s pinched
Management doesn’t know what to do
The union fellas won’t surrender an inch
And the strike ain’t nowhere near being through
The thing to remember is that no-one forgets
If it’s a do-or-die matter, I say “Let’s!”
Every time I answer the phone, it’s a brand new threat
And I ain’t even had my coffee yet
Alarm clock went off first thing in the morning
Didn’t even get the paper before I heard the news
Neighbors were outside in their bathrobes quarreling
Election’s over and half the nation’s singing the blues
Sweep the confetti from your TV sets
Better call up your friends and forgive them their debts
The sun’s barely up, I’m full of regrets—
And I ain’t even had my coffee yet
The way that an amputee misses his limb
After the doctor has sawn it from him
Leaving him only the scar of his skin
With which he must try to adapt
Or the way that an arrow that’s aimed at the heart
Of some would-be lover alone in the dark
Can near and so narrowly still miss the mark
Hitting some bystander’s back
Or the way that a jury can believe what it wants having just received all of the facts
I miss you—I miss you—I miss you—like that
The way that a baby cries for the breast
Of the woman who maybe has sins to confess
Whose feeling her worst when she’s doing her best
For whom smiling’s part of the act
Or the way that a shipwreck wants to be saved
From his raft on the water where he’s drifted for days
Where he can still get a signal on his radio wave
But cannot explain where he’s at
Or the way that a mackerel still goes for the hook, even knowing that it’s just a trap
I want you—I want you—I want you—like that
The way that a parachute needs to unfold
As soon as the cord is reached for and pulled
Without which there’d be nothing else to grab hold
And no time for you to react
Or the way that a candleflame requires a wick
That isn’t too slender and isn’t too thick
If the flame isn’t going to burn out too quick
Leaving only a puddle of wax
Or the way that an inntertube needs to be patched, or replaced when the wheel has gone flat
I need you—I need you—I need you—Like that
The way that a meteor dies in its birth
Destroying itself in its fall to the earth
Whose cinder is studied, given value and worth
According to what’s left in tact
Or the way that a fine wine never expires
The way satisfaction never desires
The way I’m perpetually caught in the wires
Like some circus ring acrobat
Or the way that an answer can be extremely precise without being at all exact
I love you—I love you—I love you—like that
Your heart is set on leaving me—What am I supposed to say?
So long, I guess the pleasure’s all been mine
There’s no sense in deceiving me—it hurts, but I’ll be okay
Wounds have a way of healing, in good time
I spose I should be thanking you, for at least giving me a try
I know that a good man is hard to find
Tell me that you’re going now, but don’t let’s say goodbye
Just in case you ever change your mind—
I wouldn’t want to influence—your sterling wherewithal
Nobody knows you better than yourself
I wouldn’t know just what to do with a splintered crystal ball
But what good’s it doing resting on your shelf?
You were burning in your eagerness, too confident to fail
And yet the humor in the gloom you couldn’t find
So I’ll put my house in order and blaze you out a trail
Just in case you ever change your mind
Sometimes, when it begins to rain, I think of how we met
You called me by some name that wasn’t mine
and then, as you explained to me that you meant no disrespect
you hinted that perhaps it was a sign—
It seems like only yesterday, I remember it so clear
It felt as though the planets had aligned
Well, Fare thee well, and take good care; if you need me, I’ll be here—
Just in case you ever change your mind
The gavel’s fell like pistol shots, the jury has come in
At some verdict it’s presumed they have arrived
But nevermind the circumstance; we both know where we’ve been
Our love was just some trial we survived
With the option to be merciful, you clung on to your grudge
You said I was too rude, too unrefined
A wiser man than I once said “Don’t be so quick to judge,
just in case you ever change your mind—”
I done some things in my day that let me just say were a little less than easy to do
I been hard-pressed and hard-up on a hard-road with hard-luck, been hard-hearted one time or two
Troubles, trials, tribulations, tragedies I’ve had me a few
But the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
I believe I broke the record for the longest second-look
I’d have to check again, though, to see if it’s still in the Guinness book
The feat may sound incredible to some, but to me it ain’t nothing new
Cause the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
You got a way about you babe, that just don’t know when to quit
You joined up on the losing side but defeat you just can’t admit
I chose to do without them when fate offered me her jewels
I ate from the tree of knowledge knowing full well it was against the rules
I was sentenced to hard labor and now my freedom’s overdue
But the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n loving you
I resisted false temptation when it advertised its bliss
I beat the devil at his own board-game in the wide open wilderness
I lashed myself upon the mainmast so I could hear the sirens coo
But the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
You got a way about you babe, you just don’t know when you’re wrong
I tell you to let go of me but you just keep on hanging on—
I made wings of wax and feathers and I flapped em towards the sun
when I was still ascending the heat went ahead and melted em
as deep into the sea I sank as high above the world I flew
but the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
I climbed up Jacob’s ladder just to see what I could see
I went down into the underworld to try to set my spirit free
I held the world upon my shoulders just so Atlas could use the loo
But the hardest thing I ever done was eaiser’n lovin you
I ain’t sayin I don’t love you, or that you ain’t worth no regard
All I’m trine to tell you babe is that sometimes lovin you is hard—
I fought the famous hydra with nothing but a pocket knife
If it hadn’t been such slow going I might’ve gone and lost my life
For every head that I cut off, in its place three more grew
But the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
Now I’ve heard that love is patient, and I’ve heard that love is kind
I’ve heard that love hopes and bears all things; I’ve even heard that love is blind—
But when weighed in my own experience, I know this much is true:
the hardest thing I ever done was easier’n lovin you
before the panelist of scientists I stood defending poetry
Reciting words I’d overheard From a magician doing sorcery
falling short of proof in court I surrendered to His Majesty
When the jester laughed, I removed his hat As he praised me my humility
the case dismissed from consciousness I resumed my daily alchemy
Sticks and stones may break your bones But words—can change your destiny
As battles raged—a squire’s page Was charged with this delivery:
To spread the news his side would lose Without help supplied immediately
On his master’s horse he wound a course Beyond his country’s boundary
And story goes, he took to prose And now he writes tales for posterity
What became of the page’s name To this day remains a mystery
Sticks and stones may break your bones But words—can alter history
Wind and fog and somewhere, God, At the beginning of eternity,
commandingly said, “Let there be…” And each question became a certainty
And there was light to pierce the night Where darkness filled each cavity
An unseen jaw dispensing law For motion and for gravity—
And life commenced impermanence While Death dealt with the converse
Sticks and stones may break your bones But words—can build a universe
In days of youth I longed for truth About love especially, I was curious
But what I know now of Love’s know-how I only learned through inexperience
Foolish tries and compromise Convinced me love was just a hindrance
More than to win her, what I should prefer Is to forget or return to ignorance
“He’s mad!” you’ll say, “to feel this way—” And I’d agree with you, regrettably
Sticks and stones can break your bones But words—can wound a man, irreparably
I did my best and knew success It seemed a painless interlude
Between two wars in which the scores Had been irrevocably misconstrued
Once the ghosts resumed their posts In the countries of their summoning
I spent what I’d made in the king’s parade And departed to my homecoming
The bridges crossed, my papers were lost, tho I wouldn’t say I lack them currently
Sticks and stones can break your bones But words—are like a currency
When asked to play, I said okay Tho in preparing, I was meticulous
And before I’d sung, the bell had rung And I’d been announced ridiculous
And for my prize I was ostracized And was made to sign a covenant
but once I had, I didn’t feel so bad to entertain them would have been a punishment
And now I’ve chewed on solitude So long it tastes like venison
Sticks and stones may break your bones But words—can be a medicine
did a so-called crime and I paid my time Tho the offense was considered minimal
When I got released, I thought, “I’m free, at least…” But folks still took me for a criminal
I tried and tried my past to hide Thought I’d escape from it eventually
But people talked and my way was blocked Now I’m back at the penitentiary
My freedom earned, my lesson learned I’ll tell you what now, society—
That sticks and stones may break your bones But words—shape reality
The D.A.’s on the front porch with the landlord behind him
Eviction notice has been nailed to the door
Their knocking and pounding disrupts someone calling:
“With what can I bargain when I am so poor?”
They go in and come out dragging a person
Old man in a bathrobe half-naked and crine
D.A. says “I’m sorry” but he says it smiling—
“Each man’s got his labor and don’t I got mine?”
You can call it your labor to ease your conscience
Call it your duty if it’ll help you sleep tight
Call it your career if you can’t tell the difference
But callin it your job, boss—won’t make it right
The warden’s a bastard he’s a stickler for details
Heaven have mercy when he makes his patrol
If he finds so much as a sheet that’s been wrinkled
You can bet that you’ll all spend a night in the hole
He says that he loves us there’s no need to fear him
He’d prefer we reserve all our fear for his God
But I fear whoever does evil so easily
And thinks that he’s only doing a job
Chorus
The police have shown up in outrageous numbers
Armed in their helmets with their nightsticks and shields
The protesters marching are righteously singing
“we haven’t come this far to turn back or yield”
They bring out a firehose and turn it upon us
Transforming the marchers into some kind of mob
Who is it you officers swore to defend and protect?
When you put on your uniform and made this your job?
chorus
The army recruiters are down on the corner
They’re telling young kids bout the splendors of war
They’re showing their medals and telling their stories
I’d just like to ask them what they’re fighting for
Some fight cause they have to cause they’re under fire
Cause they’re being bullied and they don’t get a say
But some think it’s their duty some think it’s the right thing
To blindly take orders and collect your pay (the American Way)
Chorus
The judge in his tower is looking down meanly
He’s raising his gavel and drawing his breath
He announces the sentence he does it routinely
“You’ve been proven guilty and your penalty’s death”
He won’t say he’s sorry he hasn’t got pity
“Whatever you done, now, that’s between you and God,”
When he arrives home, the judge will sleep soundly
Assuring himself he’s just doing his job
chorus
In 1492 Chris Columbus and his crew
Discovered folks a living in some islands to the west
He promised to be kind, but he went and changed his mind
Made most of them his slaves and put the rest of em to death
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
Perhaps the terms of his agreement wasn’t heard, heard, heard
But it’s a getting late—how long you wanna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 1838 Andrew Jackson did create
A paper sayin that the natives would receive their promised land
Made a reservation zone, drove em into Oklahome
Leaving Cherokee and chocktaw blood in the Mississippi sand
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That the lyin simply couldn’t have endured, -dured, -dured
But it’s a getting late—how long you wanna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 1864—trine to end the civil war
Mr. Lincoln signed a paper sayin all slaves would be free
Soon as he let em go—in came the Old Jim Crow
And the rest, I’m sure you know, is US history
If I didn’t know any better, I’d suppose
That the promise has only been deferred –ferred –ferred
But it’s a getting late—how long you wanna wait
Fore you admit that a promise is just words, words, words
In August ’45—trine to keep his own alive
Harry Truman told the Japanese, “this fighting’s gotta stop,”
Any more lives bein spent, he said he would try to prevent—
Then he loaded up his atom bombs, said “Fellas, let em drop—”
If I didn’t know—any better I’d suppose
That the promise was always bein urged, urged, urged
But it’s a getting late, how long you wanna wait
Fore you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 1954, in a case called Brown v. Board
The Supreme Court said that public schools must integrate their kids
They took their time, of course, with getting it enforced
And fore anything could happen, it was like nothing ever did
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That the ruling sounded too good to’ve occurred, -curred, -curred
But it’s getting late, how long you gonna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 1964, hungry for another war,
Lyndon Johnson said a US ship had been hit by Viet Cong
And though it was a lie, he still sent troops to die
In the name of keeping communism out of Vietnam
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That what ain’t democratic ain’t preferred, -ferred, -ferred
But it’s a getting late, how long you wanna wait
For you admit that democracy’s a word, word, word
In 1982 Ronald Regan, tride and true,
Said he’d increased public safety and on crime he waged a war
For him, tho, being safe—had to do with class and race—
Most of the folks he rounded up were young and black and poor
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That the promise aimed to keep us all secured, -cured, -cured
But it’s a getting late, how long you gonna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 1992 the war on crime and drugs just grew
Mr. Clinton said he had a plan and it would be unfurled
He built prisons left and right, filled em practically overnight
Now the US has more prisoners than any nation in the world
If I didn’t know—any better I’d suppose
That the lockdown was a bad dream that emerged, merged, merged
But it’s a getting late, how long you wanna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
In 2001, weapons of mass destruction
Was the reason Mr. Bush supplied to re-invade Iraq
The nukes were never found, but the country was torn down
and US oil prices were a little lower after that
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That the promise didn’t sound quite so absurd, -surd, -surd
But it’s a getting late, how long you wanna wait
For you admit that the promise was just words, words, words?
Now this song could go on, and on and on and on
The lies my leaders told me are too numerous to name
But I’m a getting tired, my patience is expired
As we move into the future, the song will be the same
If I didn’t know any better I’d suppose
That a government, in all things, should be just, just, just
But it’s a getting late, how long you wanna wait
For you admit if it’ll be just it’ll have to be up to us?
Yes, there’s a storm a comin, it’s on the Times front page
With a black and white photo of some kind of giant tidal wave
On account of how everybody’s gone ahead and behaved
The street preacher’s wound-up, screaming none will be saved
“By the pharaoh’s order,” cries the fouled referee,
“There’s a new law round here says that the curfew will be
From ten in the morning til quarter past three
Anybody outside after that’s gonna haveta answer to me!”
you better get your name cleared, Bluebeard, fore they make you walk the plank
Better call off your watchdogs, General, fore they all pull rank
You better get your children, Mama, bow your head and give thanks
You better grow your hair long, Samson—you gonna need your strength
You’re tween a rock and a hardplace they’re still trying to construct
When the bombs fall, Know-It-All, you better have the good sense to duck
At the rodeo, John Doe, keep your seat on that truck
and bring along your timepiece, Maurice, you gonna need some luck
well everyone’s getting bored, but I’ve already had me a few
Better take a knee, Bruce Lee, if you need something to do
It’s a sure-thing, Sherlock, but you ain’t got a clue
Aw, get out of here, Shakespeare—nobody asked you
Chorus
Jumpin Jupiter, Lucifer, what’s become of your pride?
Didn’t anybody tell you that the sooth-sayer lied?
For a sheckel, Dr. Jeckyll, we can go for a ride
I’ll show you someplace remote where you can lay low and hide
Now I’m no Houdini and I’m no Jesse James
But you’re gonna need brass keys, Ulysses, to get out of them chains
You better smell the roses, Moses, and talk some sense to these brains
Otherwise all of your guys is gonna wind up changing their trains
Chorus
Grow your hair long, Samson—til it’s down to your knees
Grow your hair long, Samson—til it’s long as you please
Grow your hair long, Samson—til it’s at full-length
Grow your hair long, Samson—you gonna need your strength
The doctor’s in the dentist’s chair, his tooth’s getting pulled—
Your wienereimer, Oppenheimer, has come down with a cold
I tried calling the police, the operator put me on hold
I can see your cards, Beauregard, if I were you I would fold
The captain’s gone AWOL on some binocular tour
With a lady in sales he met at the marine supply store
When the saloonkeeper’s drunk he’ll give everyone a free pour
But you better get it while you can fore he ain’t drunk anymore
Chorus
Fare thee well, Rafael, I guess you done pretty good
They did their best to imitate you, but none of them could
Ahab took a stab and saw what was under the hood
Then he tried to say it in English—no one understood
Goldilocks needs help, she’s got her hand caught in the hive
You better be heartfelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, when you write those boys’ wives
You gonna need an editor, Senator, to keep talking that jive
It’s neither heroes nor villians, it’s just the lucky survive
Chorus
Who, mama, who is that great giant yonder
Who stands twenty times taller than any tree?
My child, my child, yonder’s America
They call her the Statue of Liberty
What, mama, what is that big giant tower
That starts on the ground and disappears in the air?
My child, my child, that’s just a skyscraper
You’ll probably be seeing them round here everywhere
What, mama, what is that long silver bullet
That’s snaking around on that bridge up above
My child, my child, that’s only the subway
We’ll be riding on that train soon enough
Where, mama, where did you say we were going?
How long must we wait in this subway station?
My child, my child, we’re heading to Manhattan
To the US Office of Immigration
Who, mama, who is that ragged man sleeping
There on the curb, who’s just skin and bone?
My child, my child, it’s only a hobo
Don’t point your finger, just leave him alone
Who, mama, who is that finely dressed person
Who’s fat as a king, and only short of a crown
My child, my child, that’s a rich, wealthy banker
Get out of his way or he’ll mow you right down
Why, mama, why are some people so hungry
Meanwhile there’s others that look rich in their clothes?
My child, my child, I don’t know the reason
I don’t have an answer, God only knows
Who, mama, who is that man with the night-stick
And why is that other man being beaten by him?
My child, my child, that’s only the police
In America they arrest you for having dark skin
Where, mama, where, mama—where will they take him?
will they take him to a doctor to treat his wounds and his sores?
My child, my child, they’re taking him to prison
In America that’s what they do with their poor
Ain’t mama, ain’t, mama—ain’t this a free country?
Aren’t people here given value and worth?
My child, my child—it’s only for some folks—
There’s more prisoners here than anyplace on the earth
Why, mama, why, mama—why did we come here?
What in the world did we leave our home for?
My child, my child—it just wasn’t safe there
Our country’s is facing genocide and war
Here mama, here mama, here is the building
I will wait for you here, steadfast and strong
My child, my child, I’ll just be a minute
I will go and come back—it shouldn’t take long
Why mama, why, mama—why are you crying?
Where did they tell you that we may reside?
My child, my child, they gave me no answer
But that our request to live here has been denied
Why, mama, why can’t we live in America?
Are there too many people? Is there not enough land?
My child, my child, it’s the people in charge here
They hate and they fear what they don’t understand
When, mama, when will we be accepted?
When will this hatred be brought to a close?
My child, my child—I don’t have an answer
I don’t have an answer, God only knows
You crossed a black cat’s path when you encountered me
Somebody should have said this here was a carnival
The only way out again’s back through the livingroom
Which you were just driven from on account of your destiny
You, with your vacant heart throwing your weight around
Just like you owned the joint or like you knew someone
Making your crass remarks into their fold-out smiles
As all of their watches chimed and somewhere a sailor drowned
Tears like a jet-streamed sky raking your made-up face
I caught a glimpse of you inside the hallway meer
You looked like a vagabond you looked like a stolen wife
Or what is the word for it? you looked simply out of place
And as the hostess rose shouting her lover’s name
Crying for ornaments and for a tablecloth
I saw how you fell apart then gathered up yourself
You puttem all to shame, you puttem all to shame
II
Just as the matador flung off his captain’s cape
in preparation for some kind of ritual
the astronaut cleared his throat as if he would make a toast
then he restrained himself with a whole roll of plumber’s tape
“I don’t care what the bible says,” shouted the bathroom stall
addressing the minister distributing sacraments
Out of a purse he stole out of the parsonage
Pardoning pilferage at no extra charge at all
Back at the ranch meanwhile nobody’d moved a bone
The sheriff was flinging cards into a hangman’s noose
The deputy watched a fly buzzin around the room
Drew back the velvet drapes looked out at a parking cone
A fat lady stood and belched saluted the flag and sang:
Somewhere a child is born somewhere a child dies
Nobody looks at you they don’t think you’re beautiful
But you puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
You puttem all to shame, just like a needle plunging into a vein
That carries the antidote that’s full of the cure from the heart to the brain
You puttem all to shame—
III
Lord Alfred makes his rounds handing out red balloons
Asking for tickets, please saying Please Watch Your Step
Producing a handkerchief dripping with turpentine
Peddling silverware and stopping to smell the fumes
The emperor’s crown’s been caught over the mantelpiece
A bystander claimed it was made out of mistletoe
Lonely men gathered round waiting for girls to come
The pianist blew trombone his requiem masterpiece
The sofa is filling up like it was a safety boat
With politician’s wives and the offspring of janitors
There was a pack of dogs I think they were Sherlock Holmes’
Charging the drawbridge doors molesting an overcoat
And you in your pleated skirt looking so torn apart
How did your hair get wet? it’s not even raining out
I could have kissed you then you would have hated me
You puttem all to shame, you puttem all to shame
IV
Up at the podium the weatherman prophesies
all bets are off this year blaming technology
The postman has been delayed due to the hurricane
Just then some legs walked in in search of a centipede
the judge entered, wig-and-all some people stood and cheered
others threw fruit at him others forget-me-nots
his gavel was in his hand his sword hanging by his side
his breath smelled of bubblegum bacon grease in his beard
and people have asked before what is it I see in you
I always respond to them well isn’t it obvious?
You held a parasol under a chandelier
You lit your cigarette in the coals of a barbecue
It was your corkscrew gaze meeting my tailspin frame
that was the moment when I knew you were the one
they were the best of theirs you were no match for them
you put em all to shame you puttem all to shame
you puttem all to shame, just like a lost child that nobody claims
whose manifest radiance is offered to everyone and then goes down the drain
V
serpentine pedagogues brandishing chilled vermouth
using their intellects as if they were hand-grenades
Sodom is burning down there’s firetrucks everywhere
And Socrates’ dies tonight for trying to corrupt the youth
head like a pile of rocks face like a punching-bag
nobody thinks I’m cute narcissus vainly wines
he asks the river who is fairest of them all?
the one with the stupid hat that looks like a launching-pad
Mathematicians trade stories with psychopaths
About what is possible in the grand scheme of things
The psychopath wants to know whether it’s feasible
The metaphysicians claim it really just basic math
Eventually you’re convinced Chess is a bachelor’s game
The neighbors are victims of suburban piracy
Going from door to door Showing their business-cards
You puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
VI
you move through the marketplace like you was a stranger there
taking a hold of things asking how much is this?
If a wheelbarrow full of cash is the price of a loaf of bread
What will you pay to me to relinquish my rockingchair?
Or cut to the figurines dancing in silhouette
one dressed in corduroys one in a diamond suit
the princess of India in the arms of a scalawag
whose playing the fool tonight trying to pirouette
Down in the lower depths beneath the catacombs
Echoes of subway trains hurtling overhead
The hands of a claustrophobe touching the hands of God
Wound up in heavy chains reaching for help and home
Robin Hood checks his gauge flawlessly changes lanes
Everyone beeps at him tells him where he can go
From his perspective though these are just bumper cars
You puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
VII
I watched you donning masks out in the alleyways
Practicing tones of voice under a crescent moon
You were the mermaid queen tossing a skipping stone
Into a sea of sand a valley of microwaves
Someone was guiding me they must’ve got lost, I guess
Out in the wilderness look at that burning bush
I heard what sounded like a wandering pack of wolves
pathetically fingernailed clawing a dead-man’s chest
Next time I pass this way better have your eyes peeled
Stuck in their sockets like they was a pair of bulbs
I’ll be in desperate straits I’ll be insane with grief
Dragging a tire-swing out of a potter’s field
somebody threw himself off the midnight Express
they said it was suicide it was indisputable
nobody knew him though he claimed to be everyone
you puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
VIII
the referee’s missing tooth turned up in a boxingglove
that was inside the wedding-cake they sent to the funeral
the one that read: Warmst Regards From All of Us Back Home
depicting a concubine dispensing a mother’s love
and as the warden waits examining old brochures
that advertised Michigan that spoke of an afterlife
the inmates are at their bars releasing their mourning doves
that’re seen from the passing bus offering city-tours
Mother Teresa writes in an old-fashioned style
An overdue letter to a boyfriend across the sea
Enclosing a photograph in which she is posing nude
Saying, Next time you come why don’t you stay awhile?
And here’s Satan’s latest prize the one with the swollen brain
Riding the chariot into the stadium’s mouth
What are you waiting for? who are you hiding from?
you puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
IX
the inferno calmly climbs up on a bail of hay
Inviting martyrdom down from its pedestal
the difference tween them and you’s same as the difference tween
a woman that’s made of flesh and one that’s just made of clay
You came down the spiral stair the way I’ve seen waterfall
Or like a shooting star or like sinking hope
you had your hat on square all perpendicular
you spoke in pentameter like some kind of know it all
suddenly here we are inside the final ring
Here at the empty room here at the final hour
Traitors are telling lies trying to avoid the blame
Elderly couples sit fondly remembering
I wrote, “Dear Beatrice,” like I had forgot your name
Composing my epitaph using a ball-point pen
and for the hundredth time inside a half-an-hour
you puttem all to shame you puttem all to shame
King David and his concubines begat between them several sons
And of the lot, none there were more handsome than the one they called—
Absalom was brother to a younger sister named Tamar
In all the kingdom that was known, none there were more fair than she
Tamar was prized by many men who meant to win her as a bride
Not exempting the king’s firstborn, Amnon was what he was called.
By feigning he was ill one day, Amnon lured Tamar to him
And when she came to nurse his cold, he seized her strongly by the arm
“Why have you taken hold of me? Wherefore this sudden strength of yours?
Do you intend that I should lie with you? What ever do you take me for?”
And what Tamar refused to yield, Amnon cruelly took by force
And hoping he was someplace near, Tamar called out her brother’s name:
A——————Absalom!—where, O where, can you be?
A——————Absalom!—would that you were here to rescue me
When Absalom received the news that Amnon had his sister raped
He was angry but he did not act, he said, “Let us see what the king will do.”
When David did receive the news, bitter and angry did he turn
But no penalty would he dole, for Amnon was his firstborn son.
So Absalom conceived a plan to take revenge upon Amnon
And when two years had run their course, he held a banquet at his house.
And all the while he hid his hate he felt for Amnon and his Sin
Meanwhile caring for Tamar who resolved to show her face no more.
When Amnon was drunk with wine, Absalom shouted, “The time has come!”
And all his servants rose at once and Amnon with their swords did slay.
And as he fell beneath their blades, outnumbered and without defense
And as his spirit left his flesh, these words was Amnon heard to say:
Absalom!—with my last breath, your life I’ll curse
Absalom!—this death is bad; may yours be worse
God made the world in six short days
On the seventh he took a rest
On the eighth he woke up in a mood
Said, “I wonder what I’ll do next—”
He watched men work together
To build a tower that went up a mile
When it seemed there’d be no stopping them
God grinned and said, “I know, I’ll—
Burn it down—down—down—down
Down—down—down
Burn it down—down—down—down
Down—down—down
When God made ready to destroy
Humble Abraham stepped in
“If there’s one worthwhile man living there
Let me find and show you him.”
That the search would prove a futile one
It couldn’t be long denied—
And when the time had come and gone
Abe surrendered and replied:
Chorus
Samson was the strongest man
That ever walked the earth
He loved Delilah even though
She was a Philistine by birth
She betrayed him for her people’s sake
And cut off all his hair
It grew back in his captivity
And then he burst right out of there, to
chorus
Old John Brown was tried and hanged
By now his story you’ve probly heard:
How on the scaffold he did stand
To speak his final words:
“When law and conscience don’t agree
That’s when you’ve gotta stand and fight
I don’t regret a single thing I done—
Because, God knows, I was right!—to”
Chorus
I could see through the rearview
I was no longer near you
I could no longer hear you
no matter how hard I tried
you seemed to be distant
here and gone in an instant
just to stay for a short stint
just along for the ride
you asked for directions
and you took up collections
didn’t need no protectin
your plans were all drawn
I could tell you were tired
Not exactly inspired
Though you know I admired
How long you held on
Don’t make me remind you
To not look behind you
Cause the light it’ll blind you
You’ll be turned to salt
But I couldn’t help it
I had already felt it
My heart, it had melted
It wasn’t my fault
Now you know the old story
Of the power and the glory
He always told before he
Returned to the sea
Of the little girl soldier
Who stood on the shoulders
Of the giant who told her:
“You’ll never be tall as me.”
Now I’ll ask for forgiveness
If you will not bear witness
In health or in sickness
Til death do us part
But I cannot be for you
And I will not ignore you
I can only implore you
To carry in yours my heart
Chorus
Once pon a time in a faraway place there lived two young boys with their father
One was in charge of keeping the sheep, in charge of everything else was his brother
The shepherd was told to keep his eyes peeled, to look out for wolves with their cunning
Was told if he saw anything that looked strange, to yell, and the villiage’d come running
For a while he did just like he was told, but he found the watch rather boring
So one quiet night he raised the alarm while the entire villiage was snoring:
Wolf! There’s a wolf! O, somebody help!
Somebody please, I ain’t lyin
Get up from your beds, you been sleepin too long
Cant anyone hear me cryin?
So up from their beds the villiagers arose, hoping to prevent some disaster
But when they got to the boy with their pitchforks and blades, they found he was dyin of laughter
“You idiot boy,” his father exclaimed, “Didn’t I raise you to know better?”
Than to behave just like a fool? Why can’t you be more like your brother?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “won’t happen again,” and on he went pologizing
But the very next night when the town was asleep, a cry from the fields it came rising
Chorus
So up from their beds the villagers arose, hoping to prevent some disaster
And when they got to the boy with their pitchforks and blades, they found him there dyin of laughter
“Fooled us again, shame on us,” they said, “We really ought to have known better,”
And they all went away shaking their heads, wishing the boy was more like his brother
The very next night, a wolf, it appeared; the boy saw it but he raised no holler
He managed to chase it away from his flock into the house of his brother
Chorus
But no one got up tho the screams they all heard, thought, “it’s only that boy who’s been
lyin,”
and everyone slept with wax in their ears while the innocent one went on dyin
next morning the father asked his son, “Son, tell me, where is your brother?”
the boy replied, “How am I sposed to know? Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Death was out riding his horse in the desert
When he happened upon two traveling men
One of them saw his face in the distance
And took off back the way they had come
When Death made his way within range of the other
He tipped his hat and said, “it’s alright—
He said, “I’m only surprised to find him all the way out here
We’ve an appointment in town tonight,”
Now I used to know where it was I was going
My life had purpose, direction and aim—
But somewhere I lost my defense against knowing
That in the end you wind up losing the game
You can never escape it, outrun it, outsmart it
It’s like a storm that’s hanging over the sea—
O but cant I be devoured without being required
to worship what’s swallowing me?
maybe you’re a little more discerning
and you already know what I’m still learning
and you’ve extinguished what I’ve been burning
but given the option between staying and moving
saying and doing
begging and choosing—
I’ll do whichever brings me quickest to ruin—I’m only human, you know
I am the prodigal son’s younger brother
Who stayed home and tended the flock
Who, despite having dreams of his own to accomplish, stayed
Only to wind up the laughingstock;
I am not perfect—no one is perfect
But perfection plagues the rational soul
That is always trying to realize that trying
To realize isn’t even the goal
Prick my finger—I will show you my bloodline
Tickle me, and I may smile
Poison me and I’ll accuse you of something
And die, reluctantly, after a while
I feel the want of generations before me
I pre-curse all the sorrow to come
For all of our time here, we have done nothing—
So long as work is yet to be done
But maybe you’re a hair more saintly
Or maybe you just don’t hear so faintly
But we’re all sorta rotten—ain’t we?—
Given the option between hurting and healing
Standing and kneeling
Buying and stealing
I’ll do whichever keeps me under the ceiling—I’m only human, you know
Jesus Christ was sent here to save us
With a message and a couple of tricks
wherever he went he encountered a creature
that struck him as too broken to fix
he once asked to please be relieved of his mission
he said, “nobody here understands,
Everyone thinks I’m chosen and special
I keep telling them, I’m only a man—”
He died on a Friday, lay dead on a Saturday
On Sunday morning he rose
When they rolled the stone away from his coffin
all they found were what remained of his clothes
two fellas out on their way to Emmaus
saw him and said there’s more to retrieve,
jesus said, “even if you manage to get their attention
you’ll have to die just to make them believe,”
but maybe you’ll be more successful
when your angel pulls you in to wrestle
and you won’t have to sink the vessel—just to make still waters flow
but given the option between staying and leaving
giving and recieving
nothing and grieving
I’ll take whichever staunches the bleeding—I’m only human, you know
And so here we are on the eve of adventure
The brink of destruction, the moment of goodbye
Nothing is happening, but a faucet is leaking
And darkness is filling the sky
And you want to know if tomorrow I’ll be here
Right where you leave me, here in the door like this
And I want to know if this isn’t your clever way
Of telling me my chance has been missed
So go to your bretheren, return to your battlefield
Take whatever strength you got left
Your cards are all showing now, you’ve been holding them clumsily
Close to the wound at your chest
Perhaps you’ll think less of me, but perhaps that’s reality
And you ought not to go building up myths
Sometimes the tools that you use to escape yourself
Become the chains you imprison it with
But maybe I’m just too ill-tempered
Sophomoric and self-centered
To recognize that the race I’ve entered
But given the option between flying and falling
Lying and sprawling—crying and bawling
I’ll do whichever proves itself as my calling—I’m only human, you know
I could be outcast, outnumbered and outlawed
I could be downcast, downwind, and downtrod
I could be discovered and then proved a fraud
By any of your circus geeks
I could be at sea without a sail
Boat could capsize in the gail
I could be swallowed up by Jonah’s whale
Carried down ten thousand leagues—
just as long as you are there
To help to see me through
Just as long as you are there
Lord, what couldn’t I do?
I could be tempted, tested, tortured, hazed
Moved to speak unfalsely any number of ways
I could be undone in the sentencing phase
By the highest so-called authority
Incriminations could be unfurled
Accusations could be spewed and hurled
It could be me against the entire world
I’d still be in the majority
Chorus
If I was limp and didn’t have no crutch
If I was sore and couldn’t bare your touch
If for whatever reason it just got to be too much
It got to be more than I could endure
If I lost that which I could not retrieve
And only felt what I couldn’t perceive
If I knew you weren’t –I’d still believe
Anyway, that you were
chorus
My name it is an epitaph, my tale it is too sad to tell
For I have done the hangman’s math, when I leave this earth, I’m bound for hell.
I started out a fisherman, I spent my youth beside the sea
Until one day a shepherd came, said, “Put down thy nets and come with me.”
He folded me into his flock and taught me how to serve the poor
My faith in him was like a rock, until it wasn’t anymore.
For many years I followed him, one lost sheep wandring with the rest
But alone to me he’d often said I was the one he loved the best.
And as we roamed the country fair, and preached the good news from on high
The authorities, they did declare, “He is gaining strength, and so he must die!”
And late one night I dreamed a dream, an angel came and spoke to me
He said I was the dark machine that was mentioned in the prophesy.
He told me how to play my part, said, “Altho you love him to the rind,
You must betray him in your heart, so that he can save mankind.”
And when I wakened from my spell, my faint resolve began to grow
But whether it was from God or Hell—that is something I will never know.
I sought the high-priest to inquire, “What will you give for Jesus Christ?”
He gave the sum and went no higher, “Thirty silver pieces for his life.”
At supper on the final night, he spoke and said he already knew
He’d been betrayed and he’d lose the fight, he said, “I know that it was one of you.”
Around that room, denials poured as all our faces turned to red
“It wasn’t me, I swear, my Lord,” and Jesus: “Yeah, so you have said.”
That night I brought the sentries round, and as if to add insult to my sin,
When I kissed him on the ground, they paid me right in front of him.
He went before the judge and court, was mocked and sentenced then to die,
They hung him up upon the cross where he was flogged and crucified.
And worst of all that did transpire, worse than any guilt I own
Worse than hell’s eternal fire, were his last words to me alone:
As he was tortured, stabbed and maimed, as blood from his fresh wounds did spew
He looked at me, and said, “Be not ashamed—for already I have forgiven you.”
And saying that, he hung his head, as if to pray or give a nod
And when someone cried: “Enough—he’s dead,” they knew he was the Son of God.
No trial am I made to stand, no jury aims to see me hung
But I don’t think people understand just what it is that I have done.
I didn’t do it out of hate, out of malice, greed or jealousy—
I did it cause it was his fate, and because it was my destiny.
My name, it is Iscariot, I betrayed the Savior, Jesus Christ
My conscience cannot carry it: Thirty Silver Pieces for my life.
It’s seven degrees, I got no place to go
This time tomorrow, it’ll be ten below
Sun’s going down, it’s starting to snow
Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy on me
I’ve made my mistakes and I’ve got my regrets
Dug my own grave as I was placing those my bets
And now I ain’t got the money for to pay off my debts
Lord have mercy on me
My friends want me placed under arrest
My family agrees, and thinks it’d be for the best
To whom can I turn, now? There’s nobody left—
Lord, have mercy on me
Have mercy on me—tho I now am trembling
And did not do my daily share
Have mercy on me—and in thy remembering
Recall how frequent was my prayer
others came to me, helpless, I kicked them to the curb
I took offense at their entitlement, gall and their nerve
I know this, now, is justice, it’s what I deserve, but
Lord, have mercy on me
I have fled every place that I might’ve stayed
Conceded to fold right when I should have played
Is this here not the fate of which I’ve been so afraid?
Lord have mercy on me
It’s one thing I’ll mention of which I’m ashamed
I can’t seem to shoulder my own share of the blame
Stead of pitying myself, why can’t I just change?
Lord, have mercy on me
Have mercy on me—tho the cost were too high
And the debt one more I could not repay
Have mercy on me—so that rather than die
I can turn the favor someone else’s way
Wherever there’s injustice, there’s histry to blame
I profit from the system I been fighting to change
But how can I be free when my brother’s in chains?
Lord Have Mercy on me!
I feel like the ending is about to begin;
Ceiling’s coming down and the wall’s closing in
The wind’s picking up; the light’s getting dim
lord have mercy on me
The future’s been told in decipherable font
the past is a vessel the dead failed to haunt
teach me know what it’s important to want—
Lord, have mercy on me
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Opinions are too hard to turn
But I say try it and see what sticks—
It ain’t never too late to learn
I used to want to play the guitar
I thought I couldn’t cause I didn’t know how
Then I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried and—
I think I’m getting the hang of hit now
chorus
Our government’s got the strange idea
That private healthcare we all can afford
I guess the lawmakers have never either never been sick—
Or else they’ve never been poor
chorus
Our government’s got the funny idea
that they’ve met all the public school needs
with teachers making less than a decent wage
there’s plenty left for the war overseas
chorus
There’s folks in this land who are full up of hate
Seems anger is all that they’ve got
They spread their harmful and hateful ideas
Exactly the way they were taught
Don’t know about you but I’m starting to think
Maybe everybody’s to blame
Instead of trying to be right all the time
Why don’t we try being nice for a change?
chorus
Some people think it’s too early to say
Some people think it’s already too late
Some say it’d be easier to move the sea with a spoon
Than to change the mind of the State
Politicians got mouths, some got ears
Long as you got the money to burn
That’s the only time you’ll hear one of them say
“It ain’t never too late to learn”
Chorus
Jesus arrived at the banker’s hall
Their tables he did overturn
He said, “I guess none of y’all’ve caught on yet—
But it ain’t never too late to learn”
When Amnon’s life was smothered out, Absalom to his horse did take
For he knew that when his deed was known, he’d be the enemy of the state
And so began his long career as a fugitive and a refugee
Wherein he learned a thing or two about how common people lived.
And as he roamed from town to town and shared the campfires of the poor
He more than once revealed his tale and made his royal bloodlines known.
In time he gained some confidence, and did a reputation earn
For seeming just as fit to rule as, if not moreso than the king.
And into his mind there came a thought, which he did often speak aloud
“I wish my father wasn’t king—would that it had been me instead!”
When David did receive the news, bitter and angry did he turn
But no penalty would he dole, for Absalom was yet his son.
So David stood before his throng and asked the crowds that he could see
“Who among you would challenge me?”—the reply returned resoundingly:
Absalom!—what else is there now to discuss?
Absalom!—he has won the hearts of all of us!
And so it came that Absalom conspired to overtake the throne
He raised an army of good men, it numbered many thousand strong.
When David did receive the news, a sadness overwhelmed his heart—
For though he’d been to war before, he’d not yet fought a son he loved.
So when the day of battle came, the King gave the orders to his men:
“though treacherous, my son is mine—if captured, please do spare his life.”
And as his men prepared to ride, King David said, “I will go, too.”
But Joab, David’s right-hand-man, replied, “No such thing shall you do.”
And forth both armies rode that day, their conflicts to resolve with war
and both sides suffered massive loss—twenty thousand died in all.
And Absalom among them died, his life concluding in this way:
As he was riding through the woods, he was clotheslined by an oak-tree branch
And tween the earth and sky he hung, for some while struggling to get loose
When upon his dangling form, rode Joab, David’s right-hand-man.
And as the men of David’s force recalled to him the oath they made
Joab recounted all the slain, and said “—with this man’s life a debt is paid!”
And saying so he took three spears and stabbed them through the young man’s chest
and in this way was slain the son their beloved king had loved the best.
Then Joab sent two messengers back home to tell the tale world-wide
The first, that they had won the war, the second, that Absalom had died.
And all the people cheered with joy to know there had been victory
But David simply hung his head and wept bitter tears of misery
“What’s the cheering of ten thousand strong? What’s all the joy of battles won?
Compared to this deep grief I feel to be deprived of my beloved son?
Absalom!—my son, my son! My son is dead!
Absalom!—would it had been me instead!”
Your eyes look heavy, your shirts stained with tears
You look like you aint had a good night’s rest in years
The evening is young yet, but the morning, she nears
All that lies in darkness soon will be made clear—
you can lose the burden, add your complaints to the pile
Why don’t you take your coat off and stay awhile?
You look like you just seen the worst part of a brawl
I’d hate to see the other guy, if he even made it out at all
Youre on your last legs, with your back gainst the wall
If you try to move you know you’re just gonna fall
But seeing you try, man, you know it just makes me smile
Why don’t you take off your coat—and stay awhile?
I got friends in low places, I got enemies close-by
I could tell you some stories that’d make you laugh til you cry
You can’t win em all, but you know you can try
But I ain’t sellin nothing that you don’t wanna buy
I ain’t gonna pressure you out of your own denial
Why don’t you take your coat off and stay awhile
Can I fix for you a cup of something warm
While you dry off, take shelter from the storm?
The sails right off of their riggings have torn
Anything that needs doing’ll have to wait til the morn
your troubles out there are lined up in single file
why don’t you—take off your coat, and stay awhile?
Wipe your muddy boots off, hang up your dusty hat
You’re makin me nervous pacing the floor like that
the bus is busted, the wheels have gone flat
there engine’s been burned up, along with the map
even if we were able, I wouldn’t drive one more mile
why don’t you—take your coat off, stay awhile?
you can make yourself at home, here, do just as you please
it’ll be morning fore the jailer gets back with the keys
the guards have gone home, soldiers stand at ease
You can do whatever you like—anything except leave
Ain’t nobody in here gonna put you on trail
Why don’t you—take off your coat and stay awhile?
You don’t need to get angry, we’re all in the same boat
It’s not like anyone put our fates to a vote
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and that’s all that she wrote
If it don’t make a good story, it’ll make a fine anecdote
I’ll even tell it to you, long as you don’t touch that dial
Why don’t you—take your coat off, and stay awhile?
I also have struggled, I ain’t no different from you
Had all of my money strung up in my shoe
Had everything stolen from me a time or two
Had to start over, and relearn all that I knew
Be not afraid of me, honey, be reconciled—
Why don’t you—take off your coat, and stay awhile?
Met a cloud passin overhead through the windowpane right beside my bed
“Hello down there, are you,” it said, “Alive?”
I said “How am I to tell, sometimes I look alright when I feel like hell
I guess I’m doin well—enough to get by”
I met a tree out on highway nine, a lone handsome ponderosa pine
He said he wished he had legs like mine so he could run
I said I’ll give you these here boots if you teach me how to lay down roots
He said sometimes there’s substitutes, but this just aint one
And isn’t it just my luck—soon as I get goin, the goin get’s tough
Lose my shoes and the road gets rough on me again
I bet it all and they call my bluff, they leave me fifty cents when I need a buck
And I’m just trine to get out of bein stuck right where I am
I met a doctor who was ill, who said it was only a matter of time until
The disease would begin to kill him or itself
He asked me what my trouble was, I said I’m just waitin for my bell to buzz
And even if it never does, at least I got my health
I met a lady in a turquoise hat, she asked me a few questions about this and that
And in 30 seconds flat she forgot my name
She told me her biography, along with most of the whole world’s history
And for what escaped her memory she felt ashamed
Chorus
I got a pen that just won’t write, got a pack of matches, not a one will light
I got a song for you tonight, but it won’t make you stay
I got a knife that just won’t cut, a refrigerator door that won’t stay shut
I got a lot of things here, but what good are they?
I got one eye that just won’t blink, got a thirst I can’t quench with just one drink
I got a brain that just can’t think it’s troubles through
I got a parrot that won’t repeat, got a hunger in me that just don’t wanna eat
I got a heart that just won’t beat for no one else but you
Chorus
Moved to the city the other day,
Less to be there than to get away
I got a quarter of the space I had, and the rent it costs a pile
My roommates all work through the night
Come home at dawn put out the lights
Sleep all day and all afternoon
Wake up again when they can see the moon
Their trash all through the apartment’s strewn
They say I’ll be like them pretty soon
I think I gotta get out of the city—for a while
Time came when I should’ve wrote
I sent a postcard to my folks
Dear Ma, I’m so depressed I’ve forgotten how to smile
Nobody knows my name
And every day is about the same
The sun comes up and the sun goes down
People just trine to move around
Everybody wears a frown
You say hello, they look at the ground
I think I gotta get out of the city—for a while
My coat’s dirty, tattered, torn
My pants is old and warped and worn
My boots is so full up of holes and get worse with every mile
Walkin round here and there
It’s hard to make it most anywhere
Trucks a honkin, trolley’s squeakin
Trains a rumbling, cars a beepin
At 3 am the neighbor’s screamin
Fore you know it, I’ll be leavin
I think I gotta get out of the city—for a while
I was bred in the place I’m from
But here I feel just like a crumb
When you’re used to woods and mountains, the city’s what seems wild
Sometimes people start to yell
What at, though, you can’t always tell
Hey—what’re you lookin at?
Hey—how are you doin, cat?
What do you know? How bout that?
Look out you don’t step on that rat
I think I gotta get out of the city for a while
A good job has been hard to find
That’ll keep you out of the daily grind
Every morning its like herded sheep, all in single file
The workers come in from outside
In a car or bus or train they ride
The builders build the buildings tall
Back you right up against the wall
Make you feel that you’re pretty small
Til you got no room to yourself at all
I think I gotta get out of the city for a while
Folks tell me in a while I’ll see
A change start to come over me
You’ll still think you’re miserable but you’ll just be in denial
You’ll get away for a week or two
Go to the shore, take in the view
Youll miss the sidewalks and the throng
They’ll sing to you like a siren-song
You’ll see you’ve loved it all along
You’ll start to feel like something’s wrong:
You’ll think you gotta get back to the city for a while
The time now has come for facing the facts, our love has grown cold to the touch
We’re giving it everything that we have and our best still ain’t good enough
Perhaps I’m to blame for trying too hard to make this into something it wasn’t
For making the case that it matters to you when both of us know that it doesn’t
But who knows in spite of all that went wrong, it might still have turned out okay
If you hadn’t a snagged me and dragged me along every little step of the way
You don’t have to make like you’re really upset, you don’t have to tell me you’re sorry
You don’t gotta act like it’s the end of the world, it’s only the end of our story
I can’t really say that I’m glad it occurred, but I won’t say I’m sorry it’s over
The things about me that you still haven’t heard are probably best left undiscovered
But you never know somehow we might’ve pulled thru, might’ve even gotten married someday
If you hadn’t a lived like you’d nothing to lose, every little step of the way
I like to believe I can account for my part more than only part of the time
That what looks like a fault’s just a lapse in attention rather than a flaw in design
The vultures that swooped down to feed on my spleen were merely doing what they were made to
The leeches that drained me and sucked my bones clean shouldn’t have frightened or phased you
And as for the demons that hounded my heart, you know I could’ve kept em at bay
If you hadn’t a pushed me and pulled me apart, every little step of the way
You said you were tired of having this fight, the one that always ends in confusion
With one of us kissing the other goodnight and returning to the routine illusion
The picture in glass that hangs on your wall, the one in which everyone’s laughin
Seems to account for how I can recall events that never actually happened
But even with my head in a fog, I might’ve made it out of the gray
If you hadn’t a thrown a wrench in the cog every little step of the way
From now on I’ll do my best to be fair whenever telling people about us
I’ll say that our roads ran together awhile and then quite simply went on without us
You’ve taken your portion and dealt out your share of insults and harmful lines
if you’ve told me once I’m an old so-and-so, then you’ve told me a thousand times
And who knows, even in spite of the odds, we might’ve overcome the forces at play
If you hadn’t a toyed with and tempted the gods, every little step of the way
your promises frequently died in their birth or unraveled like thread on a spool
And your favors all cost me more than their worth, and your help was at best miniscule
Cause you never so little as tried to be kind, and you never so much as succeeded
in the object of snubbing and robbing me blind, a hint would’ve been all that I needed
But who knows, despite all the reasons to go, I might’ve found the courage to stay
If you hadn’t accused me of moving too slow every little step of the way
I have been called many things in my time, but a traveler’s what I mainly am
With nothing to tell of where I am bound, nor to say of where it was I began
When I come to a fork in the road, I pause; sometimes it’s just a second or two
Long enough to suppose that I am the sum of everything that I’ve been through
But the light’s never still where I stand alone, and I can afford no further delay
And I dream that I’m always arriving at home with every little step of the way
So you say you’ve finally found the one you been awaiting all your life
And you say that now he’s asked for you to come and be his wife
And by the way you’re smiling now, I don’t suppose you told him, “No,”
I don’t suppose you said where he could go—
And every bride within your family’s had some tradition to stick to
With something old, something brand-new, something borrowed, something blue
To wear or carry down the aisle to satisfy the trend
And you say you’d like my advice, just as your friend
For something old you got that wedding dress your great-grandmother sewed
For something new, you got that wedding ring of 14 karat gold
For something borrowed you could take the torch I been holding out for you
And hell, invite me to your wedding, I’ll be your something blue
I guess I should be happy that you found someone to love
Who, from the gutter of the world, knows that you’re outside and above
Who’s probably lived a lonesome life, looking high and low for you
Who, in so many words, can see you like I do
And I guess I should feel relieved, rather than despised
To know I’m not the only one who can see what’s in your eyes
And to realize beyond any doubt, that there would have been no way
to be the one to say, “I do,” on your wedding day—
for something old you got that memory of the two of us, alone
for something new you got that house I spose you’ll make into a home
for something borrowed you could take the heart I wore on my sleeve for you
and hell, invite me to your wedding—I’ll be your something blue
it may be too late to tell you now what maybe never needed sayin
I may’ve missed the opportunity when you caught that outbound train
All I’ve got now to look forward to’s a lifetime of time to kill
because I loved you then, and now, and always will
and I spose there must be moments, like the spokes on fortune’s wheel,
when the broken things within us will begin again to feel
when the broad daylight of morning will again seem warm and soft
but for me, that day’s still a long ways off
for something old you got that story from the madame’s crystal ball
for something new you got a family and a portrait on your wall
for something borrowed you could take my dreams which have always been of you
and hell, invite me to your wedding, I’ll be your something blue
The woman takin care of me takes care to never let me be
You know I’d go home but she’ll just be standing there
In the porchlight with her rolling pin, she’ll cross her arms, say “Where you been?”
I’ll say “I can’t say,” and she’ll say, “No, you tell me where,”
I’ll say “I can’t say,” and she’ll just sigh and frown
And I’ll try to sleep just knowing she’s still standing there
Thinking how every time she trusts me I just go and let her down
The time it sure has slipped by fast, my curfew’s come and gone and passed
And my money all got spent before my tab was paid
With another night of streets to roam and anywhere to go but home
I’ll begin to wonder of the impact my impression’s made
I’ll begin to wonder if I been lost or found
I’ll begin to wonder just how far off the path I’ve strayed
And if it’s likely I could make it back if I just stopped and turned around
But now I’m frightened, more of myself than of the thunder or the lightening
More of the dawn than of the night that knows no brightening, lets me keep on hidin
I know my wrongs need rightening, and tho I know when it’s just bait well I’m still bitin
The more I wait the more I feel the noose a tightenin, and the stakes’re heightening
The preacher asks me if I pray, I tell him each and every day
He asks me, “How?”—as if he really didn’t know
I tell him first I close my eyes then I just kind of wait to be surprised
“And does that work?” he always wants to know
“And does what work?” I say for my response
“Are your prayers answered—does God say ‘yes’ and ‘no’?”
I tell him: “Father, God does whatever the hell he damn well wants.”
I try to keep the leash on tight, try to do what’s good and just and right
And it’s not too hard, so long as no one’s keepin score
But somehow midway down the line I find I’m cursed by my own design
And its no use explaining what I do things for
And its no use trying to use my words
Cause all I say is something someone’s said somewhere before
And comes out sounding just like nothing that I ain’t already heard
But now I’m frightened—more of my self than any madness I’m ignitin
More of my heart than of my love that needs requitenin, that feels your spitenin
I know my wrongs need rightenin, and tho I’m running low on fuel, well I’m still ridin
And tho I’ve broken every rule I was abidenin, seems no one’s mindin
My teacher taught me to be sick of science and arithmetic
“What good,” I asked, “is any of this stuff anyways?”
He warned me with a tired scold that “if you don’t do as you’re told
Well, you’ll find out for yourself one of these days—
And you’ll find out just how far you can get,”
And I found out right away because I cursed him to his face
And only lately have I thought of it as something I regret
The officer of my parole, he says I’m under his control
And that if I even laugh too loud, well, he’ll be at my side
I can feel his eyes upon my skin, I’d shut them out but they lock me in
They say, “You’re lucky,” but that ain’t quite been verified
They say, “You’re free again,” but that ain’t quite been proved
They had my story written out before I testified
And I was sentenced for I knew of what I’d even been accused
And now I’m frightened, more of myself than any foe that I’ve been fightin
More of the truth than of the lies that they’ve been writing, they’re self-indicting
But my wrongs need rightening, and tho I know the fuse is close well I’m still firin
The gate that leads to my destruction’s ever-widenin, slowly closing in
You wake up in the morning and you’re still drunk from lastnight
There’s a tooth missin from your grin
You know you gotta get up but you can’t find the light
In fact you don’t even know whose bed you’re in
The woman beside you just whispered she loved you
Which you’re sure you must’ve misunderstood
All you need now’s a cold shower—a cold shower
A cold shower’ll do you good
It’s the middle of summer and it’s a thousand degrees
There’s steam risin up from the street
The air conditioner’s broken and the icebox won’t freeze
There’s no place for you to get out of the heat
You race to the pool but you can’t get in it’s full
Of every person in your neighborhood
All you need now’s a cold shower—a cold shower
A cold shower’ll do you good
You’ve bought into everything and you think it’s all swell
living safely in your American dream
you’ve been breathing in foul air so long you can’t even smell
you’ve never drawn a single breath that’s clean
given the chance to upgrade and enhance, you
hesitate, wondering whether you should
all you need now’s a cold shower—a cold shower
a cold shower’ll do you good
I came here by request to see my cousin whose been ill
Intending to remain but a week or so
My very first day here, I came down with a chill
That was nearly seven years ago
They put me in a room where a man had just expired
Of some disease of which I’m sure I’d never heard
They told me all about how much he’d been admired
And how sad it was his condition could not be cured—
Chorus- I think I’m coming down with something serious
I don’t know how long it’ll be before I’m over this
I think I’m coming down with something serious
I don’t know if I’ll be getting up again
I’m sweating like a pig but I could use another sheet
My temperatures somewhere around 103
This morning I woke up and then I fell right back to sleep
When I opened up my eyes I could not see
There’s a man here with a cough so bad he cannot talk
Just hacks and wipes his blood off in his sleeve
I asked the nurse, “How long before I get to see the doc?”
she pointed at him and said, “That’s the man you want to see,”
chorus
Today I got a call from my boss back down below
He said I was due back at work—or else!
But I worked all my life, and what have I got to show?
As of now, I haven’t even got my health
They put me on a cart and wheeled me to a room
where they strapped me to an old X-ray machine
everyone agreed that something must be done—and soon!
but they never told me what any of it means
chorus
There’s a girl here from Duluth, she cannot speak a word
She communicates through shapes made with her hands
Whenever she’s around, I feel a pounding in my nerves
I get dizzy, weak, and cannot seem to stand—
They listened to my heart, they opened up my veins
They looked inside my blood for some kind of sign
The nurse reported back that my heartbeat was just the rain
And it turns out my own blood ain’t even mine—
chorus
Yesterday I wrote a letter out on the lawn
“Dear Uncle,” it said, “Sorry I misspoke.
If you reading these words now, it means that I am gone
And no, I don’t mean, stepped out for a smoke.
I’ve been the child of privilege, known prosperity and wealth;
Please take my things and give them to the poor.
If you’d like to keep my books, please—go, and help yourself
Where I’m going—I won’t need them anymore”
Chorus
I had a girl I loved her madly; towards me her feeling was lukewarm
Later on I learned she had me in the calm before the storm
I thought that love would last forever, but I could not have been more wrong
You can’t dress for the weather in the storm beyond the calm
I aint been here in a long time, tho I guess not much has changed
There’s still a beauty in the lightning, there’s still a comfort in the rain
They say the night is always darkest the hour before the dawn
And love stands at its starkest in the storm beyond the calm
I tried livin in the city, but I couldn’t find a friend
So I moved into the country, started talking to the wind
Now I toil in my pasture, and I sleep out on the lawn
And I feel right at home here, in the storm beyond the calm
I been up and down the mountain, I trudged through the desert dunes
I drank from pleasure’s fountains, and howled at bluer moons
But there’s no gold in el dorado, and in gilead’s no balm
You’re stuck waiting for tomorrow in the storm beyond the calm
And there’s no one to write home to from freedom’s giant cage
Everyone that claims to know you just turns your anger into praise
Goliath wants a rematch, but David’s busy with his psalms
Words are useful as a wet match in the storm beyond the calm
So I guess I’ll keep a goin down the road that’s got me lost
Leaning gainst the breezes blowin, weighing the spoils against the cost
I tried admitting I was weak once, but I’ve never been that strong
I been out on a short limb when the branches have been sawn
I brushed against the heavens seen the gorges neath me yawn
Death can grin to hear my laughter, but I’ll sing another song
And survive one more disaster in the storm beyond the calm
Just a traveler—on a road
Making good time; making head-way to nowhere at all
Left my footprints—where it snowed
That’s as good as any farewell letter I could scrawl
I mouthed the words I could not say—as tho I thought I could undo
The choice to stand and stay remains—tho it is I who have now forsaken you
An empty feelin burns me through—I can’t waiver
I can’t linger in this moment anymore
With midnight stealing into blue—my whole horizon
Is disappearing in a sudden blur
I rapped upon the frosted glass—wherein my gaunt reflection shone
When I climbed in the cabbie asked—“Where have you been,
CHORUS: I wanna go home—home—
Home—that’s where I wanna go
Breakfast table—a broken plate, mama’s bathrobe
Dragging dirty round her ankles on the floor
A stream of boxcars hauling freight, and November
coming early and unwelcome through the door
I woke up inside a bus that had carved all night to make it through a storm
I’s just in time to see the fog rise up from out of the Pennsylvania corn
No tomorrows—in this town
Just a motel with its neon flashing “Vacant” in the cold
must be shrinking—these things down
in my memory, either that or else I’m just getting old
I found a sign that read “free meal” and pressed upon a door to see
I nearly cried when the waitress come and asked me: Son, what’ll it be?
CHORUS
I been to Nashville, outer space, Oklahoma
Now I’m sitting in my Philadelphia room
Trying to read things I’ve erased, or written over
Or told myself I’d reckon pretty soon—
Barring not that I should fail, still I—have struggled to resist
the thought that where I’m trying to land may well not even exist
Life’s a strange sort of museum—full of routines
Full of desperate efforts catapulting loss
So many visions—you can’t believe em—til its too late
Til your faith wears the same odor as exhaust
I clicked my heels three times and prayed—to a God I could not see
I stamped and addressed myself so the postman would know exactly where to deliver me
CHORUS
Just a traveler on a road making good time; making headway to nowhere at all
The water tastes like metal and the coffee tastes like paint
And everything I eat these days makes me want to faint
I went to see my doctor and I told him my complaint
He said it ain’t your tongue that’s broken, it’s your brains—
It gives me cause to wonder, or should I say, to doubt
Whether its even blood that’s flowin in my veins
Everything was goin one way now it goes a different route
And since you left ain’t nothing been the same
The colors on my pallet have all gone and changed their hue
My yellows ain’t so yellow and my blues are darker blue
The poetry inside my books just doesn’t ring as true
Each familiar thing now strikes me as strange
Everywhere the sun is shining but a clouds formed over me
And I moved here just to get out of the rain
I don’t know if it’s a secret plot or some conspiracy
But since you left ain’t nothing been the same
The windshield’s got a crack now and the front door’s got a creak
The lamp it has a busted bulb and the faucet’s sprung a leak
And my entire outlook onto life’s grown pretty bleak
I spent my mornings watching things go down the drain
I don’t know if it’s coincidence, bad luck or even fate
Tho I’m afraid I’m hardly able to explain
The smallest shred of sense I can’t configure or create
But since you left ain’t nothing been the same
Rivers used to lead to oceans, now they flow right to their source
Birds used to fly south in the winter, now they’re headin north
Time, she walked a tightrope, now she’s swining back and forth
No sand inside the hourglass remains
I’m still fighting the old demons, the Mondays and the blues
Tho the upper hand I no longer seem to gain
All the things I once relied on now reject me or refuse
And since you left ain’t nothing been the same
My feet, they roam the ceiling, and my head, it scrapes the floor
Today I tried to go outside but I coulnd’t reach the door
I don’t think the laws of gravity are workin anymore
What goes down once can still go down again
But don’t worry bout me darling I think I’m starting to get well
I’m sure that someday it’ll all be plain
You came to me so gently that the change was hard to tell
But since you left ain’t nothing been the same
I’m easily distracted, my mind is all off track
I still think of you from time to time, wonder if you’re comin back
I left a candle burning and a key under the mat
With a note on which I didn’t put your name
If you come acallin for me and I don’t answer right away
It ain’t because I’m angry or detained
Probably I’m just trine to think of something new to say
Cause since you left ain’t nothing been the same
Woke up this morning to a rooster crowing
The sails were set but the wind wasn’t blowing
It was the middle of june and it was already snowing
I should’ve known something was wrong
Rolled out of be put my shirt on backwards
Pulled my pants on first and my underwear aftwards
Slipped on the stairs made a whole in the plaster
Right where your portrait belonged
Went down to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee
I poured it, stirred it, then spilled it on me
Went to make it again but the can was empty
All I could do was scowl
It seems like I can’t do anything right
I go to bed early lay awake all night
I’m afflicted by forces that I just can’t fight
Might as well throw in the towel
Drivin to work my front wheel exploded
It seems the tire pressure had been overloaded
That the fault was mine has been duly noted
The tow-man told me so
Got into the office a little behind schedule
My boss thought my tardiness was intentional
Said the time’s come for me to do what’s sensible
Gave me the old heave-ho
Got home early met my girlfriend leavin
Said she didn’t have time to go into the reasons
Said that there was something else that she was needin
I said “What about me?” she said, “No—”
And it feels like I can’t keep anything straight
I pay up-front face-value at the goin-rate
But its always just a little too little too late
Either too fast or much too slow
Preachers and teachers, they taunt and test me
The neighbors complain and the cops arrest me
And every person I’ve ever loved has left me
What’s that supposed to say about me?
I was disinvited to a colleague’s wedding
It seems I couldn’t prevent an ugly rumor from spreading
I receieved a memorandum with the following heading
You and me, pistols at dawn
I showed up late but I brought my seconds
We shook hands quickly and chose our weapons
Threw up a coin and it just went on flippin
Til all our hard feelings was gone
Seems like I can’t follow anything thru
I wake up from a nightmare and it just comes true
Meanwhile everything beautiful reminds me of you
Like a star I keep wishin on
New York Times said the end was nearing
Paper hit my porch as the smoke was clearing
I’s trine to decide if the sound I’s hearing
Was in or outside of my head
Sun came out around eleven thirty
I tried to see through the flames but my glasses were dirty
I cried out for help but nobody heard me
They probably all thought I was dead
I dragged myself out of the smoldering rubble
Out of the frying pan headed for trouble
Spent my life on the sea, just to drown in a puddle
I swear you couldn’t make this stuff up
I just can’t make up my lost mind it seems
Whether I’m goin or coming apart at the seems
I might be a ghost you know that all that it means
Is that I just can’t let go
Chorus
So you’ve finally made your peace with those you used to go ahead and make your wars with
I knew you had it in you babe to lay down your sword upon the shield you prayed and swore with
Tell me, can you name the thing it was that made you want to go and change your old ways for forever?
Were you makin adjustments just now when you saw me, or were you just trine to prove that you were clever?
Last we met as I recall you inquired of the whereabouts of your old lover
A man they called by many names and titles that changed as he roamed from one town into another
Your man I know I met one night though I admit it only was in passin
I asked him straight up who he was and like you said he would, he asked me who was askin
I said to take his pick of names, he could call me what he liked for all it mattered
He gestured to a curtain near a window the behind of which a mirror had been shattered
We were in the this hotel bar and seemed the only travelers there who needed restin
I could tell he crawled a thousand miles by his feeble face and the beggars rags he dressed in
For a time we spoke of nothing and only said the things that never needed sayin
Of how he never meant to leave but had to get back to fleein from the debts that needed payin
He said he sposed you’d sent me to find out what became of that widowed heart’s disaster
He said a thing to say to you I couldn’t hear over the thunder’s raging laughter
So now I’ve circled back to you, you know that you’re as hard to find as he is
I tried to trace the love you lost and all I got for clues are my own ideas
But what I still can’t figure out is why you want so bad to know he’s out of rations
As if to know he’d settled down and were fine somewhere were the worst thing you could imagine
I’ve crossed the deserts wild and come within an inch of the maw of the volcano
I’ve poured the legends tall and drunk them deep and know as well they never stay the same though
Been up and down and lost and found and run around back and forth all across the country
I’ve consumed what’s been presumed to be too much, stood up and still been hungry
Now I don’t mean to speak for you, for who am I but a lowly bounty hunter
I’ve been paid to make my way and find out what I can by the contract that I’m under
But if you could within your heart try to make a place that wasn’t such a prison
Perhaps you’d have no need of me and we could both of us just get back to livin
How’m I supposed to know that you’re angry?
How’m I supposed to know you’re unhappy?
How’m I supposed to know that it ain’t my fault?
You’ve spoken your piece and look, you’ve gone silent
Put down your fists, no need to get violent
You opened the wound, and now you’re just adding salt
Til the whole conversation’s been ground to a screeching halt
Honestly—
I can’t see—
how you ever got to be—so like a rock
That short of a contract deal—
that don’t make anything anymore real—
somehow you still feel—
You’re never around on the evenings or weekends
Your secrets unfold as your mystery deepens
the crease of your letter was known to be uncommonly sharp
I’m past any hope or cry of remembering
like a ripening tear in the duct, you’ve been trembling
but tell me again, and forgive me—I’m still in the dark
I can see now what Time will do, yes, it’s left its mark
& I’ve been briefed
Not to turn over a new leaf
Cause it won’t bring no release—to a way that’s been blocked
But can’t you understand
It’ll be out of my hands
How you gonna make any new demands
I tiptoed around and I bent over backwards
Walking on eggshells, I examined your hazards
Raking your bed of coals just brought me to thin ice—
So take all the time in the world that you’re needing
I’ll be alright, it’s not like I’m bleeding
Go and be a good to yourself for once in your life
You don’t need my permission, you don’t even gotta think twice
I’ve been advised
Not to apologize
Tho I don’t think it’s wise—and frankly I’m shocked
That that could be so clear
To someone who ain’t right here
Who don’t know the fear—that you’ve apparently got
And I don’t want to pry
I don’t want to be “that guy”
Cause I know you’re shy—and I guess I’m not
But I’m on my knees
It’s my only need
Please, please, please—won’t you talk—to me?
Time passes so slow when you’re trying to rise—and you’re sinkin
You wish you were moving on, but you got nowhere to be—and you’re thinking
You grieved with everything you had
Every beat of heart you could allow—
But even doing it all for him
In the end still wasn’t enough somehow—
The record’s stuck in the groove, repeating a phrase—and you let it
The young man is making his move, he gives you his word—you forget it
You’re still hung up on a choice you made
That you’d’ve undone if time had allowed
But even if he were here
Don’t you think he’d be able to point it out:
The faucet’s screwed to the sink, it ain’t going noplace—but its drippin
The rope’s tied fast to the weight swinging high overhead—but it’s slippin
You know you shouldn’t feel bad
And you tell yourself like you was making a vow
Your sorrow’s the size of your love for him
Just like you always knew it was, somehow
Once you’d do anything to relieve all the pain—you were feeling
But now you can’t bear to think that numb’s all you are—and you’re healing
Perhaps there’s been some mistake
It’s all been an act, and here comes the bow—
The dead will exit the stage
Leaving the audience better off somehow
It’s been a while now since the last time we talked
But I been tracing your footsteps in the paths that we walked
And I been kicking myself cause opportunity knocked—
And I didn’t know that it was my cue
And I’m remembering things that I shouldn’t’ve said
Thinking bout what I could’ve told you instead
It makes me wish sometimes that I were actually dead
Rather than merely regretful and blue
The cracks of my fingers the rain’s fallin through
What is it exactly you want me to do?
Maybe I’m losing my sane point of view
you changed all your habits to suit your new friends
To whom you were never more than a means to an end
You’re much further gone than even you can pretend
Yet you make believe none of it’s new
And you stand by and watch as your handiwork spoils:
As your patience expires and your temperature boils
and from your tenderest gesture the medusa recoils
as if to say it already knew
I’ve examined the floorplan the architect drew
Seems its somekind of labyrinth we’ve been wandering through
And maybe I’ve lost the thread that this needle went to
you take on too much, you’re like a martyr at dusk
the things that you once believed in you no longer trust
the machinery to help you has taken on rust
and you’ve bitten off more than you can chew
But when I saw you this morning—you seemed in a good place
You had a spring in your step and a smile on your face
I thought you’d be shipwrecked but it wasn’t the case
I wondered just what had come over you?
this war has been raging too long now, it’s true
what was my little big horn was your waterloo
sure, maybe I won me a battle or two
but it feels like—I don’t know
it feels like—I don’t know
it feels like I’m losing you
it feels like I’m losing you
Got no money in the bank; got no gas inside my tank
I’ve only got myself to thank that I’ve got nothing left to lose
But even if I owned a stitch, somehow got lucky, struck it rich
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
The doctor he reviewed my chart, the nurse she listened to my heart
They asked me bout my history and then both of them withdrew
I’m told that they’re comparing notes, but I still ain’t been diagnosed
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
The judge he made the jury rise, recite the verdict, improvise
It came as no surprise to me that nobody had a clue
The prosecution made a move for what nobody had to prove
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
King Solomon he did command that every person in the land
Should be rounded up and counted with the riches he’d accrued
When he’d totaled all that he owned, he just hung his head and moaned:
Lord knows, I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
There came a crying from the earth, there was a death, there was a birth
I neither could determine nor decide just what was true
The only thing I know for sure, hatred dies, love endures
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
When in trouble hope for change, if in doubt pray for rain
When in Rome, the tourists say, do as the Romans do
But if you won’t give me this dance, please allow me just one more chance
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Lord knows I ain’t got much if I ain’t got you
Bridges: You’re the only thing that keeps me on the even keel
Who tells it like it is when it just don’t seem for real
You’re the bridge over the highway of a life that I ain’t crossed
Without you I am no one, I am nowhere, I am lost
You’re the reason anything in this crazy world makes sense
Without you life’s a catalogue of random accidents
Causes that have nothing t’all to do with their effects
Dots scattered in a universe that no one else connects
Friday night, my baby came home just as tired as could be
I asked her how her day was she said she didn’t want to talk to me
I said how come and she got mad, said cause she was all worn out
And she comes home to find me here sleeping on the couch
I said, Baby, Darlin—you know I ain’t been here all day
I been busy too you know while you have been away
“Oh really?” she said, “Is that so? Well in that case I’d love to hear
Just all about the things you did while I wasn’t here”
I did the laundry, the dishes, I filed the taxes / sent out my resume with necessary attachments
I swept, scraped and mopped the floor / fixed the old hinge on that creaky cellar door
I sent a get well card to your ailing brother, I called and spoke with your ex-step-mother
She said to tell you she’s doin fine, I told her you’d give her a call sometime
I raked the leaves, cleaned out the gutters, painted the door-frames and the window-shutters
I filled out applications for a half-dozen jobs, groomed the cat and walked the dog
I borrowed a mower from the next door neighbor / cut the grass in our yard and in his, as a favor
I cleaned the garage, the attic, the basement / retarred the driveway with quality pavement
I got the kids up, dressed em, made em breakfast / took one to the doctor, one to the dentist
I made their lunches, and gottem to school, picked em up and took em to the swimming pool
I made a list and went grocery shopping, ran seven miles without even stopping
Somewhere in there, I pulled a muscle, did a whole Sunday Times crossword puzzle
I entertained visitors, gave em a tour, I found that lost earring you been looking for
I took out the garbage, brought in the mail, I sold a lot of your junk at a neighbor’s yardsale
I hung your portraits after getting them framed, I organized the spice rack alphabetically by name
I vacuumed and dusted every room and surface, gave every useless trinket a purpose
I found what was wrong with the garbage disposal, I proof-read and edited your meeting proposal
I cooked your favorite meal: vegetable lasagna, set the table and then waited on ya
I went to the post office and then to the bank, went to the gas station, filled up the tank
Then I came back home and cracked open a beer, and that’s the whole story of how I got here
And look, I know it don’t look like I done too much, and I haven’t, don’t get me wrong—
But I been keepin busy, trine to keep from goin crazy—
Yes, I been keepin busy, since you been gone
But it was no use, all my explanations, they were to no avail
Time after time, again and again it seems no matter what I do, I fail
She said she was very sorry, but she didn’t see us working out
And just like that she showed me the door and said, “Alright now, get out!”
For a while I was miserable, I couldn’t seem to catch a break
I didn’t know how much worse it could get, or how much more I could take
Then one day she called me up, said it had been too long a time
When she asked me how I was doin, I told her I was just fine
I invented my very own dietary supplement, I took up yoga, achieved enlightenment,
I burned all those letters that I never sent you, finally read all those books I meant to,
I got membership cards to every local library, I memorized the Oxford English Dictionary
I rented every movie at the video store, watched em all twice, some three times, some four
I joined a gym, lost a few-dozen pounds, believe me it was a lot harder than it sounds,
I rode my bike all across the country, saw how folks was living in the 21st century
I worked some farms and at a couple of factories, water treatment plants, fishing hatcheries
I grew my hair out, then shaved it short—let’s see what else is there to report
I learned to count cards, took up gambling, traveled all over, roaming and rambling
I started a business with the money I won, then sold it to invest in another one
I went back to school got my degrees, my bachelor’s, master’s and a phD
I was nominated for a couple awards for accomplishing the things I’d put my mind towards
I finally learned how to cook and to bake, there’s practically nothing now that I can’t make
I apologized to every person I’d wronged, finished my memoire, wrote a few songs
I penned several drafts of my last testament will, Lord knows I’ve sure had some time to kill
But say how are you doing with your new life? Looks like you’ve merrily been getting along
Yes, well I been keepin busy, trine to keep from going crazy
Yes I just been keepin busy since you been gone
Now I am a taker in this hard-up world, the fortune-teller told me first
She proved it to me when I took her word for every penny it was worth
to this day I still can’t say how it all first came to her so clear
when way back then I was on my way—to anywhere but here
I’s born a long ways from my home, but I been bound there ever since
And I’s made to walk the road alone, in fact, I’ve leapt at every chance
I’ve lost count of both my friends and foes, I can’t keep track of every fallen tear
Good and bad, they come and go—they’re with you anywhere but here
some folks they live in stacks of brick, some in cities of cement
for a long time I was most at home whichever way the railroad went
and every time that station whistle’d call, the sound was music to my ear
the trains they come from no place at all, bound for anywhere but here
It was easy going for a while, I’d say—that is, until the road got rough
And I earned my money in a honest way, until I didn’t have enough
When the time was ripe to make a break, my engine stalled in second gear
I might’ve settled for a simpler fate, one that put me anywhere but here
well I found myself in some trucker bar where the beer was pretty cheap
I drank my fill and went to pay and learned my purse was not so deep
They took what I owed them out of my flesh and threw me out upon my ear
Said I was welcome back anytime—that is, anywhere but here
I always dreampt I’d wind up some place, where all there’d be is time to kill
But where I’m from dreams get replaced by working dayshift at the mill
And the work is hard, and when you’re through, you look back on your career
The old men say it’s all okay—somewhere, anywhere but here
I swear there’s nothing I got left in store, I won’t hand you no excuse
Please just don’t hit me anymore, I can’t take no more abuse
yesterday’s is too far gone, and tomorrow’s never near
you can’t never change the road you’re on—when you’re not anywhere but here
I’s never much of a praying man, the Lord I’d never cause to fear
But if you’re somewhere up there, Old Man, here’s one prayer I hope you hear
If I go gently in the night, or hard, falling down upon my spear
lord, when I die, please just see that I—wind up anywhere but here
How you gonna stand there and act like it don’t matter
When with every passin second here, I’m just getting sadder?
You don’t owe me anything, your debt’s as good as paid
You don’t gotta follow through on any of the plans you made
You can come out from your hiding place, pick up the traps you’ve laid
How you gonna stand there and tell me you still love me
When all the while you just been holding sharp and heavy things above me?
You can take down your battleflag, saddle up your mule
Put your needle in the cactusplant, and the thread back on the spool
You don’t have to be afraid now, baby, you can play it cool
How you gonna stand there and ask me now for money
And say, what are you laughin for, do you think that this is funny?
You said you’d always be there for me anytime no matter what
You said you’d come and save me if I needed you to, but
I can see that what was in your heart’s just moved into your gut
How you gonna stand there and pretend you didn’t do it
When you had it comin to me the whole time and you knew it
I don’t have expectations anymore ever since I’ve gotten wise
To your elaborate deceptions which you so cleverly disguise
You think you’re seein clearly but you got wool over your eyes
How you gonna stand there and say things’ll all be different
When you don’t have the heart to say it ain’t good when it isn’t?
I’m no longer keeping promises—it’s never done me any good
All that being honest’s shown me is that I’ve never understood
I did it all correctly but my reputation’s in the mud
How you gonna stand there and make like you’re the victim?
When you went out looking for a fight, you found em and you picked em?
Considering the circumstance, it’s a wonder you don’t feel
A little more responsible for your part in the deal
The water flows beneath the bridge, and fortune turns her wheel
How you gonna stand there and just tell me to forget it?
When it’ll turn into the end of the whole world if you let it?
The credits here are rolling everybody’s free to leave
You played the game by all the rules and you got your reprieve
You outghtta be more cheerful you got no reason to greive
How you gonna stand there and say this ain’t the ending?
Do you mean to say that all along this time you were pretending?
I’d prefer it if you didn’t drag this out into a scene
You don’t have to clarify, we both know what you mean
You can take what’s left of what you own, there’s nothing else to clean
Midnight on the boulevard, you know that I been looking hard
For someplace I can rest my bones
The dumpster’s growing tentacles and the alley’s drawing animals
And my shoes are filling up with stones
headlights all around me flash and splash and try drown me
as invisibly I make my way
billboards, with their promises of futures bleak and ominous
saying everything’s gonna be okay
there’s holy men in beggar’s clothes, schoolgirls in their pantyhose
policemen dressing for the raid
anyplace I sit or stand I’m in the way of the marchingband
or some exclusive VIP parade
Got a ticket to ride the rocket putting a hole right through my pocket
They say they’ve got her loaded, gassed and primed
With nothing else to recommend, and no regards to leave or send
I think I’ll go and get in line
If tomorrow I just disappeared,
I’m not sure that I’d be missed
The answer’s not a part of me
I only know there’s gotta be more to life than this
The sheriff and his band of droogs is out tonight in one of their moods
They say they’re looking for the saboteurs
Nobody seems to know a thing, and as for the fellas in the ring
They’s just settling up old scores
Diamond Joe and his brother Ace spoke of meeting up someplace
As an act of service to their queen
They’d been assigned a mission that may have required demolition
By now they’re probably blown to smithereens
There’s blood smeared on the mantlepiece of every house on Market St
I’ve heard it’s precautionary for the plague
But as for how it’s sposed to help, you gotta figure that one out yourself
The instructions left were pretty vague
You can follow the road to nowhere or you can take it from one who’s been there
who drank the kool-aid from the source
haul in your anchor, hoist your sails, don’t look back, if all else fails
shout for “Mercy!” til your voice goes hoarse
If tomorrow were all I had
I’d blow it one last lover’s kiss
I’m not one to act modestly
I only know there’s gotta be more to life than this—
I got here around six o’clock, the breadlines already down the block
The hopeless ones have placed their bets
The early birds have all skipped town, the ones a little bit further down
don’t even know what they’re in line to get
The grocer’s peddling contraband with a stick of dynamite in his hand
He’s always asking for the time
We’ve been through the whole thing twice, but even if he lowered the price
Could anybody spare a dime?
Patience is a virtue, too much of anything will hurt you
Therefore—whatever’s a man to do?
I’m just waiting on my payday, but even so it’s only Monday
And I need something to look forward to
Disguised as one of my former selves, I followed the casino bells
dealer told me fate was mine to choose
I had the king, the ace, the ten, but I told him to go and hit me again
Cause I only ever play to lose
If tomorrow I struck it rich
I’m not sure I’d feel bliss
Accustomed to my poverty
I only know there’s gotta be more to life than this
You can take pill to get out of bed, another one’ll clear your head
A third will get you out the door
I once had a prescription that fit precisely that description
If you need some, I can get some more—
There’s a drink to keep you awake all day, another to take the pain away
And another yet to help you get it back
There’s a problem solved by every drug, but as for never knowing love
I don’t know if I can help with that—
The doctor’s out, he called in sick, took something he thought would do the trick
But that was way back in july
His secretary says she’s his friend, but I’ve heard her tell a few since then
he’s just been waiting around to die
Left alone with his memories, transfixed in his reveries
The prisoner, in his cell, stands tall
Reflects upon coincidence, weighs the price of innocence
And adds another tally to his wall
If tomorrow, I walked out of here
I’d be happy just to exist
Meanwhile there’s a lotta me
That only knows there’s gotta be more to life than this
feeling like a change of scene, I moved into a submarine
I tried to write you though I was feeling full
The envelopes, still unaddressed, accumulated in a chest
That I ejected through the torpedo hole
someday when I’m dust and ash, they may wash up like so much trash
decorations for some pristine beach
To whomsoever findeth these, I send sincere apologies
I’m still out here, somewhere, out of reach
With nothing but my strength of will, my boulder and my stretch of hill
I once more for the thousandth time
Set my weight against the rock, imagine, but don’t check the clock
And gradually begin to climb
In the event I plummet sometime before I reach the summit
I hardly think it’s worth a frown
When you’ve only ever had it bad, the only thing that’ll make you glad
Is seeing the weight you dragged up roll back down
If tomorrow I wake up dead
I’d not protest, but I’d still wish—
that someone had only thought of me
reminded me that there’s gotta be more to life than this
Foreman says its back to work, wants to see us live and movin
It’s no secret tho that he’s a jerk and this job it ain’t my choosin
It’s nine to nine on the ssembly line ain’t exactly that amusing
And we’ll probably all get us overtime, but that’s the weekend that we’re losin
Now I ain’t a one to make complaints, even when pushin comes to shoving
But I wished I had me another day for to sit round doing nothing
On my one day off I slept in late didn’t get up until the evening
I cooked a meal, put it on a plate, but I couldn’t find the seasoning
So I drove my car to the grocery store, without forethought or reasoning
When I got there I found me a parking spot, steppin out I locked my keys in
For a minute I just stood there, all a red-faced and a cussin—
And I wished I had me another day for to sit round doing nothing
In the summertime when the weather’s fine as well you may imagine
The sun it shines through my window-blinds where my eyelids are a-hatchin
Upon the beach I watch the sea where the waves come softly crashin
Against the crags beneath my seat where the mermaids are asplashin
Some days are meant for makin plans, and some days are for discussin
But me I tend to like the days where you can sit round doin nothing
Out on the porch in my rocking chair with my pocket knife a whiddlin
Just enjoying nature’s outdoor air a hummin and a whistling
My sleeves are short and my feet are bare, I like to keep my toes a wigglin
When I run all out of wood to carve always got my thumbs for twiddling
No I don’t relate to people well, whether a stranger or my cousin
Folks always seem to want to do something else besides for nothing
I had my eye on a pretty girl she was a one-in-a-twenty-million
I asked her for to marry me if she’d be so kind and willing
Well she didn’t say one word to me and just then something happened
She called a fella to come over here, and introduced me to her husband
He shook my hand so hard it hurt, and boy, was I a blushin
If I could’ve done it all again, I guess I would’ve never had said nothing
When this life has gone and passed me by on my deathbed I’ll be dyin
And if I ain’t outlived the folks I know, haps around me they’ll be cryin
When the old man comes to reap my soul I won’t keep him long from tryin
I wouldn’t say that I’d be ready tho, if I did I would be lyin
My mind will rest from thinking sore and my heart will rest from lovin
But I’ll still wished I had me another day to sit round doing nothing
I am tired of trying to explain the reasons
For feelings I am powerless to understand
Sometimes I wish I could control the seasons
Or control my heartbeat
Or direct its yearning
That only something was not out of my hands
And I have been accused this way before by others
Like you I only wanted someone I could save
But if I am nothing but a coward now
And you may not believe this
And you do not have to
But it’s only because once I was much too brave
I have had my share of angry tantrums
The blazing furnace I have starved to cold
I gave myself where I wasn’t wanted
Revealed in earnest
What it was I needed
Took big chances
Hoped to get wise early but just got old
And I have steeled my heart for grave misfortune
In the quest for love and other ghosts
But such a preset hasn’t helped me any
I’ve been eluded
At almost every corner
Slowed and hindered
I’ve been stopped at boundaries
And sent away from almost every coast
So at last I have come to the brink of something
Some valley or some sun must lie beyond these hills
I know I told you that someday I’d settle
Maybe down with someone
Maybe up with creditors
For maybe less than happiness
Or for more than sorrow
But I’m beginning to wonder if I ever will
I’ve prepared for this for many years now
To be ready for whatever’s coming with the storm
The hours late
Everyone is sleeping
The bells are silent
The stars are dying
The highway’s empty
The wind is rising
The dust is stirring
The chains are rattling
The babes are kicking waiting to be born
I roll out of bed
got a thousand dreams and nightmares running through my head
not a one of which stays
my fears are no match for the exhaustion I’ve been feeling these days
behind me my love’s sleeping soundly
the bedsheet she clings to wraps half-way around me
she never seems to cease to astound me—even asleep
she stretches her arms and turns off the alarms which she’s set by the bed as a warning
but her eyes remain closed till the old rooster crows and the first rays of dawn shyly show
It’s pouring down sleet
Weatherman’s made all kinds of promises he just couldn’t keep
I’d sure hate to be him
If I expected any less than the worst I don’t know where I’d begin
I’d probably have to make a decision
Have to devise a clear position
I’d probably have to make it my mission not to be wrong
She says with a smile we’ll stay in for a while and let the weather outside go on storming
And if it never lets up we don’t have to get up, we’ll just carefully uninterrupt
I go for a walk
Buy a cup of coffee at the grocer’s where the tvs talk
A man says my name
He says, “And how are you today?” I tell him, “I’m the same.”
He says, “Are you quite sure about that?” I tell him, “I am, as a matter of fact,”
He says, “Hey, do you want your change back?” I say, “No.”
She says that it’s old but by the time she’s grown cold she’s already shown signs of warming
And her clothing is strewn all over my room as I lie in bed just waiting for noon
Lastnight is a blur
I don’t recall what we did, who we went with, or where we were
She don’t seem concerned
She says a night that’s best left forgotten is a lesson learned
At least that’s the way that she leaves it
When the newspaper comes she unwraps and she reads it
Occasionally she’ll say, “Aw, who needs it anyway?”
With a swell of her breath and one blow from her breath she keeps the frost on the windows from forming
And as suspicions accrue, her love remains true, and her mercy is new
You can crawl in through my window
No one has to know you’re here
Mama’s tired cause she’s been working
If we’re quiet, she won’t hear
Dad’ll have the TV playin
He’ll be asleep fore long I’m sure
Baby crawl in through my window
You can leave through the front door
You know sometimes I get the feelin
That you’ve been playin me for a fool
When I call you never answer
And you don’t talk to me at school
But every night that I come over
You say I’m the one you’re waiting for
Can’t you crawl in through my window
Like I’m always crawling out of yours?
There’s an alley behind my building
You can get there through the gate
If you stand up on the trashcan
You can reach the fire escape
You can walk right up to my room
Apartment’s on the seventh floor
Baby crawl in through my window
And you can leave through the front door
I know you built your reputation
Refusing what you’re supposed to be
You hate your parents and their station
That’s why you hang around with me
But you know there ain’t no pressure
The choice is obviously yours
But if you crawl in through my window
You can leave through the front door
Said the head to the heart, “There is no cause to worry
There is no reason to fear
If you got something to tell her, man, well do it—but hurry
If you need I will be right here,”
Said the heart to the Head, “I wish it were so simple
I wish there were no obstructions or blocks
But I worry if I speak my tongue may stumble
And I will wind up the laughingstock…”
Said the head to the heart, “I will mind the tongue
I will outfit it with the cleverest phrase
I will compare her complexion to the golden sun
So that she will not fail to sing your praise,”
Said the heart to the Head, “I would it were so easy
A matter of knowing just what word to use
But if I reveal my desires and she doesn’t need me
Then the only chance I have, I’ll lose…”
Said the head to the heart, “Then I will keep them hidden
So that she will not suspect the truth
And if she happens to notice your pained expression
I will tell her it is in your tooth…”
Said the heart to the Head, “I wish it were so straightforward
As to be covered up by that disguise
But even if I tell her that my mouth is tortured
She will surely see it in my eyes…”
Said the Head to the Heart, “I will keep them closed, then,
So your love of her will not be known
And if she asks you please to let them open
I will play indifference like a stone,”
Said the Heart to the Head, “Would that it were no harder
Than pretending to be unaware
But the moment I attempt to disregard her
My lungs, they will want for air…”
Said the heart to the head, “Will you keep me breathing
Will you keep my words from fading and receding?
Is our signal clear for you to keep receiving?
Shall I speak to her, head, now that she’s speaking?
Shall I pursue her, head, now that she’s leaving?
Can you hear me over that constant beating?
That sounds like a buffalo herd, stampeding?
Is this a question, head, that needs repeating?
Can you hear me over that constant beating?
did you hear what I said? Excuse me did you hear what I said?”
Said the heart to the head.
O please inform my dearest mother
Of my death, when I am gone
Please break it to her soft and gently
Tell her that I suffered none
O tell her that I’s aboard a freighter
Upon Superior, bound from Duluth
O tell her that our ship was sunken
But O please spare her the awful truth
Or tell her that I’s in an aircraft
And that our plane fell from the sky
And if she asks to know what happened
Please see to it that you lie
Please don’t let on I was in trouble
Or that I stole more than a dime
For if she knew how I was living
The shame would kill me a second time
Please don’t let on I was unhappy
I often wrote her to say I’s well
There are some things one can’t help hiding
There are some things one should not tell
Please don’t let on I lost my partment
After my girlfriend threw me out
And as for the job I could not manage
You need not say one thing about
Please understand my mother’s lonely
There’s none to keep her company
She had no one to put her faith in
Her hopes and dreams were all on me
Now I have met three kinds of angels:
And two of them were heavenly
But twas the angel they call heroine
That stole my little life from me
O please inform my dearest mother
Of my death when I am gone
Please break it to her soft and gently
Tell her that I suffered none
I’ve not always heeded your sage advice which you’ve been given out to me since I was a kid
I know you’ve had to work hard, to sacrifice, so I could have all the chances that you never did
Nine times in ten you’ve been correct,
it seems I’ve been wrong ten in nine
You know I’m grateful, but with all due respect,
you haven’t let me ask for help in the longest time
I wasn’t cut out to fill your shoes, you know I’ve barely just grown into my own pair
You never said so, but you planted clues, enough for me to know you’ve always been right there
I know I’m not one from whom there’s much to expect
There’s a great deal between us we just don’t understand
I’m grateful for you, but with all due respect
I have no interest in the life you’ve planned
I know you worry about just what I’ll do, when it comes to the future I’ve never looked ahead too far
Nothing I’ve done has been very well thought-through, with my debts and schemes and now, this old guitar
Your concerns they are not hard to detect
By now I can almost guess just what they’ll be
It’s not a bad thing, dad, but with all due respect
I wish you’d leave my problems up to me
The pioneers, their days are done; there are no new lands left to find
But every person, every single one, must learn this lesson in his own time
There is no telling of what ships I’ve wrecked
Of what precious chances I’ve let fall and break
But I gotta tell ya, with all due respect,
Those decisions were never yours to make
Look at that poor man, there, fallin down
Flat on his face in front of everyone
Like some sideshow circus clown
Who mistook the world for a stadium
The more you look, it just seems sillier
A grown man, lyin in his filth
Something about him, tho, seems familiar
Kind of reminds me of—myself
Kind of reminds me of myself
You got one foot on a banana peel
Other’s steppin out on a roller-skate
You’re so mixed up you don’t know how you feel
There’s none to whom you feel you can relate
The road your on’s just getting hillier
You tried it slow and fast, nothin’s helped
Something bout you, tho, seems familiar
Kind of reminds me of myself
Kind of reminds me of myself
Nothin lasts, everything falls apart
If not sooner, well, later, then
I’ve read all about the so-called “broken heart”
Examined a textbook specimen
It starts out warm, but just gets chillier
Eventually, it declines in health
There’s something bout it, seems familiar
Kind of reminds me of—myself
Kind of reminds me of myself
If the flesh that hangs upon my bones should whither and decay
And Death from stealing me no longer can abstain
If Time decomposes me and a breeze blows me away
My love for you
My love for you
My love for you will remain
If I give away all that I own, along with my body, to be burned
If I surrendered every ounce that I contain
If my wisdom walked out on me with every lesson I ever learned
My love for you
My love for you
My love for you will remain
At the very end when the world is done, and everything is past
When what hasn’t burned has washed out in the rain
When the flicker of hope’s ember has been extinguished to the last
My love for you
My love for you
My love for you will remain
Further than the boundary of what you or I can know
As we move upon the seas and skies and plains
Here, where you’ve already been, and wherever you may go
My love for you
My love for you
My love for you will remain
Tomorrow, when you are wakened by the unassuming and rosey fingered dawn
And some birdsong comes up rising through your pane
Remember that tho I myself and every trace of me is gone
My love for you
My love for you
My love for you will remain
Chorus If I had a quarter for every time
Somebody told me to make up my mind
I would have enough money to be nickled and dimed
All the way back to the poverty line
They tell me I’m poor cause I don’t like to work
But I don’t see any rich folks with their hands in the dirt
Show me a job where I won’t get hurt
And I’ll show you a man who is eager to work
They tell me I’m poor cause I spend all my cash
I don’t have any savings, I can’t hoard a stash
I get paid twice a month, it goes up in a flash
Rent, groceries, insurance—well, you do the math
chorus
They say time is money and there’s plenty to earn
But you gotta have some to begin with, to burn
And the only lesson you’re able to learn
Is that you can’t get ahead by just waiting your turn
There’s a few of you up there who have all the best
Your fiercest competitors couldn’t keep you abreast
But some of us got nothing, most of us have less
It’s take care of yourself—to hell with the rest
chorus
you say communism like it’s a bad word
but capitalism ain’t the best one I’ve heard
when you stop and think rationally, it’s kind of absurd
you get richer and richer off the poor and conquered
cause your politics works like a revolving door
there’s a million rules and no one’s keeping score
the rich think they’ve earned what they won at the door
and what’s worse they believe that I choose to be poor
chorus
They tell me I’m poor because my investments aint wise
I could’ve made millions, only I never tried
But the distance from wealthy to here is too wide
I’m starting to think maybe somebody lied
Sure, I went to college, even got a degree
but it didn’t do a whole hell of a lot of good for me
education’s a blessing, but it sure isn’t free
now I’ll be payin it off til I’m 103
chorus
you can go back to work or you can go back to jail
but you don’t have the capital to get out on bail
and you don’t have the money for any more ale
and the ship you were waiting for just pulled up its sail
so I’ll hoist myself up and I’ll put on my hat
and I’ll just keep starving til I’m all out of fat
if my options tween living like a bug or a rat
well what in the hell kind of an option is that?
chorus
I wouldn’t do it as a favor
I wouldn’t do it as a good Samaratin
I wouldn’t do it as your neighbor
I wouldn’t do it as your one and only friend
I wouldn’t do it for my family or my country
because I wanted or needed to—
I’m only in it for the money—
I hate to say it, but it’s true
See the landlord turnin profit
turning out a family from their home
if you ask him why he doesn’t stop it
he’ll tell you go and leave me alone!
They come abused and broken and hungry—
I gave em four walls and a roof
I’m only in it for the money
That’s the sad but awful truth
See the noble prosecutor
Making speeches for the jury sitting-by
Goin on about a shooter
Sayin every killer deserves to die
When he tells it, he tells it bloody
Without so much as one shred of substantial proof
But he’s only in it for the money
Doesn’t care at all about the truth
Here comes your doctor to the rescue
he’s been on call and you know he hasn’t slept
he’s askin if the nurse has prepped you
and what kinds of outcomes you can expect
his hands are trembling as he makes ready
says, “if you don’t make it, this’ll be goodbye
I’m only in it for the money—
Is there any better reason why?”
See the young entrepreneur
He’s invented something no one really needs
it’s somehow come to be quite popular
it’s catching on like wildfire overseas
to make it only costs a penny
the lives of those who buy it all get wrecked
but he’s only in it for the money
never mind the side effects
Hear all them politicians squawkin
Claiming to be the change this country needs
I get fed up with all that talkin
And even more fed up with all their doublecrossin low-down deeds
They say they love you and this country
All they wanna do is keep it free—
But they’re only in it for the money
it’s plain enough to see—
See the preacher in the pulpit
Quoting scripture at the bored-faced Sunday mass
Saying “Give, if you can spare it!
Give all you got and then give that plate a pass—”
He says a prayer and when he’s done he
Says, We worship God above all else!
But ain’t he in it for the money?
Ain’t he just like everybody else?
Filled my gastank up with gas—I had to pay the man
Cop pulled me over for drivin too fast—I had to pay the man
Pulled up straight to an old toll-gate where a fella held out his hand
I mistook it, and shook it—and then I had to pay the man
I ate something that made me sick—I had to pay the man
I needed medical attention quick—I had to pay the man
Doctor performed an operation, took out a swollen gland
He said I’s lucky, he saved my life—and I had to pay the man
Woe is me is nothing free in this godforsaken land?
Can’t I even own what’s mine—no ifs buts or ands
I work all day for a measly pay, I’m so tired I can hardly stand
As soon as I get off the clock I got to pay the man
I took my girlfriend out to eat—I had to pay the man
Wanted to use the W.C.—I had to pay the man
Fella’s in the bathroom givin out towels, sayin they’re to dry my hands
Then he looks at me expectantly—I had to pay the man
I went to visit mom and dad—I had to pay the man
Took a bus, a train, and a taxi-cab—I had to pay the man
When I got home I’s so worked up I shut the door and it slammed
My father says, “you know the rules,” –and I had to pay the man
chorus
I wanted to use a utility—I had to pay the man
Water, heat, electricity—I had to pay the man
the furnace popped and the power stopped and the water it froze and jammed
had to call someone to fix em all—and I had to pay the man
Well on Sunday I went down to mass—and I had to pay the man
arrived just in time for the plate to pass—and I had to pay the man
Father said, “You won’t be judged—just give up what you can,”
But I swear I couldn’t get out them doors—until after I paid the man
chorus
I expect one night I’ll go and die—and I’ll have to pay the man
Folks’ll gather round and cry—and I’ll have to pay the man
Let my epitaph be plain—I don’t want nothing grand
Let it read: “I’s born, I lived, and I had to pay the man”
Bound or free, alive or dead—I had to pay the man
Didn’t matter what no one said—I had to pay the man
Well I wanted to know where my money’s goin—I wanted to understand
I asked the first person I met—I had to pay the man
I went ahead and checked my facts—about having to pay the man
Seems every time I pay a tax—I’m payin uncle Sam
He spends it so our planes can go drop bombs on a foreign land
He says I shouldn’t be concerned, it’s all-American
If my money’s gonna fund a war—I ain’t gonna pay the man
If it’ll get a kid killed on a foreign shore—I ain’t gonna pay the man
When we got bad schools right here at home, poverty to beat the band
I’d rather pay a teacher’s salary than to pay that awful man
I left my home a young man, sights set on the city
Aimed to take the first job I could do
Got hired on the nightshift, paid to drive a forklift
Had to learn to sleep the whole day through
I met a sweet old lady who owned a small apartment
Said I could live with her, didn’t that sound great?
But I didn’t live there cheaply, had to pay bi-weekly
And she charged me every hour I was late
Neath the risin cost of livin in a world that never pays
You can get by for a while takin what comes free
But its trine to make a livin on a no good livin wage
That’s the only thing that’s killing me
I don’t mind the lack of benefits, the late-long working hours
Or that they ask me to do overtime each week
Ain’t like I got a family, or time enough to start one
Or any living friend of which to speak
but the thing that really gets me, that frustrates and upsets me
is that I ain’t managed to save even a cent
cause what don’t go to gas, electric, garbage, fuel, and food
just goes to payin off my rent
chorus
I’ve heard some folks die of drowning, others of poisoning, electrocution
some die madly fleeing death’s persistent call
some die because they’re stranded, heartbroken and abandoned,
others die for no good reason at all
people die of falling objects, parachutes that didn’t open
some are murdered, some just die of old age
but if I live to be 99 I’ll still die of simply trine
to live on nothing but my living wage
chorus
They’re building up the city—everybody’s making room
they’re putting up their signs that say—apartments coming soon!
All the people who once lived there, who had to sell their properties
are now gentrification refugees
the word’s “gentrification”—and you might think it means progress
and if you’re lookin to move in here, it probably does, I guess
but if you’ve passed your life here, if you’re someone like me
you know “gentrification” means “refugee”
Developers are coming in—they’re buying all the land
They’re building everything brand new, according to their plans
They talk about creating a strong community
Without the gentrification refugees
Now you don’t have to move out, the developers all say
But the rent’s about quadrupled, so you’ll go broke if you stay
I guess the “neighborhood improvement” don’t apply to me
I’m a gentrification refugee
My parents lived in this house—since the day that they were wed
I always thought I’d be here til they carried me out dead
When the moving truck pulls out of here, let the bumper sticker read:
Gentrification refugee
They bulldozed the old Woolworth’s—built a high-rise parkinglot
Tore out the mom and pop place, put in a corporate coffeeshop
What will mom and pop do in their old age and bankruptcy?
As new gentrification refugees?
They turned the old cathedral into a climbing gym
they demolished the old high school, put a strip-mall in
What they’re going to change next—I won’t be here to see
I’m a gentrification refugee
Now there’s plenty of things to do here—no, you never will get bored
Unless the entertainment’s more than you can afford
If you can’t pay for admission, join the caravan for free
Of the gentrification refugees
Demographic’s changing, it’s a new population
Poor blacks is bein swept out—white money’s movin in
You can draw a hard line tween the new folks of the city
And the gentrification refugees
They say don’t be nostalgiac—change it can be good
But there’s nothing familiar about my own neighborhood
It won’t stay this way for long—that’s a timeless prophesy
But I’m a gentrification refugee
Where’m I sposed to go now? I haven’t got a home
Nowhere I can be at rest, no place to call my own
I guess I’ll hit the highway, long with friends and family
Join the gentrification refugees
They say not to get angry—the times is all that you can blame
But I lived here all my life so far, rent’s always been the same
Somebody must’ve sold out, for a little do-re-me
Joined the gentrification refugees
It’s happenin in New York and the San Fransisco Bay
In all the major cities all across the USA
It’s happening most everywhere I can’t afford to be
They’re makin gentrification refugees
You can’t just be a victim, tho I know it’s hard to fathom
Every place you go now, you’re just adding to the problem
They say gentrification’s caused by rambling folks like me
Tho I’m gentrification’s refugee
I roamed through this land on a passenger tour
From the bay of fransisco to the new jersey shore
Just some place to be was all that I’s lookin for
But I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I did a job for a guy he never paid me for
I don’t hold it against him tho he promised and swore
I forgive all my debtors, and I’ll always be poor
Cause I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I’s down on my luck, I needed help pretty sore
I’s waiting on aces—and I got handed all four
I said, “I’m all in,” Dealer said, “Long as you’re sure,”
And now I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I’m out on the street, it’s a quarter to four
I been sleeping in front of a mattress store
A man woke me up said, “You can’t sleep here no more,”
But I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I done and I thought things that have been less than pure
So I went down to the church and I pushed on the door
My hope to replenish and my faith restore
O but I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I’ve read terrible things in the family lore
about my brother, the killer, and my sister, the whore
but what’s anyone done I could forgive them for
when I ain’t got no home in this world anymore?
The wind it’ll howl, the rain, it’ll pour
The blood in your veins fights the cold like a war
Out on the highway traffic rushes and roars
O but I ain’t got no home in this world anymore
I heard there’s a place not too far from this block where you can get anything that you want
A new pair of shoes and a suit and a wife and three kids and a house and a job
And when you get tired there’s places to sleep,
and when you get hungry there’s plenty to eat
I’d sure like to go, say, friend do you know, how to get to Easy Street?
I heard there’s a man there, he’s a doctor of sorts, he can cure almost any disease
Ailments, addictions, afflictions and worse—all you gotta do is say please
He won’t charge you nothing, he works pretty cheap;
when he gives you his promise, you know it’ll keep
I’d sure like to go, say friend do you know, how to get to Easy Street?
Easy Street—where the livin is easy
Where the door’s always open and you don’t gotta pay
Where I’ve been going, all of my lifelong
Just waiting for someone—to show me the way
The houses out there don’t belong to no one, you don’t gotta lay low or hide
If anyone sees you hangin around, they’ll tell you to just come on inside
They won’t ask where you been on your runaway streak;
if the cops come around, they won’t make a peep
I’d sure like to go, say, friend, do you know, how to get to Easy Street?
I heard that they’ve got more than enough to go round, they won’t make you stand in no lines
You can stand where you like and come as you are, there ain’t no “No Trespassin” signs
There’s no trials or contests in which to compete
There ain’t any forms that you’ll need to complete
I’d sure like to go, say, friend, do you know—how to get to easy street?
Chorus
I met a young man who knew the place well, he smiled, remembering it
I asked, “Can I go?” he shook his head no, said, “you haveta be born into it—
“And if you ever get out by making the leap—you’ll never get back in, the climb is too steep—
“I’m sorry to say but there’s no other way for to get to easy street.”
I met another man claimed he came from that place, said he’s born there in some ancient year
I asked him the way and all he could say was, “Friend—you can’t get there from here,
“So if you get beaten, just turn your cheek—what you sew in joy in sorrow you’ll reap
“I’m sorry to say but there’s no other way for to get to easy street.”
Chorus
Have you heard of this place you can make up a dream and pursue it until it comes true?
Where whatever you’ve done and where ever you’re from cant in anyway be held against you?
is there anywhere I can kick up my feet? Or get out of this rain and this godawful heat?
I’d sure like to go, say, friend, do you know how to get to easy street?
Another young black man is dead
before the age of twenty-one
Shot to death by an officer
who claimed he thought he had a gun
They’re talking bout it on the radio
There’s footage on the nightly news
Just can’t seem to get away
From the police brutality blues
The cops are dressed in riot gear
they say my neighborhood’s secure
I used to think they were protectin me,
now they’re just wagin war
the officers are trained to kill
self-defense is their excuse
the whole nation’s coming down with
the police brutality blues
If a black man kills a cop
Someone will see that he will swing
If a cop kills a black-skinned kid
It doesn’t mean a goddam thing
Nevermind that he was unarmed
the ruling somehow always proves
Courts still haven’t found a cure
For the police brutality blues
Now we’re a civilized society
That we need laws, I can understand
That don’t explain why it takes six white cops
To write a ticket to one black man
It don’t explain why he must get out
Or why he’s guilty if he refuse
It don’t explain why so many got
The police brutality blues
A mother lays her child to rest
She’s been stricken dumb
The unarmed man they shot to death
Was a husband, a father, a son
There’s a baby in his mother’s arms
too young to know the truth
That his father had a fatal case of
the police brutality blues
I’s down and out—couldn’t find a job
Door of opportunity had a broken knob
And I don’t mind that I should have to knock
But that the line to get there goes down and around the block
You just stand there and never move
with them unemployment blues
Til the police come and you’re kicked to the curb—
Well you want to run, and they’ll see that you crawl
You try climb and they’ll just help you fall
no way to carry what you’re made to haul
Gotta live your life with your back up against a wall
Like a turtle on its back—
In the noose and losing slack—
So that you’re never more than one step from the verge—
CHORUS tell me—whose hand do I have to shake?
How long do I have to wait?
Do I gotta hurt somebody? What’ll it take?
Fore I can start to expect, and begin to collect—on a little of the respect
I deserve?
I survived on my own little bit
I worked and sang and then I begged for it
Staying hungry’s how I kept so fit
you can’t get too far when you’re far gone in the pit—
it’s designed to keep you down
try to surface and you’ll drown
til your prison and your freedom’s gotten blurred—
Chorus
Wish I could payback all that I’ve been lent
Save a little more than a half-a-cent
Earn enough to leave my tenement
But as it is, I can’t afford to pay the rent—
And the gas has been shut off
And I’ve come down with a cough—
and the debt collector’s getting on my nerves—
chorus
Used to be young but now I’m getting old
They’ve gotten rid of all that hasn’t sold
After years of trying, I still can’t fit the mold
Can’t seem to learn to do just what I’m told
I always gotta know what for
And even then I still ain’t sure
Authority will say: it ain’t like you heard—
Chorus
times is hard—and they’re a’getting worse
all you can pass on is an empty purse
seems everybody’s got a grudge to nurse
against themselves, each other, or the entire universe
its everybody for himself
nobody stops to lend you help
unless it’s to teach you some unfriendly word
Chorus
I get up in the morning when I still can’t see the light
Work without a pause or break til you can’t see again at night
Your skin turns all to leather as your hands get hurt and sore
All the while you’re wonderin: What am I even working for?
My house is just a plywood shed; my kids is barely clothed
I’m a getting on in years, how long I got, who knows?
Money in my pocket it was bought with my blood and sweat
And as long as there is work to do we ain’t done nothing yet
God made the world in seven days, so the story goes
What he’s been doin ever since, there ain’t a soul who knows
He made some strange creations but the one that’s most worth seein
Is the curious experiment he called the human being
Here’s a creature, goes around looking a’low and high
For something to surrender to, to make him happy ‘fore he dies
The unvarying response to any answer it can get
Is: so long as there is work to do, we ain’t done nothing yet
The earth it is a dyin off—we’ve wrecked it pretty fair
Tore down every rainforest and polluted all the air
Melted all the ice-caps and filled up the sea with trash
I don’t want to be a downer, but I don’t think it’s a gonna last
You may be a composter and recycle all your wares
You spent your life campaigning for cleaner, healthier air
You think your carbon footprint’s about as small as it can get—
But as long as there is work to do, we ain’t done nothing yet
Now I come from a country, USA’s the name
Sometimes it’s a point of pride, but it’s often one of shame
The leaders in my country practice hate and bigotry
And I don’t want my representatives representing me
Our prisons are exploding and our schools is getting worse
Our healthcare system cannot seem to Put the People First
As far as the reversal goes—there’s been some progress, I’ll admit,
But so long as there is work to do, we ain’t done nothing yet
So you’ve marched against the big machine and perhaps you won the day
Your cry for justice has been heard, and for once, things went your way
It took bout everything you had, but you came out on top
but it’ll all disintegrate again the moment that you stop—
So I’m gonna keep marchin, I ain’t lookin back
Ain’t gonna let my guard down or give out any slack
When I’m dead and in my grave that’s when I’m a gonna quit
But as long as there is work to do, we ain’t done nothing yet
He arrived in town on this morning’s train
Nevermind his business, nevermind his name
Came seekin shelter from a pourin rain
And to quench a thirst he’d probably had too long
He stepped into a cheap hotel
Dipped the feather quill in the old ink well
Signed his name as William tell
The owner asked, “Will you be staying long?”
Just passin through, just passin through
Didn’t come for no appointment, nor no rendezvous
Passin through, I’m just passin through
To stay for just a night, or maybe two—either way I’m only passin thru
He had no luggage of which to speak
Just a long dark scar runnin down his cheek
Eyes that would’ve made a strong woman week
That seemed to know the truth and seek it out
Hotel owner’s daughter, miss Eleanor
Caught sight of th stranger comin in the door
Saw that he lodged in room number four
And then she went and asked her father who he was
He’s just passin through, just passin through
I’d leave him be, and so should you
He’s passin through, just passin through
He didn’t come to fall in love with you—leave him be, he’s only passin thru
But her father’s warning she did not heed
She stole into his room in her stocking feet
Knocked and entered and turned the key
And by morningtime, she still had not emerged
“O, Mr. Tell, won’t you tell me please
Is it your intention now to marry me?
Or do you still mean to up and leave?
Like you told my father that you would?”
I’m just passin through, just passing through
Didn’t come to settle, just to see the view
Passin through, I’m just passin through
Would’ve told you but I really thought you knew—darlin, I was only passin thru
Says Ms. Eleanor—“Well in that case,
Never again may I show my face
I will tell my father I have been disgraced,
And he will probably try to shoot you down,”
And before ms. Eleanor’s speech was done,
In comes her father with a big shotgun
Says to Mr. Tell, “Won’t you tell me son,
Just what it is you think that you are doin?”
I’m just passin through, just passin through
Now that I’ve stayed I best be getting to
Passin through, just passin through
Didn’t come to quarrel with the likes of you—you know I was only passin thru
“Well not so fast,” the hotel owner said
“Either you’ll marry sweet ellie here, or else you’ll be dead!”
And he aimed that gun at poor william’s head
Said, “Tell me, tell, what’s it gonna be?”
To William’s defense, Eleanor leapt to
The father panicked, shot poor willy through
and as the daughter cried, “what did you do?”
William tell, he spoke these final words:
Passin through, just passin through
Life sure ain’t long and there ain’t much to do
The pains are many and the pleasure’s few
I’ll die now, but someday so will you—all of us, we’re only passin through
Passin through, just passin through
With time enough to say hello, adieu
Passin through, just passin through
Just like every single breath you drew—All of us—we’re only passin through
Yesterday the well dried up and the drought has just begun
We never prayed for more than just a little more than none
Fella from the bank dropped by with a mortgage and a deed
Said I could either sign them or he’d sign them both for me
Said he knew my troubles, knew my work, my pain, my need
Couldn’t tell if he was talking out of duty or just greed
Ma and pa were farmers and they died relatively young
Thank god they didn’t live to see what their children would become
Cassius makes his livin givin hungry folks the heave
Gets the D.A. to arrest the ones he cannot get to leave
Now he carries round his rifle drinking whiskey from a sleeve
And he’s still as poor as they are, and well, as for me
I’m just gonna wait here on this land I used to own
Til the houses fall to ruin and the pastures have regrown
Til the countryside is silenced as the gears of progress moan
Til over my dead body the winds of change have blown
til I’m nothing but a worn out washed up stack of farmer’s bones
I’m just gonna wait here til my cows come home
Guess I’m just too sad to laugh, and still too proud to cry
Too old to learn, too poor to move, too young to die
Ma always said I always was as stubborn as the mule
Just like my paw who had the reputation for the fool
Who always said you won’t find education in a school
Nor kindness in a good deed, nor the just life in the rule
All the weeds have gone to seed, and the barns in disrepair
Nothing left to sell at market and no livestock for the fair
Sold the silo and the greenhouse, the tractor and the plow
Sold the chickens and the henhouse, the horses and the cows
Sold it all believing we would get it back somehow
And the newsreporter wants to know just what will we do now?
Chorus
They say history repeats itself, there’s a time for everything
A time to reap to sew to live to die to mourn to sing
They’ll tell you to be quiet as though your breathin were a waste
They’ll tell you to look here now, as though the music could be faced
They’ll tell you that it’s over, as though your dreams could be erased
Make sure your dreams are big enough you don’t lose them in the chase
Mattie says she’s got a family waiting way out in the west
And not too much to carry she can hitch a ride I guess
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a flour-sack
They been gone three weeks now, and probably won’t come back
Last I saw of john-boy he was headed for the tracks
With nothing but a canteen and the clothes upon his back
Maybe someday I will follow, if I can ever get the knack
Til then
Chorus
One day, long ago at the oaks of Mamre God upon Abraham called
To splain the haviors of his fellow man and tell him why man is worth saving:
“Hey man, Abraham, where have you been? Through all creation I been searchin for ya
To tell you I’m gwin in one day’s time to destroy Sodom and Gamorrah”
Abe said, “Hey there God, you sure got me thinking a lot and I think I got a proposition for ya
Say there’s sixty-two men in those cities of sin
With no idea of the bad shape they’re in
And no one to tell them how it’s all gonna end
And no chance to change if there’s no change to send
If I should show you sixty-two righteous men
Then would you save us in Sodom and Gamorrah?”
Well God put his finger up to his chin, he said, “Abe, you ain’t trine to bargain are ya?
I am The Lord, almighty and vain, and I made thee and I can destroy ya,”
Abe said, “Not so hot, now you got me on the spot, and if you’ll let me I’ve got an answer for ya
An injustice it seems that for a percentage share
You would presume to know every single person there
From the language in his teeth to the color of his hair
From his midnight grin to his twilight stare
Say, if this is how you judge then what do you even care
Who lives or dies in Sodom and Gamorrah?”
God said, “Alright, I am not gonna fight—go, you gotcher self till tumarrya
To find sixty-two men of the righteousest of ken, to spare you in Sodom and Gamorrah.”
Well, then Abraham thought, “Well, sixty-two sure seems a lot
For forty would the bargain still stand for ya?”
God willingly agreed he said, “If forty’s all you need,
Then it’s forty, and I’ll see you tumarrya.”
As God turned to go, Abe shouted from below, “Wait a minute, you’re not finished talkin are ya?
If forty’s understood then wouldn’t twenty be just as good
And would twenty satisfy any better than twelve would?
And would you take even a dozen of the best men if you could?
And even if you could, you should ask whether you should
When what makes a righteous man is but barely understood
On penalty of contract, autographed in blood
Imposed upon a people you once washed out with a flood
Is it really any wonder we don’t behave as we should
But go ahead and tell me, and please, be honest if you would,
cause I got pity for Sodom and Gamorrah.”
God said, “Abe, I’m amazed in this game you wanna play,
Is it really all that important for ya?
Very well, let’s be plain, find me even one good name,
And I’ll spare your precious Sodom and Gamorrah.”
Well the evening came and went, soon Abe’s time was nearly spent
To Mamre went Abraham on the morrow
And God laughed when he saw the lonesome tired Abraham
And he said, “Poor Abe, you’re not really surprised now, are ya?”
Abe said, “You earn your love through fear
I earn mine through love
Tho you may be omniscient, omnipresent and all that,
You don’t know what it’s like to live down here.”
I’ve been trying to remember the way this story starts
That increases in confusion, goes off the rails in parts,
That catalogues the romance of an idiot savant
Who never can quite manage to decide what it is he wants…
And goes on to lend the details of secret that was kept
So well that all the pieces fail to meaningfully connect…
Who placed her on a pedestal which he named his Stumblingblock
And was the only souvenir he had when he became the laughingstock…
There’s a sign-post lost in ivy at the old fork in the road
One arrow points to nowhere, the other towards the motherload
But the traveler’s in a snowdrift, and he hasn’t yet found out
That the footprints he’s been following are his own, without a doubt
And the carriage-driver’s mumbling, he’s been known for nodding off
I heard he killed a man once who accused him of being lost
but the circle’s ever-widening, every revolution grows
the time it takes for one to realize what everyone already knows…
And still I feel the strange sensation that I’ve had this dream before
because I’m not participating, I’m just the one who’s keeping score
the cups were filled with coffee by the waitress with the pin
who poisons her own lipstick and leaves it showing on the brim
The hallway chatterboxes are all waiting to descend
Upon a service elevator that cannot rise as high as them
The fire on the mountain has gotten kind out of hand
There’s no method to distinguish between the innocent and damned—
The clock’s a double-crosser—else how’d the hour get so late?
And what happened to the lobster that was just resting on my plate?
I didn’t mean to interrupt you—we were somewhere in the meal
Either I was asking you, or you were wondering how I feel—
The bartender looks impatient for the commercials to resume
In the backyard a slumped hound-dog being howled at by a moon
beneath the porter’s window the station’s leaving from the train
I guess I’m a little empty, kinda lost and scatterbrained…
I’ve been to see the barber at the dark end of the cave
You can tell when he’s been drinking by the closeness of his shave
There’s a headstone in the parlor, it’s been leaning gainst the stairs
I’m afraid I’ll turn it over and find my own name written there
I climbed up on my ladder for to call on you again
But the candle’s always burning in the room you’re never in
Have you ever been so lonely that you shattered into song
And felt you’d found a place at last where you could just belong?
Well everybody’s got a thing to say about the girl there dancing across the way
How her hair flows and her hips, they sway—all night long
Where she comes from and who she is, how she got into a place like this,
These are all things that these watchers wish they knew for sure
Some say that she’s a queen from a country somewhere that no one’s seen
Where everything that you hope and dream, it just comes true
Where they go: Sha la la la la la la Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la la la la la
Some say that she’s a married girl who’s traveled half way around the world
Searching for her precious pearl, a man she loves
Some say that she’s a widowed wife, that she’s been dancing here all her life
Mourning morning noon and night a man she loves
Nobody seems to know her name, or speak her language or play her game
But every evening, moon stars or rain, she dances here
She wears what I wouldn’t quite call a smile, opens her eyes every once in a while
She’s dangerous and versatile, she seems to say
With her there its hard to concentrate, everything else feels second rate
Mostly folks they just speculate as they stand in awe
They wonder does she even know that she’s the reason for the crowded show
That she’s the reason that the music’s slow and the hour’s late
To have danced with her none can boast, won’t let nobody get too close
Some people say that she’s just a ghost, that she ain’t there
She don’t like licorice, only caramel; don’t like dresses but she wears them well
You’ve never met her but she rings a bell inside of you
She keeps her balance with an expert skill, looks like she’s dancing when she’s standin still
You can’t tell if it’s love until she tries to go
And every evening when the music’s done and the bar is closing for the morning sun
There’s no one left, she’s the only one who’s dancing still
She has this way where she leaves a room smelling strongly of her sweet perfume
Humming softly a spanish tune as her footsteps fade
And all the boys come and gather round and try to recognize the sound
Declare the dance floor to be hallowed ground as she slips away
Chorus
a gambler’s a man / who knows that a plan’s / just a story that’s spun out of dreams
it can act as a prop / to get you to stop / but temporary is all that it means
sooner than not / you’ll get what you’ve bought / whether you lose or you win
I’ve lost my share / but look, I’m still here / so, dealer, won’t you deal me again?
I seen all kinds / from the ones who read minds / to them who can’t spot a tell from a bluff
To the burn-outs, retired / hard-lucks, hardwired / who can’t say when they’ve had enough
I’ve heard the advice / of them who say to think twice / what do they know about where I been?
If you had these blues / I’ll wager you, too / ‘d be sayin: Dealer, deal me again
I had me a girl / she was out of this world / she was a once-in-a-lifetime affair
I asked her to stay / she told me o.k. / then she high-tailed it right out of there
I heard through the mill / she’s been up to it still / making fools out of dangerous men
Still causin a stir / Ain’t that good for her? / Dealer, won’t you deal me again?
Some play for the thrill / for the hunt or the kill / for the chance to be something they’re not
Some play cause they know / just how it will go / so long as they never get caught
Me, I’m the sort / who lives for the sport / I play for sheer love of the game
Don’t matter what / poker straight, draw or stud / Dealer, just deal me again
When it was you / I did what I could do / to let you know I was your friend
I held you aside / to defend you, I lied / and if I had to, I’d do it again
But now it’s reversed / and I come to you first / you act like you don’t know who I am—
If I’m still in the game / and the rules haven’t changed / well dealer, won’t you deal me again?
You tried to live straight / as something you hate / and you know that it won’t ever fit
It’s a gamble as soon / as you’re torn from the womb / til you finally cash in your chips
To live is to bet / in a game against Death / and you know the house wins in the end
But if it’s all gone to hell / spose I might as well… / Dealer, won’t you deal me again?
I’m friends with the bar / doorman’s got a car / there’d be more than enough to go round
a few guns, for show / and a place to lay low / where we could wait for the heat to die down
maybe it’s how you feel / or it’s there in the deal / or it’s some kind of wheel you just spin
you won’t know til it lands / or you’ve played out your hand / Dealer, won’t you deal me again?
I went down to the poolhall / late on a Tuesday
nothing but a dollar to my name
I was only looking / to pass some hours
While I waited for my leven o’clock train
Well I took a seat at / an empty table
It couldn’t have been no later than quarter past
There were a few games going / not a whole lot happenin
I wondered how long my dollar was gonna last
Among the poolsharks / and grizzly fellas
I saw two hustlers taking money left and right
They were shooting doubles / telling stories
Of how this must’ve been their lucky night
Well I got distracted / by a well-known waitress
Named Rita, wearing stockings and a fishnet blouse
She said, “You thirsty” / I said, “I got no money,”
She said, “It won’t help you—this ones on the house.”
Well she brought me something / it was all a bubblin
I sniffed it, then I took a thirsty pull
When I brought the cup down / everyone was starin
Somebody whispered, “That man done lost his soul.”
Well I started feeling / a little funny
And then I blacked out and fell right to the floor
When I came to / the place had cleared out
Cept for one of those two hustlers from before
He put his hand out / said “Pleased to know you,”
I can see you’re new here, so allow me to explain:
Said, “You’re dead now / but this ain’t heaven
That there’s Rita—and Satan is my name.”
He said, “I see your startled / that’s only natural
good news is that I’m a gambling man
if you play me / in a game of billiards
I’ll let you have your soul back, if you win.”
Well I accepted his conditions
In my position, hell, what else could I do?
He racked the balls up, rearranged em
and then broke em while I eyed and chalked my cue
Well the break was perfect / he made six balls in
every pocket on the table took a hit
Three were striped ones / and three were solid
Satan said, “I guess I get my pick.”
He chose solids / and eyed the two-ball
Said, “Corner pocket,” and gave an awful grin
It looked unlikely / downright impossible
Sent the cue-ball round the table and Number 2 went in
Then he said “Watch this,” / said, “You see that pair there?”
He pointed at the 1 up against the 3
He hit the cue ball / smack in between em
And each went in different holes, simultaneously
Well I’s in trouble / and boy, I knew it
But I held my piece and didn’t let nothing show
He had a clean shot / on the number 7
And, of course, he made it, with just the 8 ball left to go
When all of a sudden, he became curious
Said, “I hate to win so easy with the stakes so high”
He fired gently, grazed the eight-ball
Said, “If you think you can win, let’s see you try!”
Well just then something made me look at Rita
she looked so lonesome, so lovely and so sad
I said to Satan, “Before I shoot here,
What do you say we revise the agreement that we had?”
I said, “If I’m defeated, you get my spirit
It’ll be all yours to do with what you feel—
But if I win, you free Rita—”
Satan laughed and said, “That’s all? You gotta deal.”
I said, “For a hustler, you know you’re pretty cocky
I’m surprised to know the devil even gives a damn—
I didn’t want to / haveta hurt your feelings—
but you must have no idea who I am”
And saying that much / I took my first shot
Hit the nine into the ten into the twelve
Sunk em easy / and went on shooting
Til I cleared that entire table by myself
When it was over / I put my hand out
Said, “I’ll be taking back our souls, now, I trust
He said “That wasn’t our agreement—”
I said “Actually, as a matter of fact, it was—”
I explained that long time before this
Rita’s and my soul were intertwined,
“Techically speaking, I belong to her—
I’m as much a part of hers as she is of mine.”
Sometimes folks ask me how I met Rita
How we ever came to be husband and wife
I always tell em it’s a boring story:
One time she tried to kill me, and saved my life.
There was a time when what was yours was mine—and vice versa
If I’m not on cue, I’d be more’n glad to reimburse ya
I spose it’s a flaw to believe in the law of inertia
That says what is will be—I say let’s wait and see:
We been through our share of trial and error and judgment
Enduring the eyes of society wives and their husbands
We’ve paid all their dues and even a few of their “doesn’t”s
it’s come down to this—still, somethings amiss
I know it ain’t my place
to tell you where and when you seem a little off-base
But in this case I’d embrace
my own share of the blame—
For your own good, for your own health
I wish you’d hold up a mirror and look at yourself
When it’s so obvious to everyone else
That you ain’t the same—
That you’re different now, there’s something new, something I can’t name
I can’t quite put my finger on it, I can’t quite explain
you’ve changed
The thieves in the yard check to see that the guard is still dozing
the hostess distressed, accuses her guests of imposing
The butterfly sleeps while its body keeps metamorphosing
The caterpillar cocooned—I’m damned or I’m doomed
reviewing a list of items you wished to be handed
I saw at a glance that romance had been taken for granted
I’d’ve pointed it out except doubt had me thoroughly stranded
Nowhere to go—except on with the show
I feel so at a loss
Like a freewheeling boulder trying to gather its moss
Just tell me what it will cost
And what I stand to gain—
And in the meantime, I’ll concede
That in what I’ve undertaken I will never succeed
nor surrender, nor give in, nor need
long as you’re in the frame—
I’m not going to mince words, I’ll stand by my claim
There’s just something about you, doesn’t go with the grain—
you’ve changed
Down in the vault the cult meeting’s called into order
A man with no voice makes a choice by flipping a quarter
Someone disagrees and is made to eat cheese in the corner
Reciting the laws—neath the sound of applause
Prometheus spits even though he’s been gifted with forethought
He lays down his check and places his bet on the longshot
He thinks of his life, of his kids and his wife and the onslaught
Of debts he can’t drown—maybe it’ll all turn around
Look out there, on the tide
Ain’t the grass always greener on the sea’s other side?
But to get there don’t you gotta ride
Through a horizon of flames—
And as your dreams slowly break apart
And every time you look back you find you’re still at the start
you don’t see it, but you know, somehow, down in your heart
that you ain’t quite the same—
something’s different now, something new you can’t quite explain—
in spite of yourself, of your goals, and your aims
you’ve changed
Honey I’ve tried all these rules to abide, but I’m failing
I was hoping to skip getting stuck on this ship but it’s sailing
If it springs a leak I’ll be tempted to leap—oer the railing
swim for the shore—til I can’t swim anymore—
Coyotes dance while the wind in the branch is still blowing
Out in the fields the summertime yields unto snowing
Don’t know what I’ll find but I’ve made up my mind and I’m going
On up ahead—just like I said
don’t feed me that old blue line
If I have a say in the matter there won’t be a next time
I know maybe you don’t mind—
But I won’t stand for the pain
You didn’t see me see you blush
But you gotta lay down your cards when they’re callin your bluff
And God help you if you don’t have the stuff
to go on or maintain
you gotta play by the dealer’s rules or get out of the game
if you don’t know it by now, you will when you set foot on that train—
you’ve changed
As I was riding down the road / of a country strange, homeward bound
A gust of wind rose from the east / and knocked me sprawling to the ground
My horse, tho startled, didn’t fall / he only reared and neighed and fled
I called his name but he’d gone too far / I was stranded, helpless, left for dead
In the muddied ditch I lay awhile / from consciousness I came and went
Until I startled at the sound / of a drunken carriageman’s lament
He’d only stopped to rest his horse / and permit an overdue relief
I scared him nearly half to death / when I begged for him to “Help me—please!”
He hoisted me into his ride / two passengers already were aboard
a prospector heading for his mine, and a Lady going to meet her Lord
they took me in and nursed my wounds / from a scarf the Lady fashioned me a sling
they asked to know from whence I came / but I couldn’t remember anything
we drove all night until the dawn / by sun-up we had made the town
the driver stopped at the Blue Hotel / told the concierge to bring the doctor down
the doctor was a shiftless man / he smelled of whiskey something fierce
his arms were bare but for tattoos / his ears and lips and nose were pierced
he carried me up to his room and gave me something for the pain
I passed out almost immediately / when I awoke, we were on the move again
This time it was a different scene / I’s in a box-car bound and gagged
The conductor, through his surgeon’s mask, / gave me a morsel and said it was all he had
At the station we were shuffled off / some people had already died
Another carriage found me there / I’s ordered to “Hurry! Get inside!”
I was taken to a large estate / where I served a man of much esteem
Eventually I earned his trust / and learned to interpret all his dreams
He found my skills so excellent, he decided I should meet the king
And when the king looked on my face, he burst into tears, remembering
He said I was his long-lost son, finally at last come home again
He said, My horse arrived years before—they figured I’d been robbed and slain!
He stripped my siblings of their rites, their inheritance to me conferred
Introduced me to my fiancé; that same night I married her
At dawn I rose to walk the grounds and see what memories I could wake
I found the gardener in his grove, he said I’d made a grave mistake
He said my wife’d forsaken me, and had become his lover since
he told me that she loved him still, but of that I remained unconvinced
he challenged me unto a duel and offered me a loaded gun
we took ten paces from ourselves, turned and fired—he lost, I won
the gunshot roused a sleeping guard / who arrived in time to see the death
the gardener laid the blame on me / with his dying final breath—
I fled to my old and ragged horse, a beast unfit to bear a prince—
a gust of wind rose from the east, which I’ve been chasing ever since…
I come from a place somewheres in the East
But I had to get away and hide
I set out for the West, and every place I think to rest
I just get back on my horse and ride, ride, ride
I just get back on my horse and ride
I always hoped to live with good, upstanding folks
But their customs I could not abide
Before I’d push a broom, I’d be ready just as soon
To get back on my horse and ride, ride, ride
Get back on my horse and ride
When I asked for advice on how to live a moral life
They told me: let my conscience be my guide
Whenever trouble comes, I’m either reaching for my gun
Else I get back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
Get back on my horse to ride
I came into a town where a crowd had gathered round
A wanted poster that said “Dead or Alive!”
Well anybody there could see the fella looked a lot like me
So I got back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
I got back on my horse to ride
I rode into a town that was crawling with police
They’s in every place I looked inside
Rather than try my luck, riskin getting stuck,
I just got back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
I just got back on my horse to ride
I rode into a place just as a church was letting out
To the priest I went in to confide
“My son you cannot win,” he said, “Turn your poor self in!”
So I got back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
I got back on my horse to ride
I’ve tried out all the sins that can damn a man to hell
And the worst of all the sins is pride
If I’m bound for hell, I suppose I might as well
Just get back on my horse and ride, ride, ride
I just get back on my horse and ride
I came upon a man who was hanging on a cross
A sharpened spear had pierced his side
There was no one else around, so I cut that fellow down
Then I got back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
Got back on my horse to ride
I come into a bar where some men was playing cards
“You in?” they asked, “I’m in,” I replied
Fore they knew what I’s about, I cleaned them fellas out
Then I got back on my horse to ride, ride, ride
I got back on my horse to ride
I once knew a man who lived on others’ trust
Borrowed from far and wide
“What you gonna do when your first payment is due?”
Gonna get back on my horse and ride, ride, ride
Gonna get back on my horse and ride
They say that only love can break your heart
And know it’s true, cause I tried
But when you feel it’s through, the only thing to do
Is to get back on that horse and ride, ride, ride
Is get back on that horse and ride
Went to see my doctor and he’s looking at my file
“Your vaccines have expired, friend,” he tells me with a smirk
He asks me, “How long’s it been?” I say, “I guess it’s been a while,”
Then he tells me he’ll be right back—“why don’t you go remove your shirt?”
Chorus
As I ever was, as I’ll ever get
I’m ready now as I’ll ever hope to ever be again
Good or bad or just okay
I’m ready for it either way
So come on—hurry up—alright already—give it to me, then!
Rose was in her senior year when I started at her school
Her boyfriend, Joe, was captain of two athletic teams
She was nothing like me, she was popular and cool—
the most beautiful woman my young eyes had ever seen
chorus
I took my darling out to eat the evening before last
To celebrate our five year dating anniversary
I was wondering how her day went and was just about to ask
When she said, “If you’re going to propose, you’d better get down on one knee,”
And told her so, at which point she excused herself to cry—
While she was gone the waitress slipped me her old wedding-band
Said, “I don’t need this anymore, why don’t you give it a try?”
The night before our wedding my fiancé and I
Got into a fight so bad we thought the plug was pulled
She left the rehearsal without so much as goodbye
I thought it just as well—my feet were getting plenty cold
Well I came into some money so I thought of buying up a home
Scoured the whole city, found one place I could afford
I put the offer in soon as the bank approved my loan
But the owner’d already promised it to some millionaire landlord
Well I went to see an old friend on the night before he died
He’d been diagnosed with cancer and wasn’t looking at all well
He’d just turned ninety-seven was paralyzed all down one side
Said “I wish someone would have the courage to help me get out of this hell…
Good evening, Reverend—I see you’ve kept your promise, then
You said you’d visit me—right up until the very end
I hope you haven’t come to try once more to save my soul
At dawn’s awakening, I’ll be swinging from the gallowspole
Don’t ask me how I am, if you were me, how would you feel?
Born on the bottom rung to be blotted out by fortune’s wheel
I’s never counted-on, or expected to amount to much
If I’m recalled at all, it’ll be as a no good such-and-such
I never met the girl—her name, I’m told, was Jennifer
Blessed with gorgeous looks, and fine, upstanding character
About her qualities, I’ve heard countless people testify
They called her “innocent”, and say “the innocent don’t deserve to die!”
She told her parents, she and her friends were going out that night
She told those friends of hers, she was going to meet a boy she liked
She told the boy she liked, there was some pressing thing that needed done
They all expected her; she didn’t show for none of em
They found her ravaged corpse discarded in a park nearby
Police found me there, too, drunk, without an alibi
She had been drunk as well, and this, they said, was evidence
The truth, however, is, it only was coincidence
I couldn’t pay the bail; a lawyer, they appointed me
He couldn’t pronounce my name, but in his defense, he worked for free
They offered me a deal, said “Confess, and you’ll serve seventy”
But I refused to lie; they gave me the death penalty
I read your bible through; in here, Lord knows, I’ve had the time
I paid attention, close, to the passages that you underlined
I recognized myself when they imprisoned Joseph wrongfully
And in Job’s lonesome wail, I found I’s in good company
The thing I didn’t get is where it says that Jesus died for me,
if that’s the case, then, I’d like the guard to set me free
I know he won’t, though, tho he can quote the scripture, too
he says, “When God made his plans—tell me, sinner, where were you?”
And you know what the worst part is? The climax of this tragedy—
That poor girl that was killed—her murderer’s still walking free
Perhaps he’ll kill again—I’ve prayed for him to, more than once
So that my death, if not my life, would be counted with the innocents
I know I have to die, it’s something everyone must do
There ain’t a man alive who isn’t only passing through
The only difference, though, is that my appointment’s registered
On the warden’s calendar, 8:00a.m., October 3rd
Don’t feel you have to talk, I can see you’d like to comfort me
To practice what you’ve learned in your school of the divinities
If all the plans are laid, then what’s the sense in groveling?
If you’d like to help me now, you can do the following:
Tell my doctor there’s no need to send more medicine
Tell my debtors that I already have forgiven them
Tell my disciples my death is no martyrdom
Tell my country I wish I could have been its citizen
Remind the Christians that Jesus was an only son
Ask the judges to consider where their power’s from
Tell my story often, and when you do, please say “unless something’s done
That this man’s tragic fate could be the same for you or anyone”
Tell your followers if they want to win they’ll have to fight
Tell the lawyers—calling it their job won’t make it right
Tell your escort when you leave to please turn off the light—
Good evening, reverend—I hope you will sleep well tonight
Well the whistle is blowin in the factry, says the time for quittin’s almost come
Everybody all at once they say exactly just what they will do when they are done
Some say that they are goin drinkin, some say that they will join them for a few
Some just stand around like they are thinking, till someone asks them, “How bout you?”
I say, goodnight you workers and you dreamers
And those of you less tired than you thought
We’ll all get back to working in the morning
But tonight I’m gonna sleep like it’s my job
Well I walked down to the corner of the b-line, just like I always do to catch the bus
Some women asked me if I’d like to have a good time, said, cause if you do, just come with us
I told them I was grateful for the invite, told them any other night I normally would
But as the bus had caught us in its headlight, I apologized and hoped they understood
I said, Goodnight all you well-wishing ladies
And to all the good-times you might’ve brought
We’ll all get back to lovin in the morning
But tonight I’m gonna sleep like it’s my job
Well I rode the bus to where I normally go, half way there I must’ve fell asleep
When I woke up I was in the depot, and I couldn’t find my wallet or my keys
I figured that somebody’d gone and robbed me and I ran into the street to find a cop
I found and asked him if he could help me, he said, “Actually, to be honest, probably not,”
So I said, Goodnight you coppers and you robbers
And you bandits who’ve stolen all you’ve got
We’ll get back to our disputing in the morning
But tonight I’m gonna sleep like it’s my job
Well I took to my heels and I started walking, as home was still a good few miles away
But I ran into a friend and we got to talkin, pulled me into the saloon and said he’d pay
Inside they had a jukebox goin, and every face was one I seemed to know
The whiskey like a river it was flowing, till at 4am the tender said twas time to go
So I said, goodnight you drunkards and you boozehounds
Goodnight steve and phil and chuck and bob
We’ll get back to drinkin in the morning
But tonight I’m gonna sleep like it’s my job
Well I made it home just as the dawn was breaking, I felt like I had never been so beat
Every muscle in my body, it was achin, I could barely even stand to keep my feet
I climbed into my bedroom through my window, took off my shoes and pants and socks and shirt
I eased my body down into my pillow, fell asleep right just in time to go to work
So I said, Goodnight peaceful easy livin
Goodnight goodnight’s rest I never got
Tell those friends of mine, oh, if you see em
Tell em that I told you—thanks a lot!
The heavy rain it falls in sheets
On empty cobbled lamplit streets
Through which a desperate man retreats
Hoping to receive the thing he’s paid for
Beneath the tower clock he waits
Upon his deeds he ruminates
He means to flee but hesitates
Trying to remember what he came for
With bloody hands he holds the rain
But whether his or someone else’s pain
He feels now passing slowly from his heart into his brain
There is no guessin
A shape from out the shadow shows
That looks to be like one of those
He’s seen before and thinks he knows
If only for the wryness of the smile
It asks him: has the thing been done
He throws the shadow back its gun
With all the bullets there but one
That was used to kill the meantime for a while
The darkness as he begins to go
Says: but what about the pay I owe?
Don’t you want to hear me say what by now you must already know?
Or are we even?
You run from justice and you run from strife
You’re tired of your ransomed life
Like Abraham you lift your knife
Obeying the commands that are provided
You’d like to be somebody else
You’d like to do things for yourself
For consolation you can keep your health
And hope the grieving soon will have subsided
You believe in everything you’re told
I’ve done so much worse for less than gold
But tell me for what price have you gone away and sold
What I gave unto ya?
The portraits of the patriarchs
Went overboard to feed the sharks
You can hear the dog who cries and barks
Calling for the master who’s abused him
The soldiers sleep in tents in yards
While the wounded nurse removes the shards
Of razorblade behind her heart
That got there who knows how or for what reason
You’ve travelled on the beaten path
As men before and men since have
And you say some day we’ll both look back on this and laugh
To keep from cryin
The swallower of swords has said
What doesn’t kill you will leave you dead
Worship your heart and you’ll lose your head
This is the only law you can get by on
I ain’t the devil and I sure ain’t God
But right now I’m all you’ve got
So you can quit me or take your best shot
Either way you can’t go back to where you came from
You lent to me your traitor’s kiss
Yes, and they’ll make you a man for this
Tell me when I’m gone do you suppose you’ll miss
Your old companion?
The dice are rolled, the lot’s been cast
You’ll take the present with the past
The future’s not what comes at last
The future’s what precedes the end of knowing
The detectives organized the clues
The fingerprints and the bloody shoes
All the stupid words we used
Trying not to get where we were going
I know you knew it all along
In the name of God, what took so long?
For you to out and say that you’ve been wrong
From the beginning?
A story may have many sides
An individual several lives
But all were killed and one survives
And I alone am he that’s left to tell it
So gentlemen and ladies, here
Of the jury, court, and everywhere
Bring your witness now to bear
Wherever the prosecution seeks to rest it
And the next time that they come for you
Be sure to tell them what to do
You thought you laid it out and saw it through
But you were mistaken
The fires in the hearths are low
The winter never means to snow
The wind it never tries to blow
But these things all must have their explanations
Inside the darkened mouths of thieves
Are rotten teeth and mustard seeds
Tongues that keep the truth diseased
And knowledge well contained by reservations
And know before they aim and shoot
You never loved me, you just followed suit
Your eyes were only ever set upon the loot
Of which there is none
Once upon a long-lost time
I knew a girl so fair and fine
We met at a circus where I’d gone to see a show
She was swinging from a big trapeze
Dangling from her bended knee
From so high up it seemed that down was the only place to go
Suddenly a cymbal rang
She pulled out a wooden boomerang
Threw it hard and watched it circle all around the place
She caught it in her teeth and smiled
The audience was a goin wild
In my heart a feelin came I had to give it chase
Well after I had seen her act
I couldn’t help a goin back
I watched her every evening for two whole solid weeks
The ticketman he learned my name
When he saw me, he’d say “You, again?”
Til finally he offered me the chance with her to speak
My opportunity came at last
My heart it was a goin fast
It was after her finale as he was countin up his stubs
He took me to her trailer car
Knocked and said, “Well, there y’are,”
She answered in her bathrobe and she asked me who I was
(alternate)
I met her in an open field
Her name as yet, was unrevealed
But her eyes, they spoke in volumes and her manners, they were kind
She told me of her heritage
While I explained how rare it is
For any lonesome person a sympathetic soul to find
Suddenly it began to rain
She pulled out a wooden boomerang
Threw it hard and watched it sailing whooshing through the air
The lightning struck at it and missed
She caught it, said, “Now make a wish”
I said I wished where she was going that I might follow there
Chorus:
and in a sort of funny way
you might just go ahead and say
that I’m a little like that old boomerang you threw
I make like I’m a gonna go
And then I do, and fore you know
Before I’ve gotten anywhere, I’m just a comin back to you
Her hair was long her eyes were dark
Had a face just like a questionmark
For a time seemed like she only wanted to be rid of me
But I behaved a gentleman,
Fore too long we was like old friends
Who havn’t got agendas or any special place to be
We talked until the sun did rise
Morning took us by surprise
Her manager came by said it was time for getting on
She said I guess this means goodbye
She hung her head and began to cry
I told her if she’d let me, I’d be glad to come along
I followed her from pennsylvane
From Portland, Oregon to Portland maine
Through the plains of Kansas to the scrapers of New York
a couple times I took the lead
we quarreled, fought, and disagreed
and every path we picked just brought us to another fork
so finally we parted ways
somewhere round the frisco bays
she went towards seattle and I to Tennessee
half way there I lost my horse
caught a driver headed west and north
who said, “This time tomorrow, Seattle’s where I’ll be,”
chorus
The next night I was in her town
Askin for her all around
Found a captain who had seen her hangin round the railroad track
I found her huddled round a blaze
Tellin stories of the hell we’d raised
Somebody asked about her partner and if he was comin back?
At this point I was well disguised
Had my hat pulled low down oer my eyes
She said, “if I never see his face again, it’ll be too soon”
She was smiling when she said it tho
I could see it in the fire-glow
And when she was through insulting me, she took me to her room
Next morning, at the break of dawn
I awoke and found her gone
The note upon the doorknob said “please shut me when you leave”
Half-naked, I came down the stairs
An old lady screamed and said, “Who’s there?”
When I said “It’s only me,” she said, “I’m calling the police,”
Well I busted right on out the back
Never thought twice about looking back
The thought to hang around awhile did not to me occur
I ran down to the rail depot
I hopped a train that was movin slow
And was trying to catch my breath when I caught a glimpse of her
chorus
“Someone’s stolen my property!” the store owner did declare
Policeman turned the corner, found me standin there
CHORUS:
In the next world you’ll get justice; in this world you get the law
I said I didn’t do it, I said it wasn’t me
He put me into his handcuffs and threw away the key
Took me down to county, held me there all night
Wanted my confession, I said, “I know my rights!”
Chorus
They brought me in a lawyer, must’ve come straight from the bar,
He said, “You don’t have to use me, but if you don’t, you won’t get far,”
he said, “Why don’t you give up? It’s your only move!
the truth is not important if it’s nothin you can prove”
chorus
we went before the judge and he said I’d been accused
of murder in the first degree, I said, “I think you’re confused!”
the judge he asked the lawyer, “How does the defendant plead?”
“Your honor,” he said “Guilty—of murder in the first degree!”
Chorus
They gave me twenty years to life with no chance of parole
Judge said, “May the Lord God have mercy on your soul”
They took me away from my family, took me away from my home
Threw me into the lockdown and left me all alone
chorus
my wife she tried to stand by me, she protested and made waves
she had to quit the fight tho, she had two kids to raise
so I wrote a million letters, and my appeal date finally came
I tried a different strategy, but the outcome was the same
Chorus
the officer who arrested me will be Commissioner any day
my old lawyer’s on the ballot to take the seat of the D.A.
the judge, he ran for office, history turned the page
now he’s livin in a big old mansion with a girlfriend his daughter’s age
chorus
our justice system’s overwrought; it’s just stopped making sense
what good’s the law to anyone if can’t protect innocence?
If I had to describe it in a word or two or less
I’d say the American Incarceral State’s downright Kafkaesque
chorus
Pilate said to Jesus, “If you’re his son, let God save you,”
Jesus said, “Forgive them, father, they don’t know what they do.”
The preacher here in prison he says “the truth will set you free—”
But to hell with his truth, it hasn’t done a thing for me
It don’t matter where it comes, it don’t matter how
The Law’s done nothing for me, I’m after justice now!
The fire marshall, on vacation / called his boys for information
But they weren’t at the station / They were nowhere to be found
And the papers didn’t mention / the gasoline the place was drenched in
between the garage and the engine / burning slowly to the ground
And here I am again to say
Here I am—just yesterday
Here I am—nearly spent
Here I am—a child, and reticent to grow into my sorrow
The prophesy was written / Abraham bore many children
then he went ahead and killed them / At the instruction of the Lord
and so Isaac wrote to Ishmael / who thought the letter was just junkmail
Live by the pen to die, still / at the destruction of the sword
Here I am, still getting by
Here I am—to make another try
Here I am—barely awake
Here I am, reluctant to ever take
the criminal outfoxes the mandatory little boxes
as he gives a brief synopsis of his life up until now
Telling who and when and wherefore, and other things he’s been prepared for
implicating others, therefore, without ever saying how
here I am, on the run
here I am—t’bring what I’ve begun
here I am, alone at last
here I am—but will the past
Now I’m sitting at the keyboard / trying to guess at my own password
The keystroke of the four-chord / sounding nothing like your name
While the bells in the cathedral / so archaic and medieval
Announce at evening that the weasel’s / brought the monkey to the game
And here I am, still hanging on
Here I am—waitin for the dawn
And here I am—not getting through
Here I am—like superglue
And there’s nothing left to wonder / to take or steal or plunder
You’ve succumbed, and now you’re under / neath the sorceress’s spell
meanwhile somewhere music’s playing / and some listener’s obeying
A recorded voice that’s saying: “please return now to your cell”
And here I am, still on the ground
Here I am—tho try, by leap or bound
And here I am—the solitaire
Here I am—it’s not been fun or fair
Went in to work first thing this morning
First thing that happens, with no kind of warning
My boss comes up lookin kind of fraught
says he wants to see me today in his office at three o’clock
Am I fired?
I wondered
Well I figure it’s curtains for me, I guess
So I took the liberty of cleanin out my desk
At 3pm I’m outside his door
With a few other folks who work on my floor
We give a knock
The door opens…
Inside there’s this crowd of people huddlin
In front of em’s our boss, he’s explaining something
He says, “…now I don’t want to hear no more of your complaining
We’re going to sit through this active shooter training—
And you’re gonna like it!
Might even learn something—!
He introduces the keynote speaker
This fella dressed in Kevlar from helmet to sneaker
He’s a retired cop and an ex-marine
Says he’s here to tell us about some of what he’s seen
In the line of duty
The field of battle
He says, “I was in Colorado in ‘99
When the call came through from Columbine;
few years later they had me take a look
at what went wrong at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook
that church in Charleston
and the Orlando Night-club…”
He says, “Nowadays you can’t be too prepared
A mass shooting can happen most anywhere:
In churches, synagogues, concert halls,
Schools, playgrounds, dance-clubs, malls
They’re happening wherever there’s people gathering, really
The more the scarier
He says “I wish I could give you a rule of thumb
But the truth is, an active shooter can look like anyone
They can be young, middle-aged, elderly
They can look like you or you or—even me!
Then he grins real big
Pulls out his pistol
He says, “I ain’t your boss, but if it were up to me
You can bet it’d be mandatory
Everybody in here would own a gun
And would be well trained in how to go about using one
Says he’s got one in every room of his house
Keeps a loaded one under his pillow
He said, “In schools now they’re given guns to teachers
In churches they’re giving guns to preachers
If it were up to me and I could get my say
Every red-blooded one of you’d join the NRA
And he pulls out his membership card
And an armload of pamphlets
About here he pauses and says, “Are there any questions?
Comments? Insights? Thoughts? Suggestions?”
There’s something I couldn’t quite understand
So I waited a minute, put up my hand
He says, “You there! Scrawny guy!
Shoot!”
I said “I’m sorry if I find this a bit confusin
but if guns are the problem, then shouldn’t the solution—”
He cuts me off like he’s all offended
Starts reciting the second amendment
Says: who ever said guns was the problem?
Guns don’t kill people—crazy people do!
I asked if he could define his terms a little
The nation’s full of crazy people
I’m no scholar but to me it seems
it’d be harder to kill people if they didn’t have the means
He said now you’re talkin crazy
In America you’re free to buy a gun
Go outside and shoot someone
If you’re wealthy, white and affluent
You can claim you did it in self-defense
You’ll get away with murder,
if you’re a officer—
You don’t have to take em all away
but to make a few more of em illegal might be okay
I mean, does anyone need an automatic weapon
for target practice, deer and rabbit huntin?
Shootin pop bottles off a picket fence?
And maybe we’d not need so much gun protection
If the manufacturers didn’t make it so easy to get em
And maybe there’d be effective legislative solutions
If politicians’d quit taking NRA campaign contributions
Hell, I don’t know
It’s just a thought…
A borrowed suit emerging from a rented limousine
At an empty filling station, a mile from the red car-pet—
The tank now overflowing, covers him in gasoline
He takes a step back to ignite himself one final cigarette
And while they pray and pray—even as the angels sing
Their eyes they stray, when their miracle appears—
Someplace else maybe you’d think to call it interesting
But o, you know it’s just another day round here
The girlfriend of the governor finally made it to his place
When he got there, she was laughing with his wife who had made tea
As a curious expression made its way onto his face
She calmly said, “It’s a funny thing your wife here was telling me,”
chorus
At the meeting of the generals they’ve begun gambling with souls
Disputing lines they’ve scribbled on a map that’s poorly drawn
The leaders of large countries endorsing things they won’t divulge
Til someone blows the whistle and turns the war back on
chorus
Running rampant in the castle’s vacant halls
The ghost of Hamlet dancing with a goblet of champagne
Candlepin bowling with the madame’s crystal ball
Shouting slander from the parapet, prophesying rain
Chorus
Flotsam floating in the mind’s discrete mirage
Reveals a keepsake stolen from a bookcase that was a door
Later it will turn up in some framed-criminal’s garage
Who will turn it over, saying, “I’ve never seen that thing before—”
chorus
Inside the Zone there are still many places you can’t go
“There’s too much radiation” read the signs in foreign words
You could build a mighty fortress with all the things you’ll never know
If you hadn’t written off impossibles as being for the birds
chorus
the city hides an alley where a man holds out a cup
he rings a bell on Christmas Eve, dressed as Santa Claus
he’s dying and he knows it but he can’t seem to give up
the thought that someone will take pity and give unto his cause
chorus
the hero from his armchair gazes at the frozen scene
a painting he was given for his bravery in the war
in the quiet of the lamplight he still hears the dead marines
while his wife in the nursery shouts, “I can’t take this anymore—”
chorus
stamping passports at the entrance of the gate
an official’s asking everyone the purpose of their trip:
a man who’s fleeing circumstance, leaving home because of hate
is told: I’m sorry, sir, your answer doesn’t seem to fit
chorus
Jesus on the cross cried out “Why has thou Forsaken me?
Did I not accomplish everything that you desired?”
God said nothing but someone shouted pityingly,
“hey man don’t you realize you’ve just been preaching to the choir?”
Chorus
The asylum after midnight is an escalating plot:
A wheelchair has gone missing and a patient can’t be found
Someone’s dumped the medication in the nurse’s coffee pot
Any minute now the fire-alarm is probably going to sound
Chorus
the tax-man’s come to gather up the store-owner’s receipts
but he’s out collecting mercy from the parson, for his soul
while the barber’s window takes a brick thrown in by the police
the farmer’s out to pasture, being gored by his own bull
chorus
America the beautiful for all your amber waves of grain
for instituting freedom with a rifle and a cage
For perfect mountain majesties above the fruited plain
For corruption, waste, hypocrisy, insanity and rage
chorus
It’s 9am at USPS office #315
On Broad St, Philadelphia PA
I’m half-dead where I’m standing but I’m trine to look alive
I tell myself, “You never know, today might be the day—”
They burst in all disheveled with their hopes out on a limb
Every one of them surviving on a prayer
They can all tell you the story about their big ship coming in
But you’ve already seen the harbor, and you know it isn’t there—
Lord knows, I hate to be the bearer of bad news
But I’m afraid you’re out of luck again, today—
I guess I’d hate me too if I were in your shoes—
All the same, I don’t know what else there is to say…
Mr. Pomerantz on food-stamps he got robbed again last night
While sleeping in the threshold of a shop
He was thrown out of the shelter for starting up a fight
Though in his mind he was only trying to make the violence stop;
He’s waiting on a new card coming from the CAO
When it gets here it will mean that he can eat;
Til then he’ll be on exit ramps panhandling for dough
Shakin his empty coffee-can at strangers on the street
Lord knows I hate to be the bearer of bad news
To knock the wind from right out of a sail—
I wish I could tell him something that he might could use:
That your waiting aint for nothin—
it’s all been for something—
A better worlds a comin—it’s already in the mail
Jane Finnegan is in again, still going on about
How her folks are sending money from the farm
They think she’s still in college, don’t know yet that she dropped out
And took up a nasty habit that’s puttin holes into her arm
She’s been in and out of detox, says she’s trying to get clean
She can’t say it without drawing up a tear
she says, “Soon as I get that money, I’ll buy a ticket for the train—
to anywhere, I don’t care, long as it’s far away from here—”
Lord knows I hate to be the bearer of bad news
But it’s just a part of what the job entails
I wish I could tell her something that could cure her blues…
That some day she won’t be bummin
she’ll be all through with runnin
there’s a better world a comin—it’s already in the mail
John Dixon’s out of prison, he walked here, ten miles, all the way
He looks tired and he says his feet are sore
The guards released him sometime early morning yesterday
But his clothes, wallet and money all got sent out the day before—
He’s in need of food, employment, and most of all, some place to stay
His PO thinks he’s got somewhere to be
Three months ago he got word his grandmother passed away
She was his only living family, his only chance at staying free—
Lord knows I hate to be the bearer of bad news
To see a man caught tween a graveyard and a jail
I wish I could relieve him of what he’s been accused
That he could come home to somethin
Better than a DA summons
We got a better world a comin—it’s already in the mail
Doug Hurley came home early from his tour in Afghanastan
Where he went he said, to “be all he could be”
One night he found a landmine planted by the Taliban
That blew off his foot and ankle and his leg up to the knee
He’s got a letter from the VA, says they couldn’t save his house
Tho they appealed his case to eleven different banks
He tears it up and says, “It figures how these kinds of things play out
You fight to defend your only country, and this is how they show their thanks—”
Lord knows I hate to be the bearer of bad news
To lack the remedy for all that ails—
I wish that I could tell him that he’s paid his dues—
That his debts have been forgiven
And he hasn’t yet been done in—
There’s a better world a comin—
If I had the answers for you, I’d be screaming them out loud
I’d fight to share em with you, tooth and nail
As it is I’m just the messenger with no news to lend right now—
But I can tell you somethin—
The machinery is buzzin—
a better world’s a comin—it’s already in the mail
It’s 9am at USPS office 315
Broad St. Philadelphia PA…
Hey, babe—will you step out of that shadow
Will you open up your window?
I’m down here in the rain
Throwin pebbles from the drain
And I gotta say my aim—it ain’t so good
Hey babe, will you just listen for a second
I know you haven’t called or beckoned me
I came of my own free will
At the risk of falling ill
To see if you were still up and in this neighborhood
But it was only the errand of a fool, I see
Like you were waiting up for someone, and that someone wasn’t me
Hey, babe—I can tell that you been crying
You say you weren’t but you’re just lyin, now
You got water on your dress
And I don’t mean to press
But how do you suggest that I think otherwise?
Hey, babe—you don’t have to act so perfect
You can’t be blamed for every serpent tongue
That slithers down to ask
While you’re walkin your own path
Whether something from your past has gone unrecognized
But it’s only the remnant of a dream, I’m sure
Like recollections of a place you feel you’ve been but never were
Hey, babe—are you alright, you look a little
Like you been cut right through the middle
Like your mind’s been sawn in two
And you don’t know what to do
But your sure it can’t be you there in the bathroom meer
Hey, babe—won’t you tell me what’s the trouble
You spelled it out but much too subtly
I’ve never been to sharp
And you got me in the dark
And I think I missed the mark you left somewhere round here
But it’s only a hieroglyphic drawn in sand
Even if I could perceive it I’m sure I still wouldn’t understand
Hey, babe—can I just say that I’m sorry
If I hurt you with my story
You know I never meant
For it to go the way it went
The impression that I’m lent is that it left you sore
Hey, babe—I don’t need you to say nothing
Words are cheap, a dime a dozen
I give em out for free
And they just come back to me
Likes waves upon the sea crashing on the shore
When you’re all through lookin for prince charming
Who’s no more than a wolf in sheep’s clothes
When you’ve tried on all the glass slippers
And not one has left room for your toes
When you’re tired of putting up posters
Advertisements, pictures and flyers
When you’ve reviewed each application
And there’s a good deal left to be desired
I’ll be right here waiting
You don’t have to explain a thing
I’m plain as they come—no one’s number one
But if you’re lonesome, I’m the next best thing
When you’re tired of keeping a standard
So high even birds fall quite short
When you’ve called in all of your favors
And are desperate for some last resort
When you can’t tell how long you’ve been crying
Whether anybody out there’s hearing ya
When you’re ready to throw out the rulebook
For a new set of criteria
I’ll be right here waiting
I ain’t gonna bite you or sting
It’s no big surprise—I’m nobody’s prize
But if you’re lonesome, I’m the next best thing
When your heart can’t take any more teasing
And your tongue just can’t tell one more lie
And the size of your sorrow’s increasing
And each breath you breathe’s just a sigh
When you’re twisted from all of the pressure
That’s on you to find someone to love
Which you don’t even know how to measure
Short of shrinking neath what you’re above
I’ll be right here waiting
Off the mainstage in the back of the wing
I’m not the star of the show—I’m no one’s hero
But if you’re lonesome I’m the next best thing
We arrive at the picture show an hour fore it starts
What I call entertainment you call art
You always cry at the funniest parts
That’s why I love you
You take the high road and I take the low
When I’m in a hurry you’re movin slow
I say, “You know what?” and you already know
That’s why I love you
You ain’t like other people, you’re a diamond in the rough
You’re shy in front of strangers, but you act so tough
You don’t like much attention, you’re very quick to blush
That’s why I love you
The only time you need me’s when your parking meter’s done
You ask me for a quarter and I give you one
You rack a hundred dollar ticket cause you give it to a bum
That’s why I love you
Whenever it’s your birthday, you never ask for gifts
I bring you wine and roses, you say what’s all this?
You don’t see the sense in celebrating the fact that you exist
That’s why I love you
You never do what’s fashionable, you make up your own trends
If the ladies room is crowded, you just use the men’s
I don’t understand you sometimes, you don’t make any sense
That’s why I love you
You never draw outside the lines, you follow all the rules
When it comes to bein punctual you’re stubborn as a mule
You’ve never heard of james dean, you think peter lorre’s cool
That’s why I love you
I’m wounded—some arrow must’ve caught me off guard
I can’t see my own hand in this place, it’s so dark
Lady luck must’ve held out to deal me these cards
In this light, every bull’s eye’s a big questionmark
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I only wanted to feel like I wasn’t insane
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
I’m not one to accomplish whatever I set out to do
There’s only so much that one person can try
Using brass-tacks and duct-tape, adhesives and glue
You can stop all the holes but it don’t mean you can fly
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I just wanted someway to keep out of the rain
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
Over and over I ask myself: Why?—
at what point, exactly, did my intentions stray?
I can’t help but feel, no matter how hard I try
The whole time, it was only an armslength away
I’ve sought buried treasure using antique maps
I’ve travelled extensively on the rumor of jewels
I’ve interviewed strangers, collected their facts
Withstood the judgment of prophets and fools
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I just wanted money, power, fortune and fame—
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
Don’t say it, you don’t have to—I’m goin away
These words are the last you’ll hear from me for a time
It gets more confusing the longer I stay
It’s not working out for you—and that’s fine
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I just wanted someone who’d take her share of the blame
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
BRIDGE
The search must continue, what can I do but go on?
I’ll keep movin til I find a new home, I suppose
Where some lonesome lady’s waiting up for the dawn
Prayin for respite from all that she knows
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I just wanted someone who knew me by my name
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
Time’s passing—I’m agin—getting older each day
There’s more to look back on than ahead to by now
I thought I’d be happy, but what can I say?
I believed it back then, and always knew it somehow
I don’t want to keep you if you don’t wish to remain
Still I wish there were something I could say to explain
I just wanted someway of easing my pain
Loving you was the closest that I ever came
You still can’t decide if it’s better to hide or to come out wearing your blues
When push comes to shove you’re able to love just as far as you’re willing to lose
You’ve poured out your cup but it keeps filling up flowing over again
As what was collides with what might have been
What might’ve been if only we’d known
We might’ve turned round we might’ve come home
We might’ve grown old, we might’ve been shown
A way of our own
Through thick and thin
And gone it alone
I just can’t say when
Your foregone concern as you try to relearn how to let go and how to hold on
Is with whether or not you’ve already forgot how he’s right here now that he’s gone
The tables’ve turned upon what you discerned to be the difference between you and them
Without ever once giving up you had to give in
Had to give in if only to sleep
Every once in a while, maybe once in a week
Or once you’ve come back
From making the leap
And stopping the leak
By going all in
On this losing streak
I just can’t say when
Your only defense as you try to make sense of this trial you’ve put yourself through
Is how you’re consoled by your lack of control and you realize it might’ve been you
You’re trine to accept what you couldn’t expect would be waiting for you on the wind
He wasn’t my brother by blood but he was my friend
He was my friend, you told to them all
As they lent you their ears and let their eyes fall
And backed away slow
Saying nothing at all
Not like I don’t know
The way it’ll go
The way that it’s been
There’ll be tomorrow
I just can’t say when
The time it moves fast but you cant feel it pass as you sit up and talk with the moon
This mountain of grief can be moved with belief but all anyone brought is a spoon
You’re tryin so hard not to let down your guard but now that you know how it ends
It might as well break wherever it bends
Right where it bends, before it deserts
And they ask you to say right where it hurts
And you show up one morning
Wearing one of his shirts
That you pulled from the dirt
And you tried to convert
But you just disconcert
I know that it hurts
I know where it hurts
I know how it hurts
I know why it hurts
I just can’t say when
There’s a feeling in the atmosphere that a storm’s about to break
The sky’s about as bruised as it could be
If I don’t tell her how I feel it’ll be my own mistake
A girl like that won’t wait around for me
The forecast says precipitation’s likely—99%
I guess that means there’s still a chance it won’t
But there I go inventing each explanation to prevent
Me from doing what I ought to if I don’t
Here goes nothing I suppose
To tell her I love her and show her how
I been saving for a rainy day—and hey, what do you know?
It’s raining now
the weatherman’s been drawing crazy circles on his chart
he says he thinks it’s going to rain on our parade
is there something I can do to help in case this falls apart
what was it just now you were going to say?
It started kind of gentle now it’s raining cats and dogs
I regret that I’m not a little more prepared
First I’m stranded in the desert, now I’m trapped in the mirage
It might look to brave to you from out there, but truth be told I’m scared
Chorus
I looked out my attic window, it’s still morning but it’s dark
I feel like I’ve still got a lot to say
My next-door neighbor, Noah, built himself a little ark
Awhile ago I watched him sail away
If it weren’t for drought season I’d’ve probably already drowned
I’m not one who’s been known for making plans
the survivor in me’s thinking we should head for higher ground
but the thought of leaving you’s what keeps me standing where I am—
chorus
she was married when I met her but it was hanging by a thread
I’d good reason to believe that she’d wanted me instead
I’ll never know just how the thought ever got into my head—
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
I smelled her honeysuckle so I followed where it lead
A line of fools stood at her door with gifts of wine and bread
I asked if they had thought to knock, they told me, “Go right ahead,”
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
I could’ve swore she did—I could’ve swore she did
She always was the kind to keep her thoughts under a lid
If I’d money to wager on, I’d of surely lost the bid
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
I’s admitted to her parlor by a butler in a wig
I shook hands with her father and he asked me what I did
I told him off the record that I aimed to make it big
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
I spied her on the landing hearing every word I said
She descended as my face was turning every shade of red
I asked her out to dinner and she took me straight to bed
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
I could’ve swore she did—I could’ve swore she did
Every look she gave me said that she was interested
I’s never one to fall in love, but I tripped and slipped and slid
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
Afterwards I watched her as she rolled her cigarette
then smiled at me mysteriously and told me how I did
To me the word “tomorrow” sounded like an empty threat
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
She asked me what my name was, where I’d lived and what I’d read
I told her and she laughed and said, “My God, you’re just a kid!”
She showed me out the back door, though I begged her and I plead—
I know she never loved me but I could’ve swore she did
interlude
Along life’s lonesome highway I’ve drifted and I’ve sped
Love is a thought the likes of which by now I’ve gotten rid
Alone into this world I’s born, and alone I’ll be when I’m dead
I know she never loved me, but I could’ve swore she did
Once I thought I had you pegged as one of those who knew the world
You spoke of it so plainly
Alluded to it in the past-tense mainly
But I’ve come a long way since then, and now I know
That you’ve always been uncertain
About what’s just behind the curtain
Afraid to name the thing that’s hurtin you so badly
Funny, I never knew—silly me
Once I thought dreams could come true, anyone could be whatever they put their minds
Or backs into becoming
The gun is fired, the racers are off and running
But I’ve come a long way since then, and now I know
That it ain’t the dream that drives you
That determines or decides you
That undoes and divides you any way it can, you see
Funny, I thought it was—silly me
Once I thought I found true love awaiting me in the most
Obvious of places
Wearing one of its million faces
But I’ve come a long way since then, and now I know
That love has its disguises
As many let-downs as surprises
And its veteran advises to look only after you leap
Funny, I didn’t know—silly me
Once I thought I had it bad; I’d taken all the beatings
That this world had to give me
I had the scars to show and to carry with me
But I’ve come a long way since then, and now I know
That sure the current’s slowin
But the rivers still strongly flowin
And no matter how well you’re rowin
Signs of stopping it ain’t showing
You know you really had me goin—for a while there it seems
Funny, I didn’t know—silly me
It started out small, well within my control
Steady as she goes, man, that’s always the goal
You give it a push, you feel the nudge of a pull
Suddenly what you’re chasin’s gone and swallowed you whole
And if you—were me
I bet you would already know
Just what to do—to get free
Of feelin like you got nowhere to go
Chorus:
At the end of my rope and I got nowhere to fall
I’m in over my head, I feel kinda small
Funny, I always thought I was tall
And ain’t it a drag how hard you can try and it don’t make any
I reached for my hat, she took a hold of my hand
I bid her goodevening, she did not understand
She said to speak up, said to say where I stand
Next thing you know she’s got the whole wedding planned
And if you were me
You’d’ve known it, I spose, right from the start
That what the eyes can see
Ain’t half of what’s there to be seen by the heart
Chorus
They gave me a job, so we bought a house
Moved in together, now I sleep on the couch
I asked someone to pinch me, I said “Ouch,”
Now I wished I had the sense to put my foot in my mouth
And if you were me
Tell me what would be your next move
Would you stay or leave
This has moved well beyond any point I may have been trying to prove
Chorus
I travel the world, I see my old friends
I say it’s been too long, they say how long’s it been
I tell em the news, they say, Tell It Again
They say I’ll be find but they don’t ever say when
And if they only knew
How hard they can be, sometimes, to please
Maybe then I could make do
Without glimpsing a sight of the forest from the trees
Chorus
Rain’s gonna fall, sun’s gonna rise
Life’s gonna pass you in the blink of an eye
And whether you’re foolish, whether you’re wise
It don’t make no difference because everyone dies
And it’s hard to believe
That it’s ever gonna happen to me
I been alive for so long
I forget that there’s any other way I could be
Chorus
“Tomorrow,” she said, “I’ll be leaving, my ticket is already bought
If you don’t ask, I won’t give no reason—I won’t take any more than I brought.”
I told her I’d be there tomorrow, right at the first light of dawn
But this morning I knocked on her window, her neighbor said she’d already gone
“Did she leave any note? Did she tell you how come?
Did she give any good reason why?
I never had time to explain what I done
Or got the chance to tell her—goodbye.”
Well I knew she was here on a visit, that she didn’t intend to stay long
But I remember her now like a music that my whole life’s just been following long
I recall how she kept at a distance and seemed so reluctant to show
Any feelin at the mention of lovers whose stories you already know
Still—I meant to explain the rules of the game
On the off-chance she intended to fly
But I never obtained so much as her name
Or got the chance to tell her goodbye
Now I know that I shouldn’t be jealous of the sly things that other folks do
There isn’t a brave soul among us in this world who ain’t just passin through
I know that I’m no less as likely to seem just as vague and aloof
To shine as dimly or as brightly to any person of comparable youth
But I just can’t digest the feelin, I guess
That some people just act much too shy
I never bestowed any more than hello
Or got the chance to tell her goodbye
In the states we got capitalism,
Seems to serve some pretty well—
The rich have the money and power
Rest of us are going to hell—
But it’s the same rules governing nature:
“only the fittest survive”
But whether you’re fit or a failure
Seems like everyone wants to know “Why—?
Chorus
Why should I be kind to my neighbor?
Tell me, what’s in it for me?
Why should I do him a favor?
When he ain’t done nothing for me?
There ain’t no money in kindness
Nobody ever got rich doing good
You want me to be kind to my neighbor
Tell me again why I should—
Well the teachers are up in the classrooms
They’re doing the best that they can
to keep all their kids out of trouble
to give every child some sort of plan
they’re teaching them science and history
English, geography, math
but what do they tell to the children
who put up their hands just to ask:
CHORUS
The preachers are up in their pulpits
They’re tellin everyone to do right
They say we should all be like Jesus
They’re tryin to fight the good fight
They tell all about all the wisdom he shared
How he lived his whole life without sin—
How he tried to stand up to the empire…
But won’t you look at what happened to him—so:
CHORUS
In the states we all got our freedom
We got our American Dream
The freedom to say it’s all dandy
And to pretend things are just as they seem
But as far as a strong moral compass
We gave up on that quest long-ago
Preferring, instead, the old mindset
that’s hung up on wanting to know:
CHORUS
Gather round me children and I’ll teach you the way
You can grow up to be like your role models today
To talk like a true-blue bona-fide head of state
If you want to elude any kind of question
Just pay attention to these here suggestions
And in no time at all you’ll be able to prevaricate
You don’t need to believe in no superstition
To learn to talk like a politician
All you got to do is look innocently
At your accusers and say, on three (one, two, three)
Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause, no case, no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you can get to the truth
Maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go
Adam and eve in the garden of eden
Were told about a fruit they should refrain from eatin
God said, “If you ever do, by god it’ll be a sin”
One day as the good lord was passin on by
He caught sight of the couple out the corner of his eye
Wearing clothes behind which they was trine to hide from him
He called em over said, Adam and eve
What are you doin wearin them old fig-leaves?
Who do you spose you are tryin to fool?
Did you go ahead and break my one and only rule?
Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t
Maybe it’s our fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, and maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause, no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, Maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go
Old man Washington had a cherry tree
Yielded lots of cherries sweet as can be
His wife used to gather em to make her famous pie
One day the old man went into town,
Came back found that old tree chopped down
The sight brought tears of rage into his tired eyes
In his loudest voice he called to his only son
Said, George, get out here—and George, he come
Said, George, don’t you tell no lie to me
Was it you who cut down my cherry tree?
Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go
William Clinton was an American president
Had a reputation that was without precedent
Swore to protect and serve his country all his life
One day word broke about some sort of affair
That gave everybody a little bit of a scare
He’d been publicly accused of cheating on his wife
Well they called a meeting, and they called the press
Tried to make old Bill confess
Everybody thought they had him caught
When they said did you have relations with that woman or not?
He said, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault maybe it isn’t,
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Heck maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go
Lance Armstrong was a professional cyclist
Who overcame cancer, was on everyone’s like-list
Most would have said he was the best athlete there ever was
One day the US Drug Administration
Performed a retrospective investigation
To see whether he had ever used performance enhancing drugs
Well they checked his blood and wouldn’t you note
Lance Armstrong’s blood was full of dope
They asked him about his blood-test results:
They said: well, what do you have to say for yourself?
He said, well maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, and maybe it’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go
In the beginning all was darkness, there was a black wind on the waves
God said, “Someone turn a light on, please,” and the light he called, the day
The dark he called the night-time, and then he counted to one
And when the first day, it was finished, he said, “It was easier said than done,”
It’s easier said than done
Startin off with less than none
Workin up towards having some
Getting past where you’re comin from
Its simpler lost than won
Likelier left than brung
Oftener spoke than sung
It’s easier said than done
Second day God made the heavens, set em high above the earth
Then he said, “Now I’ll make what’s left to make of this here universe,”
And when the sea below the sky above he’d separated from
He reached down to wash his hands, said “It was easier said than done.”
The Third day he made the oceans, made the rivers and the seas
The lands were carpeted with grasses and he outfitted them with trees
And out upon their branches grew the peach, the pear, the plum
And when he thought about it he thought, “It was easier said than done.”
Fourth day he installed the stars and thereby designed the night
Then he put in all the planets and he thought it looked alright
Then he sent em in a circle goin all around the sun
And when he’d had a better look, he said “It was easier said than done.”
Fifth day God made the creatures for the waters and the skies
Made the swordfish and the mollusk and the seagull and magpie
He said, “Let there be mosquitoes, and let them breed upon the scum,”
And lo and behold it was—and it was easier said than done
Sixth day God made the zebra, he made the lion and the ox,
He made the lemur and the elephant and the hound-dog and the fox
He said, “From out of dust and ashes let the human beings come,”
And so people were created—and it was easier said than done.
The Seventh day, God spoke to Adam right before he took his rest,
Said, “Do you promise to take care of this?” Adam said, “We’ll do our best,”
God was satisfied to trust him, but from the world he stood among
Adam seemed to know too well it would be easier said than done
Well I guess some time has passed since then and now the world is getting old
The oceans have been traveled and the lands have all been sold
And some would say there’s nothing new beneath that aging sun
Some would say that proving that would be easier said than done
But me I say the problems of the world ain’t yet been solved
People aint stopped killin folks, our problems ain’t resolved
Until the bells of mercy in the halls of justice have been rung
Love will always be a thing that’s easier said than done
Chorus
I knew a man, he had a lover
One day she killed him with a kitchen knife
she learned he’d been out with another
who, it turned out, the whole time, had been his wife
It’s hard to always do the right thing
It’s never an open-and-shut case
I’d rather have my cake—and eat it, too
But you can’t always have it both ways
I know a man, had life insurance
Big old million dollar claim
He faked his death in a disappearance
now he can’t tell anyone his name
It’s hard to always do the right thing
It’s hard to know just what to chase
If I knew what I now know, a long time ago…
But you can’t always have it both ways
Jesus Christ had many a follower
He said, “You can come along, too, if you decide,
But you can’t worship that almighty dollar
And go round thinkin you’re on my side
I know its hard to always do the right thing
When the right thing don’t hardly pay
I’d rather be a good and a rich man,
But you know you can’t always have it both ways”
You can have all of our memories to speak to
Apologize to em, one by one
You can take all the time and words you need to
But you can’t undo what you done
And its hard to always do the right thing
The right thing changes every day
I’d rather need you—and be needed, too
But you can’t always have it both ways
Well I had me a girlfriend a while ago; I loved her, and she loved me
So I got the crazy notion to ask her if she’d want to start a family
She said yes, we both got dressed and went before the priest
He said “Anyone know why these two shouldn’t wed? Speak now or hold your peace!”
Well grandpa jumped up in his mighty old age and he said “there’s one reason I can see
Getting married’s not all fun and games, it’s a lot of responsibility
I don’t want to say you can’t do it, it’s just that there’s a lot to risk
Soon as you have kids, they’ll take all you got, then forget that you exist—
And that’s all the thanks you’ll get
All the thanks you’ll get
You work hard to keep a roof abovem
They call you liar when you tellem you love em
All the thanks you get
All the thanks you get
It’s a raw deal, full-time gig
And you sure can’t raise em like your parents did
Otherwise they’ll just try and get rid—of you
Well I went to school like folks said I should and I graduated in four years
and soon as I had received my diploma, they said, now find yourself some career
well I looked around and I couldn’t find nothing until one day, suddenly
I got a job hauling furniture for a moving company
my first day there, they threw this party for a guy they all admired
said he’d been with the company forty years and was time for him to retire
course he was injured something terrible, he could barely keep up his head
but when he saw what he got for severance pay, this is what he said:
That’s all the thanks I get
All the thanks I get?
broke my back, ruined my knees
paid all my own hospital fees
and that’s all the thanks I get?
All the thanks I get?
For all the time and effort I gave
Just to be treated like a slave
A one way ticket to an early grave—is my reward?
Well I was walking by the recruiting office, with my thumb I was flippin a coin
A man was out there telling me that Uncle Sam wanted me to join
I said, “Join what?” and the recruiter said, “Why, buddy, that’s all up to you—”
Air Force, Navy, National Guard—long as it’s red, white, and blue,”
Well I was about to sign up when all of a sudden another man comes up to me
He’s in a wheelchair and he’s got no legs and he’s wearing military fatigues
The recruiter told him to get lost, but the fella shouted out “Beware!”
He said, “I used to be just like you, now stead of legs all I got’s this chair—”
And that’s all—the thanks you’ll get
That’s all—the thanks you’ll get
fight and kill just to stay alive
Make it home, you start to wish you had died
All—the thanks you’ll get
All—the thanks you’ll get
I’m a shell-shockd, manic-depressed
Got shards of shrapnel in my chest
Had nothing to start, now I got less—than that
Well I was feeling sorta lost and a little confused about what I ought to do
Seems like everywhere I could think to go, there was some good reason not to
Friend of mine told me to seek some counsel, the counselor said, “Try church”
I said alright, I need help, I don’t see how that could hurt
The preacher that Sunday was preachin a sermon bout this fella named Jesus Christ
Who helped the poor and healed the sick and never sinned in his whole life
Who taught humanity all the lessons it would ever need to learn
Who was betrayed, tortured, mocked, flogged and crucified in return
And that’s all the thanks you’ll get
all the thanks you’ll get
you see a problem and you try to be kind
people treat you like you’re out of your mind
all the thanks you’ll get
all the thanks you’ll get
you try to do a simple favor
lend a hand to your struggling neighbor
he don’t give you nothing for your labor—hell no—just a slap in the face
Some folks’ll tell you if you wanna be happy, havin a plan is the only way
You gotta get all your ducks in a row if you want those birds to lay
But my whole philosophy of life is, here today, then you’re gone
Might as well make the whole thing up right as you go along
Well I went to see my fortune teller to learn about my destiny
She took ahold of both of my hands said, Well come here now, let me see
I asked her how she could tell my future just from lookin down at my palms
She winked and said, Honey, we’re just makin it up, right as we go along
Well I got this one friend, he’s an actor, he works on the broadway stage
He’s the sorta fella can play any character of any gender, class or age
He says sometimes he’ll forget a line, but the show—it must go on
After that you’re just makin it up right as you go along
I knew a man was a high-stakes gambler, he was a wizard at roulette
I watched him hustle a millionaire right out of the keys to a brand-new corvette
He said, you know you can’t guess right all the time, but it’s awful hard to be wrong
When you’re just makin the whole thing up, right as you go along
I met a man could play the guitar better than anybody else I knew
Everything from jazz to swing to folk rock and the blues
He said I may not know all of the words ever written to every song
But it’s okay when you’re just makin it up right as you go along
I got these friends, they live uptown, they make love look like such a sinch
They first met back when the war was on and they’ve been married ever since
I said, “With so many people getting divorced, how is it that you’ve stayed so strong?”
The said, Hell, we’ve just been makin it up right as we go along
Well the Corinthians wrote to old saint paul about this problem that they had
It seems despite discovering Christianity, folks was still behaving bad
Paul wrote back and in so many words he said, “Keep calm—carry on—”
Like he was just makin the whole thing up right as he went along
Lastnight I was watchin the old TV, and I caught some of the presidential debate
All these characters was up on stage for the audience to interrogate
Everytime anybody was accused of something, they’d deny it and say, “That’s wrong”
Just like they was just makin it up, right as they went along
Try to take all good advice; don’t do once what you must do twice
Don’t be mean, always be nice and kind
Keep your head up and do your best; make sure you get yourself plenty of rest
Be a leader, see that no one’s left behind
Chew your food, be polite, when it ain’t in use turn off the light
Don’t be late, be early, or at least be right on time
Wear a helmet, don’t get hurt, comb your hair, tuck in your shirt
Wait your turn—you’ll soon be next in line
O but its hard to keep on grinning when everyone cept you is winnin
And everything feels like it’s spinning right down the toiletbowl’s mainstream
And even if you got that midas touch, time still turns everything to dust
Night to morning, dawn to dusk, gold to brass, steel to rust
No, nothing ain’t worth very much in the grand-scheme
Mind your manners, mind your health, stand up straight, introduce yourself
Speak clearly, to the point, and don’t be shy
When in doubt just play it cool, keep out of trouble, stay in school
Wear your seatbelt when you drive or fly
Pay your taxes, pay your dues, pull up your pants, tie your shoes
On election day don’t forget to register and vote
Treat your neighbor as you would yourself, if you strike it rich well, share the wealth
We may have our differences, but we’re all in the same boat
But it’s hard to keep on keepin when the liferaft’s long been leakin
And existence goes on eeking out getting more and more highstrung
And even if you got the Midas touch, time still turns everything to dust
Night to morning, dawn to dusk, gold to brass, steel to rust
No nothing ain’t worth very much in the long-run
Don’t complain, don’t talk back, cite your sources, check your facts
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing t’all
Check your tires, check your oil—bring that water to a boil
Keep your elbows up and your eye upon the ball
Always listen to your dad, pledge allegiance to the flag
Deck the halls with boughs fa la la la la la la la
Do the right thing when you can, smile for the camera man
You know the drill—blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
But it’s hard to keep on servin when your master’s undeserving
And your loyalty’s been swerving like sparks off the main grindstone
And even if you got that Midas touch, time still turns everything to dust
Night to morning, dawn to dusk, gold to brass, steel to rust
All you get’s a “Thank You Very Much” etched on your headstone
Well let me tell you bout a friend I know / he sneezes everywhere he goes
He’s got the worst case of allergies as I’ve seen anywhere
Aside from pollen, dust, dirt, and grass / plastic, wood, metal, glass
He’s allergic to fresh water and fresh air
Most foods he cannot touch, just says, “No thank you, very much”
Can’t have gluten, corn or wheat or flax or whey
Dogs and cats he can’t go near and most people seem to give him fear
Cause most of our conversations go this way:
“Achoo! Achoo! Pardon me!” “Bless you!”
“Would you happen to have, by any chance, a—choo!”
“If you are gonna sneeze, for goodness sakes man, use your sleeve!
And may God bless you!” “Achoo!”
Now the thing about this friend of mine is that he gets a little bit down sometimes
On account of cause he thinks that he is scorned
People always seem to think he’s sick, sneezing like a lunatic
But he says it’s just the way that he was born
That always seems to give me pause; I guess no one’s without his flaws
“Still” he says, “I wish it wasn’t so,”
I say, “Man, don’t let it get you down, you may not be the healthiest guy in town
But you’re more God-blessed than anyone else I know”
Chorus
Now thinkin about this friend I got always brings me round to another thought
Concerning what is wrong and what is right
Seems that some would try to attribute the instinct to bless a sneezing brute
To manners, saying that it’s just polite
Then they’ll go ahead and designate tween folks to love and folks to hate
And say that God’ll only bless a precious few
Now I don’t know that that’s the truth, I’ve heard it said but that sure ain’t proof
But if it is, well, God help me and you
Chorus
I prefer to think that we’re all due for at least one blessing, if not two
That it hardly matters whether we’re first or last
If you need a reason just say because sneezing’s something everybody does
No exceptions, no exclusions, or outcasts
So God Bless You: whether lost or found, high or low or up or down
God bless you, whether chained or bound for home
God bless the mad, the meek, the mild, each complaining crying child
God bless the bastard and the orphan, all alone
God bless the scoundrels and the scabs, the beggars on corners dressed in rags
And every person that’s hard pressed to find a buck
God bless the hobo and the bum, the hitchhiker with his waving thumb
God bless the truckers who’ll stop to pick him up
God bless the guilty and the innocent, the 1 and the 99 percent
God bless the ones who don’t know which ones they are
God bless the hopeless and the poor, the gangster, thug, the pimp, the whore
God bless the man who holds the door ajar
God bless all the women and the men, and anybody that’s a blend
Who falls down somewhere in between the two
Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew; God bless the atheists, too
They all sneeze, just like me and you—achoo!
God bless the captain and the cook, the storeowner and the crook
Everyone who doesn’t look like he’s supposed to
God bless the black, the white, the red, God bless the living and the dead
And everyone who’s ever said, “Achoo!”
God bless you, whether straight or gay, God bless the ones who swing both ways
God bless the ones who don’t have to pick a side
God bless the inmates on Death Row, the strong man in the circus show
God bless the bearded woman, who’s his bride
God bless the jesters and the clowns, God bless the addicts, falling down
God bless the ones who wear crowns of gold and thorns
God bless the pope, the priest, the nun; the fans who fill up the stadium
God bless the dirty devils and their horns
God bless the doctor and the nurse, the driver of the village hearse
The gardner and the man who digs the graves
God bless the nations, each and all, God bless the world that ain’t so small
And anyone else I might’ve forgot to say
Chorus
You can’t be a locksmith if you don’t got keys
You can’t be a beekeeper if you ain’t got bees
And you can’t be a doctor if you don’t get your degrees
It doesn’t matter what your parents say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can’t sound the alarm if there ain’t no bell
You can’t tell the story if there’s no story to tell
You can’t have your cake and eat it as well
It doesn’t matter what the billboards say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can’t take it easy if you’re takin it fast
You can’t use it up and expect it to last
You can’t see the future if you’re living in the past
It doesn’t matter what the calendars say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can shop for products from the comfort of your home
Hear all about the world outside on your mobile telephone
But you can’t really be a part of it if you’re always alone
No you can’t—no you can’t
You can’t be a boxer if you can’t take a punch
You can’t solve no mystery if you got no hunch
You can’t expect me to work without a break for lunch
I don’t care what the bosses say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can’t tie a strong knot if you got weak rope
You can’t have lasting love without faith and hope
I’s in love with a woman, she’s married to some dope—
It don’t matter what your vows may say
You can’t always get it both ways
You can’t make a difference if you don’t go and try
You can’t fulfill demand if you got no supply
You can’t give people guns and expect no one to die
You can’t pour a blind cup and not expect it to spill
You can’t withhold supply and expect demands to be filled
You can’t give people guns and expect no one to get killed
It doesn’t matter what the laws may say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can believe everything that you hear bout on the news
Believe that folks is evil cause it’s the life they choose
But you can’t never know a person til you’ve walked round in his shoes
No you can’t—no you can’t
From where he’s been, you can’t tell where a man’s headin
From what he says you can’t tell at what he’s gettin
and you can’t be a rich man and get into heaven
It doesn’t matter what your paystubs say
You can’t always have it both ways
You can’t be sure if you sound so hesitant
You can’t remember seeing something that’s without precedent
You can’t be an idiot and run for president
Then again…lets see what the papers say
After all, this is the USA
Anybody can be king for just a day
Sometimes, I guess, you can have it both ways
I awoke—it was the Hour of Rest, I didn’t get any but I gave it my best
The telescreen cried, “What a beautiful day!” while outside my window all I saw was the gray
Smoke rising out of the fires below where sooner or later they tell me everyone goes
Whether you’re willing or unprepared, it doesn’t make a difference to the Man Upstairs
I clocked in, took my place on the line, made the same old motion til it was quittin time
I got paid, went out on the town, drank a few free ones and bought a few rounds
It got late; I came home around one, got to thinking again how this has never been fun
Last thought I had before I dropped off to sleep was that if this is my life, then I’ve got to be
On down—the road
Don’t look now but you got a long way to go
They’re putting something in the water, it’s makin everyone smile; you don’t notice it until you’ve been without it awhile
And I’m sick now—I been puking my guts, but it’s a small price to pay to keep from goin nuts
Utopia: that’s the name of the Brand on every can, cup and bottle in the Fatherland
Where you’re free to be free, here, if only in dreams—so long as it doesn’t interrupt the machine
I met the devil under an old willow tree—he didn’t look like such a bad fellow to me
He said, “Good and Evil: you know you cain’t always tell. One man’s heaven is just another man’s hell—
Folks always ask me why I do what I done, I tell em it’s cause I got punished before I knew how come
They took my dignity, liberty, all that was mine; way I see it, I’m just making up for lost time—
chorus
In real life, there ain’t no progress at all; you get over the fence—you’re still facin a wall
your country’s the dirt underneath of your nails, your name’s just a word for when your history fails
and tomorrow, it will all be the same, the farmers will starve as they wait for the rain
the sword’s as corrupt as the soil it plowed, you can ask for permission, but you’re never allowed
You want trouble? Here, let me give you my card—you live in a bubble and you think your life’s hard
You’re down on your knees and you’re trying to pray, but your prayers’ve been answered, 24 hours a day
We proved it; we got misery beat, you can’t argue with numbers, just rinse and repeat
Or else increase your dosage, take as much as you need; if nothing changes call me, if you need me, I’ll be—
Chorus
I’m not lazy—I just like to rest
I’m not dirty—just not too clean, I guess
I’m not happy—but I’m doin my best
To play the hand that I been dealt
I ain’t quitting—I’m just on a break
I’m not guilty—I just made a small mistake
It’s not a setback, really—just a slight headache
It ain’t nothing that time won’t help
But you know I haven’t come to tell you
What by now you must already know
There’s so little that has any value—
There’s only a few ways it could possibly go—
I feel like my engine’s gone and lost a piston
Like I built a kingdom just to let it fall
You can’t resist once you’re inside the system—
And I’m just a little annoyed is all
I’m not a cheapskate—I’m just moneywise
I’m not dishonest—I just prefer my old disguise
I’m not startled–I’m just kind of surprised
I didn’t know you were that kind of girl—
I ain’t cryin—it’s just raining out
I’m not hopeless—I’m just full of doubt
I don’t need you—I’d just prefer not to be without
Lord, it is a lonely world!
but don’t let it go gettin your feathers ruffled
there’s really nothing else you could’ve done
the announcer’s voice coming through the mic was muffled
it could’ve happened to me or anyone—
The lengths they’ve gone to see I’d be deprived—
Would almost make you think that my life weren’t small
But no one makes it out of this world alive
And I’m just a little annoyed is all—
I’m not depressed—I just prefer to sing the blues
I’m not indecisive—I just don’t wanna haveta choose
I’m not complaining—I’m just looking to improve
This antiquated old machine
I ain’t weak—I’m just not that strong
We’re not incompatible—we just don’t really get along
It ain’t alright—don’t you get me wrong
I ain’t sayin it’s peachy-keen
Sometimes I wish it would all go backwards
You’d begin at grief and move headlong into loss
You’d heal up as soon as you removed the daggers
you regain everything when you refund the cost—
But without an ending, there ain’t no story
No happily ever after after all
The case is closed with the hanging jury
And I’m just a little annoyed is all—
I’m not sick—I just don’t feel all that well
It’s not a secret—I just don’t really care to tell
I’m not withholdin—I just don’t have anything good to sell
or anything more to subtract—
I’m not crazy—I just haven’t found my groove
I’m not vindictive—I just don’t really like to lose
I’m not unjustified—I just don’t got no good excuse
Is there anything wrong with that?
Won’t somebody give me some instruction
On whatever a man’s supposed to do?
I can’t seem to make any logical deduction
I can’t have my cake and eat it, too
I feel like a powder keg what’s about to burst
Soon they’ll be scrapin me off the wall—
I’m surrounded by water and I’m dyin of thirst
And I’m just a little annoyed is all
I’m not a hard case—I’m just difficult
I don’t intend it—you know that much yourself
I’m not in trouble—I just need a little bit of help
At some point, hell, don’t we all?
I’m not wrongheaded—I’m just incorrect
I’m not crazy—I’m just a little out of step
I’m not angry—I’m not even that upset
I’m just a little annoyed is all
I’d give up my ticket to travel first-class
Step out of my place in a long line, and be last
Tip my hat to the VIPs, and bid them aideu
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
I’d compromise anything I claim to believe in
Religion, politics, humanity, even
I’d welcome the chance for a new point of view
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
I’d cast to the wayside any superficial differences
travel extreme geographical distances
I’d forget about whatever I was planning to do
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
If you were travelling upon one of the oceans
and you left me behind in some bedroom to stay
I’d sleep gainst the wall to which the sea was the closest
just to be that much less far away
I’d give up my dayjob tho it pays well and is easy
I’d come down off the mountain to live in the city
I’d share a crowded apartment on a loud avenue—
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
I’d pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
disobey the wishes of my entire community
all kinds of trouble I’d get myself into
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
If you were sick, I would risk the infection
If I knew you were wrong, I wouldn’t make no correction
I can’t think of one thing that I wouldn’t do
As long as it meant that I could be—
Close to you
Corruption in the Whitehouse: headline ran in ‘72
When Nixon’s men broke in to the DNC HQ
If Deepthroat hadn’t telephoned his buddies, Carl and Bob
Nixon probably never would have turned over his job—so
Blow the whistle!—whistleblower, blow!
Let’s see you got a conscience that you ain’t afraid to show
Put your self-interest behind you, tell your bosses where to go—
the people have got the right to know
Chelsea Manning was a soldier sent to Iraq on intel
Where civilians and enemies were bein indiscriminately killed
She had access to top secret files that were under lock-and-key
She put em on a website for all the world to see
chorus
Well, all our data’s now the property of the US government
the NSA’s been getting it for years without consent
A man named Edward Snowden said “I’ve had enough of this!”
Sent what he knew discreetly to the international press
chorus
Today we got old Donald Trump to keep us entertained
“Will you look into Joe Biden?” he asked the president of Ukraine
He would’ve been impeached when someone brought the news to light—
If a few Senate Republicans had the nerve to do what’s right!
chorus
Now some will say a whistleblower’s nothin but a liar
A stoolie turned a turncoat who knew he’d be getting fired
If you were in the same boat—tell me, what would you do?
And if you knew and kept it secret—well, what would that make you?
chorus
I thank you, Mr. Snowden for all the risk you took—
And you, Ms. Chelsea Manning, you’re no traitor in my book
You face the blacklist, exile, prison, and you were slandered in the news
But I thank you for the sacrifice you’ve made to tell the truth
chorus
technology today is more advanced than it’s alleged
but it’s a tool that can be weaponized, a blade that’s double edged
the government says they spy on us to keep us all Red, White and Blue
But if you’re gonna keep your eyes on us, we’ll keep our eyes on you!
chorus
Seasons change, climate, too
and people change—Lord knows I do
If impermanence is all that holds true
then what else can I hold onto?
I’m sometimes right; I’m often wrong
We’ll know better further along
Your love is mighty, but how strong
You say you love me—yes—but for how long?
Long as the seas meet land at shore
And earth pursues Her solar tour
long as this old heart endures—
That’s how long
That’s how long
That’s how long—I’m gonna love you for
When I’m tired; when I’m wakeful
tho unworthy, not ungrateful;
year after year, may through april
long as you’re willing, I will be able
long as there’s still room to grow
sky above and sea below
long as there’s time left to explore
that’s how long
that’s how long
that’s how long I’m gonna love you for
Pick a number any one
Better yet, make it the highest one
Multiply it by ten billion
Throw in a few more—and then some
As far as you can comprehend
And even further, after the end—
As long as there’s something still left in store
That’s how long
That’s how long
That’s how long I’m gonna love you for
The day may come, I’ll be leavin
A few who knew me might hang round grieving
There’s a time for laughter and a time for weeping
And long as I’m standing, Long as I’m breathing
As long as time withstands the clock
If it speeds up or if it stops—
Til kingdom’s come or come no more—
that’s how long I’m gonna love you for
pick your poison, choose your pleasure
step by step, measure for measure
life is short, love’s forever
long as you’ll have me, then we’ll be together
now and later, then, meanwhile
apart, together, single file
both and and and either or
that’s how long I’m gonna love you for
love prefers the present tense
it receives more, the more it sends
its road goes on, around both bend
a lifelong journey that never ends
(Repeat first chorus)
The factory whistle sounded at dawn, so we all gathered out on the floor
Foreman says, “You’re all doin so well, we thought you could do a little bit more—
He gave us our orders, said “Now I don’t want to hear anybody complain—”
You’ll be workin harder and harder, but you’re getting paid the same”
The economy’s gone belly-up, business is following suit
Boss is keepin his salary, but he’s givin his workers the boot
Said, “Some’ll haveta be let go, for the rest of ya, all that’ll change
Is you’ll be working a little bit harder, but you’re gettin paid the same”
Work harder—get paid the same!
It’s the company slogan—the name of the game!
It’s better than nothin! Don’t whine and complain!
You work harder—and you get paid the same!
The cost of livin is on the rise and the landlord’s been raising the rent
Soon all the money you’ve set aside has gone the way the rest of it went
Tomorrow’s another workin day, a chance for to make and to gain
You’ll work a little bit harder, but you’ll be getting paid the same
Society says do your best and there’s nothin you can’t achieve
You want to get rich quick in these times of ours—all you’ve got to do is believe!
I waited in line, put in my time, kept my head down, stayed in my lane
I worked harder and harder, but I just got paid the same
Uncle Sam’s building an army, recruiting anyone he can find
He’ll tell you he’ll pay for your college if you just sign on the old dotted line
He’ll train you to hunt down and kill a man like he ain’t got a face or a name
You’ll work for him, harder and harder, and he’ll repay you just the same
When I’s up I counted my blessings, when I’s down I looked to the Lord
I followed the rules to the letter—and I still ain’t received no reward
I’m no saint, by no means, Lord, to be humble, I’ve never claimed
But I’m workin harder and harder—and I’m getting paid the same
History seems like a broken machine that spits out whatever’s put in
Despite how you’ve fought, your efforts have brought you to someplace you’ve already been
You can try a new course or keep beatin the dead horse as you pray for something to change
Feels like workin harder and harder just to keep getting paid the same
I tried to break free of the eternity of running around on my wheel
I bought a guitar and I got in my car and went out to find something more real
I followed along and practiced the songs and by now I’ve learned the refrain:
It’s: work harder and harder and get paid the same
Now the man upstairs is good and old, he’s been in charge for a while
To him it makes no difference if you owe him an inch or a mile
Whether your life’s been filled with privilege or if it’s been filled with pain
Righteous or wreckless, you get paid the same
When I’m called I’ll rise and go—I won’t make any to-do
I prayed for things I needed bad, but my prayers just never got through
Naked and crying I’ll leave the world as naked and crying I came
I kept workin harder and harder—and kept getting paid the same
The ferris-wheel’s been crammed with likely suspects
the boardwalk’s lit up like it’s Christmas in July
there comes a time when a man must stand and face his prospects
with a keen, discerning and judicious eye
I came prepared, my equipment all was with me
I knew the odds would be against me in advance
But by the time I even knew what had gone and hit me—
It was too late—I didn’t even stand a chance
I’ve tried to keep my eye out for any sign of danger
I didn’t want to be the victim of love’s charm
I’ve learned to be suspicious of every stranger
And I’ve been known to greet unexpected kindness with alarm
I hope that you don’t think I went and planned this
If there’s one thing I’d rather skip, well, it’s romance
But when I met you, I was already disadvantaged
It was too late—I didn’t even stand a chance—
I’m well-practiced in the art of getting nowhere
I’ve rehearsed this scene a hundred thousand times
I know just what to say if you decide to go there
You’ll be on your way, and I’ll keep on mine—
But it would seem that habit’s failed me in this instance
I heard the music and got caught up in the dance—
I intended to give nothing but resistance
But it was too late—I didn’t even stand a chance
You stood there looking far out at the ocean
Where the sky and water fused in a streak of blue
I’ve seen beauty that’s stirred my heart into commotion—
None of it could hold a candle up to you
I could feel the stealing-in of love’s intruders
My guard was let down, you had me drifting in a trance
Cupid must have raised an army of sharpshooters
outnumbered—I didn’t even stand a chance
this must be what the bards and poets tell of
when they retire to their rooms to play and sing
and write their ballads all about their true-loves
what good’s it all—when sorrow’s all it brings?
I tried to put the feeling into language
My “Love at first sight” she destroyed with just a glance
Now the rapture and the joy’s turned into anguish
I should’ve known—I didn’t even stand a chance
Every place you go there’s folks there aiming to please—
The way you spend your money, it’s like it was growin on the trees
And even though you tell me that you didn’t come from royalty
Well, babe, you could’ve shore fooled me
I’m not one to fall for that old vanishing act
I know just when the magician’s pullin a rabbit from his hat
I can usually sense when someone’s got something up her sleeve
But babe, you could’ve shore fooled me
You got me where you want me, I’m too slow to dodge—
Just say the word and I’ll stay
I’m useful as a busted-up, broken down watch
Even a broken watch is still right—two times a day
I ain’t one to believe every single thing I see
I don’t believe a word of what they tell me on TV
I ain’t one who’s known for his gullibility
But babe you could’ve shore fooled me
They asked you for your effort, so you gave it your best try
When you folded from the pressure, they caught you in a lie
you couldn’t outfox the moral majority
But babe you could’ve shore fooled me
I ain’t the sharpest knife in the set—
Is that how the expression even goes?
Feel like I’m looking for something I ain’t found yet
But every time I’m near you feels like I’m getting close—
My mama warned me about women of your kind
She said don’t be chasing no one whose gonna make you wait your turn in line
Just goin by your looks, I could’ve swore you was heavenly
babe, you could’ve shore fooled me
You know I’m getting older, I got water on the knee
You know that my eyes ain’t what they used to be—
You think you’re nothing special for anyone to see—
Well, babe, you could’ve shore fooled me
They’re saying by next year this land’ll be buried neath 35 feet of the sea
Those that can’t get out by liner or ferry will be sinking as sure as can be
Pharoah traded his army for a fleet of sleek vessels, if the seas part he’ll just run aground
Tell moses we’re sorry: salvation’s backordered—there just ain’t enough to go round
Ma quit her job the day she delivered tho she took all six weeks of her leave
The breadcrumb of income in the end hardly differed, daycare costs more than you’d believe
And dad’s been out lookin for a job that’ll get him off the trail of them debt-collector hounds
Wherever he goes the employers all tell em, there just ain’t enough to go round
Man on the sidewalk’s been asking for quarters from people who pretend he ain’t there
His cardboard sign reads: I’ll Have What You’re Having—Anything That You Can Spare
He says, “I been all through the towns of this country, small kindness is all that I’ve found
Loves all you need to get by in this life, and there just ain’t enough to go round
You’d better wear waiters if you’re headed to Washington, I hear the bullshit there’s pretty deep
Power is one thing that people in power usually do their darndest to keep
They’re redrawing districts makin maps into mazes so that when voting day rolls around
The hopes’ll wear thin til the votes are all in and there just ain’t enough to go round
The army recruiters are lookin for heroes to wave their American flag
They’ll send you abroad like they need you to be there til you get sent back home in a bag
A six-gun salute, an immaculate coffin, a white cross they’ll stake in the ground
The letter to mom says “your son was a patriot—wish there were more like him to go round.”
They ask for our patience in the questing for justice, that holy of holymost grails
They ask us to trust their defunct machinery that history shows usually fails
The judge in his throne hasn’t even been listening—you’ll know when til the gavel comes down
They’re doling out justice like there’ll be no tomorrow—and there just ain’t enough to go round
We’ve dug ourselves into a fine mess of trouble spending money that we never had
To buy things that wore out and made us unhappy which they told us would make us more glad
The poor get some—yes, but the rich get a tax-cut: and do you know why it’s called ‘trickledown’?
a trickle’s what happens before it shuts off completely leaving what ain’t enough to go round
Time is a bastard and a thieving deceptor, a current you fight the whole way
Tomorrow eludes you while yesterday woos you meanwhile it’s always today
And life is a tale told by an idiot full up of fury and sound
You look for the meaning with the hourglass bleeding—there just ain’t enough to go round
Dear country, I’m writing to tell you I’m fighting to come up with some single thing
To ignite or inspire the old poet’s desire, in me, of thee, to sing—
But no praise can I utter with my pride in the gutter as the national anthem gets sung
To a flag that looks dignified that always has signified: liberty and justice for some
I’ve poured through the mystery of American history that was told from the conqueror’s view
That corrupted a heritage to respin a narrative about what white colonizers went through
Who committed a genocide, vanquished a countryside, which through outrageous violence was won
Executing hypocrisy in the name of democracy, with liberty and justice for some
I’ve been stumbling and reeling as I grope for the feeling of freedom spelled out in the pomes
But what of the Apache, the Blackfoot, Comanche, the Africans, torn from their homes?
Your freedom’s to subjugate, enslave, kill, appropriate—when will we be free from
The powers that perpetrate, promote and perpetuate liberty and justice for some?
they say here you’re free to do whatever you want to do—it’s true, long as you got the means
without any middle, most have less than little, while a few hoard an amount that’s obscene
and I don’t see an end to it when sixty percent of it will remain in the hands of just one
a condition arisen from capitalism, which lends liberty and justice to some
At the borders they’ve ordered soldiers to bolster the walls they put up as defense
To stop immigration to an immigrant nation that’s composed of what it’s now against
Inventing solutions citing The Constitution to further qualify the word: “Everyone”
Giving no heeding to words or their meanings where there’s liberty and justice for some
I turn on the TV most evenings all I see are tragedies broadcast as news
A white officer shooting a black man refusing to admit to what he didn’t do
in the grief and excitement the cries for indictment to the highest authority’s brung
which forgives law enforcement and displays the endorsement that there’s liberty and justice for some
The acts of our president are now without precedent, he’s made crimes that the Senate won’t try—
Proving by the hour that for people in power the rules just don’t seem to apply
Acting outrageously, speaking insensibly in tired corruptible tongues
Outlawing innocence to celebrate ignorance, with liberty and justice for some
I stood in my vacuum at the back of the classroom, taking History over again
With the teacher insistin that everyone listen and kindly repeat after him:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U—” hang on a minute—how come?
One nation, miserable, neath God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for some—
I can’t remember the words to this song
Wrote em down but didn’t bring em along
Now I’m confessin—I’m just guessin
I still got the tune, but the rest is gone—
If I could remember just the first line
the second would be easy cause it probably rhymes
but it ain’t no use—I got no excuse—
And I must’ve played the thing a million times
But I know the chorus goes like this:
—anyway, you get the gist
But this part right here, it’s in the bag—
Cause this song’s called the “Something Something Rag”
I thought maybe if I just kept playing the song
The words’d come back—boy was I wrong!
I still got nothing—I’m just bluffing
Tune’s still here, but the rest’s still gone
Here’s that chorus again
Somewhere we’ve already been
This is the worst luck I’ve ever had
I forgot the words to the something something rag
Instrumental!
Maybe you’re thinking: “Man, this guy sucks
Sure wish he’d get off the stage and shut up
What’s he doin?—who’s he foolin
He’s rehearsed it this way to make it sound made up—
He’s playin the chorus one last time
To really drive home how hard he’s tryin
Someone should tell him that his song was bad—
The whaddyacallit?—Something something rag”
Moses needed to be pushed
God spoke to him from a burning bush
Mose said “I don’t know if I’m qualified,”
“What do you mean?” the tree replied
“Perhaps I can’t do what you ask
I feel it’s much too great a task,
I feel you’ve chosen the wrong guy
We need a leader—who am I?”
God said, “Are you eager for your ruin?
You think I don’t know what I’m doin?
I, who poured the oceans and dug the earth
I, who built the universe
I, who dictate the sun and rain
I, who steer the hurricane
I, who helped you get your people freed
With me on your side—who else you need?”
Can I get an amen?
Can I get an amen?
Amen—
a cup of coffee still sits untouched
Right where I left it back there in the diner
Her message sounded like she’d been rushed
I thought I knew where I might find her
So I crossed several dozen mid-sized states
Along a road she had once named her shortcut
believing as I recalled her stubborn traits
that Love was one thing she’d never aim to forfeit
But my instinct’s slow—to overthrow
Any notion that the worst’s come true
any chance I’d take—if it’d help me make
My way back to you
a soldier stopped me where the road dissolved
and showed me your portrait from the riot
he said, “She’s wanted—we think she’s somehow involved,”
I knew exactly what he meant by it;
So I followed the river to the shore
When I came to the sea, I went ahead and crossed it
The ferryman told me not to bother him no more
“If ever you ever had any luck with me, you’ve just gone and lost it”
Now I’m on the road—it’s getting cold
I’m inside out—I’m black and blue
I’m left behind—still trine to find
My way back to you
The signs say one thing, but they mean something else
In the end it’s all somehow connected
If you want to get something done in this life, you’d better go and do it by yourself
But look out: it won’t be at all what you expected
The clues I’ll gather, the leads, exhaust
If there only were some way, I would quit hoping
All the crime scene tape reads: Do Not Cross
And when the gun turns up, it’s never smoking
I’m in a daze—unamazed
feeling something not unlike deja vu
for goodness sake, I’m just trine to make
my way back to you
BRIDGE:
I don’t need to know yet, I can wait and see—
So I’ll wander down along the beaten path
I ain’t no pioneer, no trailblazer
You think I’m out for glory—hell, don’t make me laugh
I just wish I could reign in my own behavior
I’ll never give up, I’ll never cease to try—
I never did know how to surrender
They tell me beauty’s something exists in the beholder’s eye
But it feels like it’s her spell that I’m under—
It’s one more excuse—to win or lose
feel like my nine lives by now’s down to two
I’m in a pinch—just trying to inch
my way back to you
in a different place, maybe, at another time
in the event of some extreme reversal
if it was you who had fallen, been stricken blind
and the story had made it round, full-circle
maybe if we’d checked it sooner from running completely wild
none of this ever would have happened—
I just wish you could be reconciled
Being that there’s nothing left for your subtraction
I’m in the gale—I’m on the trail
I’m almost done—I’m nearly through
I’m making time—still trine to find
My way back to you
6 a.m. and across the street the widow’s tearing out her flowerbed
Where there never have been roses and where nothing’s ever grown
You would almost think to see her there that it wasn’t all inside her head
You’d almost think she might just make it alright on her own
And lacing up your boots you think, “Absurd, absurd,”
As her child comes to wrap her in long sleeves
On the steps she holds her hand and you can just make out her words,
She says, “Mom, you’re the one who’s supposed to care for me…”
But you know how it is living in a small town
Where there’s only so much you can do
Where you know you’d leave if you could just believe
That anyone could ever love it much as you
The line outside the bakery has all the usual customers
The milkman and the paperboy and the girl who runs the store
It’s February and it’s cold outside and the weather doesn’t feel too sure
One of them’s calling in to Mikee to come and open up his door
He steps out on the porch and says, “get off! Get off!”
Even as he gathers them inside
He pours them each a coffee and says, “You know I’ve had enough,”
And it doesn’t cost him nothing but his pride
But you know how it is living in a small town
Where somehow you came to be but not to stay
Where you know you’d leave if you could just believe
That they could all get on without you for one day
Abraham’s a housepainter, he’s had cancer for a couple years
Lives alone inside a trailer in the woods behind the line
His wife divorced him long ago said she simply couldn’t stand the tears
That she had to leave him first if she would make it through his dying
Occasionally he stops in, says, “Hello, hello!”
When he’s feelin well she lets him see the kids
Every time she says it breaks her heart—each time he says he knows
He says, “We couldn’t know I’d make it like I did—”
But you know how it is living in a small town
Where you know each story and every name
Where you know you’d leave if you could just believe
That when you came back it’d still be just the same
The town was never popular but it used to host a carnival
In the park between the firehouse and the church no one attends
the only famous person who ever lived here was a criminal
and he really wasn’t half as bad as everyone pretends
there’s a restaurant and a hotel and a bar, a bar
and all the roads lead to the river just behind the railroad track
and perhaps because I’ve heard it said, ‘True places never are’
my town, it is not down, on any map
but you know how it is, living in a small town
where it’s hard to dream of even feeling lost
where you know you’d leave if you could just believe
that that feeling even distance could exhaust
Jacob had himself about seven sons
And Joseph was his favorite one
And Joseph dreamed a simple dream
That the filthy ones would be made clean
that the empty ones would be made full
that the broken ones would again be whole;
Can I get an Amen? Can I get an Amen? Amen!
When his brothers learned it was so
They all conspired to have him slo
One day they all went on a trip
They cast him down into a pit
Joseph didn’t put up much fight
But he never did quite lose his life
His life was spared and he was made a slave
He served Egyptians night and day
He served a man named Potiphar
The captain of the Pharaoh’s guard
He liked Joseph well—until one night
He walked in on Joseph with his wife
Potiphar had him thrown in jail
But the Lord was with him in the jail
Chorus
And when the pharaoh dreamed a puzzling dream
He asked everybody, “What’s it mean?”
Joseph said, “I know what it means—”
And he explained the meaning of his dream
When the Pharaoh heard his dream described
He felt his eyes had been opened wide
And he brought him out and it was seen
That the filthy one had been made clean
That the empty one had been made full
That the broken one had been made whole
Chorus
Danny and Julia were dressed in their Sunday best
Though it was a Tuesday and already snowing
The cabbie who drove agreed to be their one wedding-guest
On the condition that they let him leave his meter going
The procedure was quick, the presider had seen to it
Some words of intent and the optional kiss
Life lay ahead, and he carried her into it
Down through the snow on the courthouse steps
On the courthouse steps—where agreements are sanctified
promises notarized, futures foretold—
punishments doled out—arguments justified
slow gears rotated and fast ones pulled
Frankie the Fist had seen plenty of things, I’m sure,
He’d worked for a gang that had moved contraband
One night, the police – raided their weapons store
Frankie got out with a slap on the hand—
The boss went to jail for holding and questioning
When the trial date came, Frankie showed with the Feds
There was the sound of a gun, unmistakable, deafening—
and Frankie fell dead on the courthouse steps
On the courthouse steps—where what goes around comes around
Where you’re made to speak up while you’re fighting to breathe
Where a man can be beat and kicked when he’s fallen down
And Lady Luck’s always got one more card up her sleeve
John Henry’s case had unfortunate precedence:
A black man accused of a white homicide
the all-white jury was presented with evidence
it took them all of about ten minutes to decide—
A TV news crew sent to report on it
Caught the moment the defense began the protest:
crying: “If justice ain’t served in the halls that were built for it—
Then let it be done on the courthouse steps!”
On the courthouse steps—where the shadow of justice falls
On weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth
On the eyes of the pained, their backs up against the walls
Their hearts more inflamed by Time and by Grief
Oil & Coal were the wealthiest trades, by far—
Til the disposal of waste caused the profits to tank
Sure, they took on some risk making trips to the reservoir
til it all trickled back to the water they drank—
First people got sick, and then they began to die
And slowly the pieces began to connect—
By the time of the trial, thousands agreed to testify,
The whole town in line on the courthouse steps
On the courthouse steps—where the end of the tale is set
Where eventually all of the odds become even
The defense lawyer yawns and puts out his cigarette
Sayin a prayer to the God he can’t bring himself to believe in
John Fontleroy was arrested for battery
He’d been charged years before with killing his wife
The Not Guilty verdict came from some technicality
About how they’d never been able to turn up the knife—
But now there was proof; and he was in custody
He called his lawyer to tell him he was under arrest
His lawyer just laughed and said “Man, double jeopardy—
You’ll be free fore you get to the courthouse steps.”
The courthouse steps—where fortunes are overturned
Where right and wrong change with a roll of the dice
Where the innocent—can be tied to the stake and burned—
But you can’t charge the guilty for the same crime twice
Danny and Julia, dressed in their Sunday best
With two kids between them, and their lawyers beside
The divorce was prepared, but there was still all the rest—
the house, finances, custody to decide
The procedure cost more than either one could afford to pay
But they still hadn’t reached any agreement yet—
And so they emerged—each going their separate way,
Down through the snow on the courthouse steps
It was me and Parker’d been assigned the case
By lieutenant Flood, without a trail to chase
The thing was messy, so said the Sarge
A child missing, thieves at large—
It was your classic ransom, a demand to trade
The victims wealthy and so they could’ve paid
But to fool the bandits, the parents had tried
And so now the ‘Missing Person’ was a ‘Homicide’
Sarge looked at Flood and Flood met my eyes
Said, ‘I hope discretion you can exercise—'
‘If a man can’t do,’ said Parker, ‘what his bosses ask—
He ain’t fit to wear no gun and badge’
The grieving father, in a vengeful state
Hired on some outside associate
Nobody talkin saw what all went down
At that farm-house hide-out on the edge of town
Six men with escorts, all of them inside
When the building burned down, none survived—
One of the victims was Ms. Velma Pearl
And we soon found out she’d been Sarge’s girl—
So we went to Sarge with our discovery—
He dismissed us sayin ‘bring your report to me—
If he goes to pieces when he’s feelin torn—
That man ain’t fit to wear this uniform’
So it was me drove Parker along the killer’s route
to ask a few more question, see what we could find out
Up Dead Man’s Hill, as we approached the crest
Parker took two bullets—through the head and chest
And later that night—down in Evidence
Flood returned a rifle, and his innocence—
He never signed it, in or out, of course
But the bullets matched the ones in Parker’s corpse—
And I know he’ll say it when he takes the stand
He’ll tell you all about the chain of command
How if a man can’t do what his bosses ask:
That man ain’t fit to wear no gun and badge’
When you’re in the precinct, it’s like the corps
There’s a code of honor, an oath that’s swore
I asked the Sarge once about his divorce
He said ‘cop’s true love is always The Force’
When you’re on the force, the command’s a chain
And that’s the meaning behind everything
It’s all for one and one for all
Until your in trouble, then it’s “lowest takes the fall”
And I took an oath to protect and serve
But not men like these, that you can be sure of—
And if he can’t do right—or tell the truth when asked—
He shouldn’t wear no gun and badge
In the days when the world was young and raw
There lived a man who was without flaw
ten kids, a wife, for family
crops, livestock and property—
he was unselfish and didn’t hoard
both night and day he thanked the Lord
and abundantly, his gladness flowed
they said there’d never been a man like Job—
Can I get an Amen? Can I get an Amen? Amen!
In those days the devil was like most men
One day the Lord called unto him:
He said, “Satan, as you’ve roamed the road—
Have you ever seen a man like Job?
Whose gratefulness cannot be quelled
Whose faithfulness is unparalleled
Whose humanness is such quality—
Who night and day, worships me
Chorus
Devil said, “He’s something—but he ain’t much—
You gave that fella the Midas touch
Go ahead and put him to the test
You’ll see he’s just like all the rest.
Deprive him, lay his life to waste—
You’ll see him curse you to your face.
There’s a side to Job you’ve never met
How much do you wanna bet?”
Chorus
So Job stood in his field one day
When a messenger arrived to say:
“We were beset by enemy swords
They took your horses, killed your herds…”
And as he spoke, another came:
“They’ve killed your men, Job, burned your grain…”
And as that one spoke, a third arrived
“Your sons and daughters all have died,”
Their stories ended all the same
With the morbid, mournful, sad, refrain:
“You’ve been deprived, you are bereft
To tell the tale I’m all that’s left—”
Chorus
In light of all this news his faith
amazingly remained in place
The man they said had been unflawed
Lost everything and prayed to God
And for seven days he did not eat
And for seven nights he did not sleep
Except for this he barely spoke
“What the Lord provides He may revoke”
He tore his clothes and shaved his head
When he finished prayin, this is what he said:
Chorus
Last night it was fair game / drinkin whiskey and champagne
Somebody offered me cocaine / in a bathroom stall
But this morning I’m reeling / my head’s split and I’m feeling
Like too much of a good thing / ain’t no damn good at all
I drank from the flagon / I went chasing dragon
You know it took the whole gallon for a buzz that felt small
Damn right I’m complaining, it’s just myself that I’m blaming—
Too much of a good thing ain’t no good at all
The game was amazing / I mean the cards I was playing
They went all in and I raised em / it was just too good to call
I won the motherload payout / then got robbed on my way out
yeah too much of a good thing ain’t no damn good at all
from a toxic envir’n’ment / you were beauty incarnate
in your second-hand garment / and some kind of a shawl
what did you have against me that you had to convince me
that too much of a good thing ain’t no good at all?
Dawn broke to acknowledge that the room was demolished
The brass had lost all its polish and there was a hole in the wall
I tried bein honest, but no good deed goes unpunished—
Too much of a good thing ain’t no damn good at all
No doubt it’s recorded how my risks were rewarded
How the plans that I thwarted did abhor and appall—
it’s like my mama done taught me / fore the sheriff done caught me
she said too much of a good thing ain’t no good at all
I’ve savored and lavished, refrained from and ravished,
I’ve evenly averaged, on the whole, overall—
but obeying the treaty only profits the greedy
too much of a good thing ain’t no damn good at all
I’ve been out to lunches with the generals and judges
I’ve rolled with the punches of bureaucracy’s brawl
They claim that their shutting / of doors is a good thing
well, too much of a good thing ain’t no damn good at all
You fast and you famish, resist all you can manage
Your desires you banish like the ice from a thaw
Until one day you grow up and you gorge til you throw up
And learn too much of a good thing / ain’t no damn good at all
Daddy sent a card at Christmas sayin he’s sorry he couldn’t make it home
Mama had to borrow money from the neighbor just to make a supper from the butcher’s bone
That year we didn’t get no stockings—but the schools were closed on account of snow
I remember mama sitting us all down and sayin, “Presents ain’t always store-bought things you know—
It’s sometimes when you feel like cryin that you oughtta thank your lucky star
With this world bein the way it is—and these times bein what they are
I come from Pennsylvania, a steel town they call Bethlehem
The stacks ain’t fired since ‘03—and now there’s casinos right on top of them
I’ve since lived in other places—a few of them have felt like home
But I never seem to stick round too long—there’s just too much of this damn world to roam
If there’s a place and y’all’re going, I’ll take the last seat in that car
With this world being the way it is and these times bein what they are
As soon as I got out of high school, I went off to college and took on debt
In hindsight the diploma ain’t done much for me and the loans still aren’t paid off yet
Someday I’ll be retirement ready but Lord knows I won’t have a dime to show
Cause healthcare costs what retirement used to and social security’s goin the way of the buffalo—
Boom or bust or desperation—any I’d say would be right on par
With this world being the way it is and these times being what they are
I met a girl way out of my own league, I knew it couldn’t ever last too long
It was the first time I ever fell in love with someone, it was the first and only time that I wasn’t wrong—
She said, ‘Sam, you know what your whole hang-up is? You’re about as broken as the worst I’ve seen
You pretend to be living on the up-and-up, but really you’re just living on the in-between
When she left she said, “You ought to thank me—it’s not everyone would let you keep those scars
With this world being the way it is and these times being what they are—"
I went in person to the factory to inquire after one of them jobs
Foreman said they weren’t hiring—matter of fact, they were getting ready to lay some people off
So I turned and started walkin, half-way home I stopped to wet my beak
Bartender said I looked like I’d just stepped in from a years-long losing streak
He poured a beer, slid it to me, said “Your money’s no good at my bar—
With this world bein the way it is and these times being what they are—”
TV says there’s been another mass shooting—the politicians have nothin to say
They act like they can’t do anything about it, but they keep taking contributions from the NRA
And the worse it gets the more I’m certain that calling for the police just ain’t right—
If the violence of the civilian world don’t kill you, police brutality always might
You can sit by and say it ain’t your problem, but one of these days you’re gonna be forced to spar
With this world being the way it is and these times being what they are—
When most folks are in debt and struggling because 1% hold most of a nation’s wealth
And there’s still the mindset that drugs is criminal rather than a matter of public health
The prison cells are overflowing with folks whose crimes don’t begin to compare
to the double-dealing, power-abusing two-faced legislators who put them there
But nothing comes as too surprising, the absurd don’t even feel bizarre
With this world bein the way it is and these times bein what they are
The forests are all catching fire, mother nature’s been keepin score
Pollution is just the air we’re breathin from San Francisco to the Jersey Shore
Planet Earth is on its last legs, it’s resources will all be used up soon
Instead of working to develop sustainable solutions, scientists are seein bout building colonies on the moon
I spose I should be singing – Ain’t we lucky to have got this far?
With this world bein the way it is and these times bein what they are
It was late Christmas evening somewhere in missori Billy lyons was shot by mean old stack-o-lee Some say it was cause he owed that man a debt But the rest of us know it was much simpler than that
Just ask William Curtis, he was tendin bar that night He knew exactly who had started the whole fight He said, Bill came in smiling, gave old stack a friendly pat Then the fool goes and tries on his John B. Stetson hat
Why’d anybody go and do a crazy thing that? As to try on stack lee shelton’s john B Stetson hat?
The newsman he came running when he heard about Bill’s death he bursts in Willy’s bar room with his pencil, out of breath, “When? Where? What happened? How’d he do it? What for? Why?” Stack Lee’s still sittin there with his smoking .45
Stack says, “Go ask Deliah, she was sittin right there at the bar Go and ask her, she can tell you everything she saw” She says, “Well, Bill came in, said, ‘This seat taken?’ then he sat, Then that fool tried on Stack Lee’s John B. Stetson hat.”
Chorus
well someone called the police and they all got there in good time Stack Lee hadn’t moved one step from the scene of the crime Commissioner walks straight up to Stack says, “You care to tell me who That is lyin dead on the floor, whose blood’s all over you?”
By the time Ms. Lyons gets there with her children all in tow Its just in time to hear the commissioner say, “Well, boys, we’ve gotta let him go, it’s a shame for billy lyons that stack lee Shelton shot him through But if he’d a touched my john b Stetson, I’d’ve probably shot him, too.”
chorus
next day in the paper the story’s written plain to read bout the death of billy lyons at the hand of stack-o-lee the article concludes, calls the killin “justified” says it isn’t very likely that Mr. Shelton will be tried
but he did stand trial eventually, so there wouldn’t be no doubt it lasted all of fifteen minutes fore judge Hanson threw it out when he heard that Billy Lyons took Stack’s hat from off his crown he said, “This case is over,” and he brought his gavel down
chorus
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, I asked my country to… Convict Donald Trump! End White Supremacy! Cease Fire in Gaza! Protect the Environment! Raise minimum wage! Build Affordable Housing! Forgive Student Debt! MAKE HEALTHCARE FREE! Tax the 1%! Defund Police! Pay our teachers more! And Give Women Back the Legal Right to Choose!
They gave the orders in Washington, D.C., it was there the decision got made: the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, went and overturned Roe v. Wade
now all you ladies better take warning, cause here's what the decision meant: that the female body is now officially the property of the US government
they've left it open to interpretation, so it'll vary every place you go but it's already illegal to get an abortion in Oklahoma and in Idaho
Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Wisconsin--Arkansas and Missouri, South Dakota, Texas, ole West Virginia--Louisiana and don't forget Tennessee
so if you get pregnant you'll have to deliver, no matter if by mistake in the eyes of the state it don't make no difference if you consented or got gang raped
it means one more physician will be off to the slammer for doing as his patient wished it means one more anonymous Jane Doe baby for the annual adoption list
or else it's one more body gone to the coroner with a note writ in the doctor's scrawl here lies a patient whose cause of dying was: "No good reason at all."
and all you who point to the scripture for evidence, and would count every death a sin why don't you use your pro-life agenda to stop the next state-sanctioned execution?
consider your preachers, your pastors, your prophets--your husbands who want you to forget-- That Jesus was born between God and a woman--man had nothing to do with it.
The Republicans say that they favor America, and aim to make it Great Again! They use familiar words like liberty and freedom, but spell em: 'F-A-S-C-I-S-M'
and how can you say that you're standing for freedom, when it's freedom that you plainly refuse? when you stand in support of the Supreme Court's decision to deny a woman's right to choose?
A man named William Bezos took his gal to see a play And on the journey homeward they stopped into a café As soon as they were seated Liza grabbed the bill of fare She looked the menu over, ordered everything was there
Bill says, “I know you’re hungry gal, and I don’t like to squeal— But who do you suppose is going to pay for such a meal? You may have known me purty long, but you sure have got my first name wrong My name is Bezos but it ain’t Jeffrey—
My name is Bezos but it ain’t Jeffrey There is no dot-com empire that belongs to me You may have known me purty long but you sure have got my first name wrong My name is Bezos but it ain’t Jeffery
Bill Bezos married Liza thinking he could change her ways But what she did to William’s purse I’m most ashamed to say Whenever she’d go shopping she’d buy everything she’d see And what she couldn’t pay for, had sent home, C.O.D.
One day six big delivery wagons backed up to bill’s door They asked him to accept the goods while they went back for more It didn’t take bill very long to grab his hat and coat When Liza came home that night, she found this little note:
chorus
Well the east coast had me feelin like I had no room to grow So I packed up everything I owned, came to Boise, Idaho I’s lookin for a home—I’s lookin for a home
Well as soon as I got to Boise, I got held up at the gate Highway’s jammed with fancy cars with California plates Lookin for a home—lookin for a home
Next day I found me a lender and told him I hoped to buy He laughed at my finances, said, “I guess you can try—” Lookin for a home—lookin for a home
Well the first house that we went to, we had to stand in line By the time we made it to the door they were takin down the “For Sale” sign That house got sold—that house got sold
She took me to another one that I thought looked pretty nice They asked for twice what it appraised for, it sold for double the askin-price Looking for a home—still lookin for a home
Well I finally put in an offer but it just weren’t no match For that Seattle Do-Re-Mi and the San Fransisco cash I get out-bid—I get out-bid
Well the owners have it easy; all the buyers missed the boat There’s people out here ready to slash each other’s throats— Lookin for a home—looking for a home
Now they say it’s a seller’s market, which means the seller can be bought But not before he’s cleaned you out and taken all you got You’re lookin for a home—you need a bigger loan!
Well I wish someone had told me—I wished that I had known I moved from Philadelphia to Boise just to live in Mountain Home Mountain Home—that’ll be my home!
There is a man you’ll hear some about never had much fortune or fame— But he lived and died a hero to some Dietrich Bonhoffer was his name Dietrich Bonhoffer was his name
Born and raised on German soil At the turn of the century He studied hard at the Berlin College Got himself a theology degree Got himself a theology degree
He preached the gospel of the poor To all them that wasn’t free When Adolf Hitler came to power He said, “Friends this ain’t how it should be—” My friends, this ain’t how it should be
Bonhoffer joined the ranks of them who spoke out against the Nazi scum and even though he was a pacifist he said, “About this Hitler, something must be done!” About this Hitler, something must be done!”
He was silenced on the radio He was silenced in the lecture hall The Nazis gave him a pretty hard time— He couldn’t hardly get no work at all Couldn’t hardly get no work at all
When his anti-Nazi views got known His friends begged him to come away They told him, “It ain’t safe for none but Nazis over there,” He said, “That’s why I’m a gonna stay— That’s exactly why I’ve gotta stay”
He joined a resistance movement underground Where he got sworn to secrecy They made a plot to take Hitler down They called it operation valkerie They called it operation valkerie
They put a bomb in an old briefcase and got it planted in a meeting room when Hitler sat down with his generals to talk that briefcase went ker-boom—! that briefcase went kaboom—!
The explosion killed a man or two But the attempt to murder Hitler failed when he found out who had put the briefcase there They threw Bonhoffer in jail The Nazis threw bonhoffer in a jail
And there he sat for a year and a half Writing letters and sermons to his Lord All the while praying his endless prayer To bring an ending to this awful war To bring an ending to this awful war
He wrote, “the question aint how can I escape this mess and still keep my own conscience clean? the question is how will life endure— if we stand by and don’t do anything? If we all stand by and don’t do anything?”
The execution orders finally came down— April 8 of 1945 The very next morning at dawn’s first light They hung bonhoffer til he died They hung dietrich bonhoffer til he died
Some people say he could’ve made it out If he had given up or surrendered or lied And some say that all he ever did was fail— But at least old bonhoffer tried At least deitrich bonhoffer tried
Wherever there’s evil men takin power And people see it but just don’t care Wherever there’s a country getting less free by the hour the ghost of bonhoffer’s goin there the ghost of bonhoffer’s goin there
I’ve sung this song but I’ll sing it again Bout a new kind of virus, Corona’s the name From China to Europe to the US of A— This is what all of the people there say:
So long, it’s been good to know ya So long, it’s been good to know ya So long, it’s been good to know ya This coronavirus has me sittin at home Wishin I weren’t all alone
to contain the disease the lawmakers implore no crowds shall consist of a hundred or more they’re cancellin festivals, concerts, parades as for weddings and funerals—they’ll just have to wait
chorus
they’ve locked up the restaurants and they’re closing the stores most places of businesses are shutting their doors it’s stopped the economy dead in its tracks if you can’t work from home, they’ll give you the axe—sayin
chorus
if you’re in education, they say you’ll be fine colleges are movin everything to online so you can still take your classes and do your workload long as the internet servers don’t collapse or explode
chorus
the doctors will tell you to keep your hands clean while scientists work to create a vaccine; that they’ve found a cure we’re all waiting to hear but so far it’s “It might be six months to a year—”
chorus
With every new death, there’s an increase of sorrow 5 gone today, will be 500 tomorrow No telling how many we’ll lose fore the end They say it’s not a matter of “if” but of “when”—
chorus
The CDC says they couldn’t rehearse And before it gets better it’ll have to get worse We saw the thing coming but we couldn’t prepare So our advice to you now is to just say your prayers—
chorus
now I’m sitting at home in my self-quarantine doin my best to practice social distancing my friends call me up, claim it’s just to say “hi” but somehow it feels like this is “goodbye”
Chorus
I been lookin in the paper trine to find the news But it’s the same old story, every page you choose: Unemployment’s on the uptick—so’s poverty and crime While the fellas up on wall street are all doing just fine
I don’t have any answers for what you’re wondering about— If I did don’t you think I might just be callin them right out? Been reading letters to the editor, lookin for a rhyme— I’m just goin through the motions—trine to kill some time
I been pullin on my bootstraps, trying to get off the ground So far a hard day of workin’s all the luck I’ve found Yesterday I had my whole life up ahead of me Now it’s stretched out in the rearview, far back as I can see—
And I don’t have any answers to what you’re wondering about If I did don’t you think I’d be shouting them right out? I been walking with my thumb out, tryin to get a lift— I’m just goin through the motions—til I finish with my shift
I been drivin on the highway like I got somewhere to be Policeman asked me where I’m headed I said, “C’mon, buddy, don’t ask me! From over where you been standin on the passenger’s side, It may look like I’m driving—but I’m along for the ride!”
I don’t have the answer to what you’re wondering about— If I did don’t you think I might just be callin them right out? I’m just bangin on my guitar—tryin to find a song— just goin through the motions—til somethin better comes along
I been fallin out of favor, trine to fall in love Can I help if it my old ways fit me just like a glove? I know actin like a scoundrel ain’t gonna win me no friends— But least I know from the get-go how the story ends
And you know I ain’t the savior that you been searchin for You want to look up to someone, try someone who ain’t on the floor— I’m just trying not to wind up sorry and alone I’m just goin through the motions—tryin to get back home
I been goin to see the pastor outside of office hours He tells me bout the light of heaven and the Holy Higher Power He said with a friend like Jesus, no foe can prevail— I said, “You’re talking to a Jonah in the belly of the whale.”
I don’t have any answers to what you’re talkin about If I did don’t you think I’d just be callin em out I’m just look for a reason to keep myself in line I’m just goin through the motions—one step at a time
Went to prison cause I couldn’t pay a lousy fine Put me away so long I lost track of the time— January first it was ten below, They set me loose without a place to go Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I tried the shelters, but they didn’t have any beds So I asked if there were somewhere I could go instead? They said if you need to keep warm and dry Give the subway platform a try— Tell me, how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I wanted work but I didn’t have a state ID So I paid a little visit to the PA DMV I took a number and I got in line I’s still waiting at the closing time— Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
Next day I went back down there very first thing They sent me away, said, When you come back be sure and bring: Proof of address and proof of birth And 30.50, and that’s all I’m worth Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I also needed my social security card Trine to get it without ID’s nothing short of hard Try to get it and they’ll tell you, brother— You need the one to get the other Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
If I land a job, the minimum is all it pays All it promises is an annual fifty-cent raise I’ll be working full plus overtime Rent’s still late and I’ll still get fined Tell me, how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I can’t keep track of the hours anymore I’m at work sixteen of every twenty-four Plain exhausted, can’t get no rest Nough to make even a hopeful man depressed Tell me, how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I’ve been living tween a hard place and a rock My life’s just one long race against the clock Soon as I can get a little bit of slack Take one step forward and two steps back Tell me, how can a poor man stand such times and live?
Everywhere you turn folks is struggling to get by the only way to get enough is to fight or die— You wanna know where all the money went check the pockets of the one percent Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
Donald Trump has shut the government down And empty is the head that wears the crown Now my foodstamps won’t come in Til the government’s up and running again— Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I’m sick as a dog, but I still ain’t insured Poverty’s an illness and I don’t know if I can be cured Every time that I get tripped up There ain’t nobody there to help me up Tell me, how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I needed money and I needed money fast I had debts to pay and my deadlines all were past I’d be alright but for one big flaw: I can’t make a dollar short of breaking the law Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I’ve heard the tales that Jesus Christ was poor He lived hand-to-mouth while goin door-to-door How come every door I try and knock Leads me right back around to the cops? Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
I was feeling sad and small and scared a National Emergency had been declared took a dose of Fox News for my breakfast headed down to southern texas aiming to defend my country— against the impending immigrant threat!
Well I got down there expecting to meet my enemy But there’s just desert far as the eye could see then I felt a gunbarrel poking at my spine I turned around saw it was a man with skin like mine He said, “Darn! I thought you was one of them! Damn if I didn’t just about shoot you dead!”
Well he laughs it off and turns me loose When a parade of people comes marching through Looked like a band of redneck soldiers Had picks and trowels flung over their shoulders I said is it them? The immigrant threat?
The fella says, “No—that ain’t them at all— They’re friends—come to help build Trump’s wall!” I asked him what he was talkin about Said, “It’s Trump’s plan to keep the immigrants out Build a wall— You know, like a big one!
He says, “I was born in the good old USA That’s more than them immigrants can say Even though my ancestors came on a boat And robbed and pillaged the native folks And enslaved the Africans— We still been here long enough to know it’s ours!
Says “we’ll build a wall that’s thick and strong It’ll be half a million miles long Like the Great Wall of China or of old Berlin It’ll keep foreigners out and us safe within Kind of like a prison—but for our freedom! And all the stories we tell ourselves!
I’s beginning to see what kind of plan it was But he went on, “We need a wall like this because These invaders are coming onto our private land They’re smuggling drugs and people and contraband— They’re takin our jobs!— bunch a criminals!”
Well we walked up a hill and peeped the horizon saw a crowd of people there building something he said “some day barbed wire, brick and mortar is all there’ll be at the US-Mexico border” I could feel the fake news starting to wear off And a new nightmare beginning
We came to a pen made of chainlink fence Inside was a hundred or so immigrants Most of them was kids, emaciated They’d been took from their parents, incarcerated Maybe orphaned, too No tellin
I asked one of em why he decided to come across He shook his head, sighed and coughed Said, before I answer let me ask you one If it was leave or die, which would you have done? I said I guess I’d leave He didn’t look at me after that
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any sadder My tour guide pulls out a big old ladder we climbed, looked out, and all I seed was a cactus plant and a tumbleweed where’s that immigrant threat I was hearing so much about? national emergency my eye!
Trump doesn’t want foreigners comin across And a few billion tax-dollars is all it’ll cost when the proposal to congress finally went around they wouldn’t budge so he shut it down talk about stealing work From hard-working Americans
You go far enough back on that family tree You’ll find Trump had ancestors over in Germany They came and settled in the American nation in a process that’s known as—what?—immigration hung around for the revolution helped establish the American hypocrisy
Humpdy Trumpty can sit on his wall The higher he builds it, the harder the fall All the kings horses and all the kings men won’t be electing him again they’ll know better least I hope they will…
1 3 4 6 A plainclothes armadillo from the outskirts of Amarillo 4 1 5 5(seventh) Patches sewn on at the elbows and a bandage on his nose Hauling nothing but a suitcase he was yielded in a carchase Didn’t want it in the firstplace but ain’t that just the way life goes? 4 6 5 Aint that just the way life goes a mile a minute 4 6 5 Trine to tell you you did something even when you didn’t?
Hitched a ride from Missoula where he bid farwell to Julia Aw, don’t let his smiling fool ya, he’s as heartbroke as they come And now he’s stranded on his isthmus, won’t be comin home for Christmas And no one wants to know the business of a stranger with a gun- Of a stranger with a gun-shy disposition Who talks as if he’s on some kind of mission
4 1 5 6 and they’ve got Aesop on the hotline, going on about the decline 4 1 5 in the quality, since his time, of the moral and the good 4 1 3(seventh) 4 How the list of who accused whom in the crimes they lost the clues to 1 4 5 how they don’t write em like they used to—and how they never even could 4 6 5 how they never could achieve what they attempted 4 6 5 how in spite of that they tried it, unprevented
walking barefoot on the shoulder of the highway, growing older all the things he never told her falling wasted in the dust once an eligible suitor whose chances became fewer til now he’s just one more commuter standing trine to catch a bus trine to catch a bus that’ll keep him off the blacktop he’s got to fight to keep his place back in the backdrop
meanwhile tortoise is sipping Cocoa at a foodtruck in Alcopoco Handing money to a hobo for a crumpled paper bag And further down the filmrole they’ve got Fox out at the flagpole Setting fire to his foxhole looking anything but sad Looking anything but sad, or scared, or sorry it’ll hang ‘im if it gets before a jury—
And they’ve got mother goose on speaker who’s out-professed the teacher sayin, “the outlook’s getting bleaker, the whole future’s being hid,” these ideals we gave our youths to, the hypocrisy has oozed through how they don’t make em like they used to—how they never even did how they never did prepare us for this chapter you bare your soul, the response is often laughter
There’s a jukebox, but it’s broken, in the only restaurant open At this hour, where devotion’s the only currency you’ll find And the waitress, Dolores, sings along to her own chorus Like she knew what it meant for us to hear a voice that sounded kind To hear a voice that sounded kind of like forgiveness That seemed to look back and say, This isn’t that place—is this?
Across the street he hits the front door, throws the briefcase on the bankfloor says to empty out the cashdrawer—dares them all to call his bluff and as he shoots the guard to ribbon, he says, “I also got my livin,” and the soundtrack’s Nancy Griffin singing “Not Innocent Enough” not innocent enough to be omitted from the penalty for crimes someone else committed
there’s a prophet on the mountain, lambs and children all around him the wisdom that he’s spoutin rhymes with violence and fear and the music a body moves to sometimes needs a little getting used to but they don’t write it now like they used to—at least not around here at least not around here that I’m aware of but then awareness, you know, I’ve never had my share of
he’s got a hideout in Savannah and a lean-to in TexArkana but they’re staking out Atlanta like they knew it in advance and if he’s half as bold as they say he won’t make it past the runway and it’ll be as red a Sunday as Vengeance himself grants as Vengeance himself grants his pious precinct the sheriff of whom fires out of instinct
neath the torn tarp of some Chevy, he raps twice to say he’s ready but the signal’s slow and heavy like he knew his match was met Should have known, it’d be just like you to leave me in a Haiku: Ain’t it just like fall -ing off a bike? you never do learn to forget You never do learn to forget the face that sees you That you know, when you are gone, will mourn and grieve you
1 4 1 Mama’s lyin in her nightgown 1 4 5 And it’s the middle of the day 1 4 1 4 She’s been sleepin since this morning 6 5 4 And if you ask me, it’s okay
She’s been winking at the window Like she ain’t got long to stay She moves her mouth but nothing comes now Aw, but what else is there to say?
Come on over to my bedside Pull your poor self up a chair And if you still need to do something Don’t just do something, sit there
Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry? Don’t you even want to know the score? When you leave like this I worry You don’t know what you’re leaving for
Put your phone down for a minute And turn off that damn TV There’s so much noise I cannot hear it There’s so much light I cannot see
Come on over to my table Pull your poor self up a chair And if you still need to do something Don’t just do something—sit there
It seems there’s method to the madness That seeks to keep us entertained That aims to keep us from our sadness And distract us from our pain
They’ve got us right where they want us We’re in the middle of their palm They’ve made our business into a contest So the revolution might be calm
We’ve been kindly asked to exit Order’s come down from upstairs So if you still need to do something Don’t just do something—sit there
1 4 6 5 4 My face is strewn with someone’s tears 6 5 4 5 1 my wrench it went inside the gears— the smoke ascends, but my head clears— yeah, and I ain’t felt this good in years: 5 4 1 But the sermon’s comin down the mount 5 4 1 Better keep the score, kid, if you can count 1 4 6 5 4 Stick around and you’ll find right out 6 5 4 5 1 Just what all the fuss all about—
The system that they built has failed The letters home were never mailed These presidents should all be jailed But we had our chance, and that ship has sailed A commotion started, it got loud behind me, so I turned around Ceiling came down, so I run out I still don’t know what all the fuss was about
I tried my hand at rambling free The highway called, I went to see I got caught up, went on a spree Pretty soon now they’ll be after me What goes around comes back around you lift off just to run aground like it was precious, they made it sound— but I still don’t know what all the fuss is about
Your story entertained me, yes, But I was the host, you were my guest Now that I’ve had time to digest I guess it’s left me… unimpressed— I know it puts me far from the crowd To bring my feelings to my mouth I can see you’re through and that you’re proud— I just don’t know what all the fuss is about
Preoccupied and indisposed Are names I go by, I suppose I tell my sins to the wind that blows I wear confusion better than my own clothes You keep on wandering along the route Any further and you’ll be out They said to keep a close eye out I don’t know what all the fuss is about
born in the gutter to face the stars to wonder: is there life on Mars? Back on earth, you compare your scars Inventing stories of how we got this far You run until your time runs out There’s little you can get by without You play it sacred, safe, devout— And you never learn what all the fuss was about
1 5 1 He was easy on the eyes, she used to say, 6 4 1 In a hard-pressed-for-a-reason kind of way 4 5 1/ 7 / 6 / 5 / 4/ 4(minor) No good at raising children or at harvesting the hay 1 5 1 He was easy on the eyes, she used to say
She brought him home one night to meet her folks He’d laughed at all her father’s lousy jokes He didn’t know the difference between barleycorn and oats But he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
She’d grown up on small ohio farm spent her whole life milking cows and spinning yarn he had a tattoo of anchor and a mermaid on his arm but he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
they met at the Orville county dance he said he hadn’t come for true love or romance with a single folded dollar in the pocket of his pants but he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
after that they saw each other more he’d stop by every day at half-past-four he did that until the autumn, when he went away to war but he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
before he left they married in the church the choir sang a prelude and a dirge they promised one another they were finished with their search and he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
the baby came the same day as the note her water broke the sobbing in her throat and because there was no other way the baby would have known it he was easy on the eyes, she used to say
1 4 1 From Eden, Eve and Adam was banished For All Time 1 5(minor) 5(seventh) God told them that they went and crossed a very crucial line 1 4 4(minor) As soon as they was out Eve took one good, long look behind 6 4 2 5 1 And said, “Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?”
No one lives forever, your life is just on loan Wherever I can lay my head’s my Home-Sweet-Home Ain’t got a pot to piss in nor a penny of my own Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
4 6 Aint it good to watch a new sunrise? 5(minor) 5(seventh) Like the whole world’s bein made again, right before your very eyes? 1 4 4(minor) It’s a quick and boring story, you’re born and then you die 6 4 2 5 1 Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
When Jonah climbed aboard the ship he was feelin pretty scared But against the whale’s intestine, it didn’t quite compare— When he made it into Ninevah, he told everybody there: Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Can’t look ahead to nothing, when you’re just lookin to get by You know you’ll never make it, but it don’t mean you shouldn’t try With no chance of a stalemate and a million ways to die Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Ain’t it good to hear the robin sing? Announcing the onset of another early spring? one minute seems you’ve got it all, the next you’ve been deprived lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Jesus went to Bethany just hungry for a meal Fella there had died, whom he miraculously healed When Lazarus came to, Jesus asked him, “how d’ya feel?” He said, “Lord but ain’t it good to be alive?”
Nobody wants to tell you, but you’ll find out soon one day Blissfulness for Wisdom, it’s the price you gotta pay The moral of the story: it’s a dead-end, either way Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Ain’t it good to feel the summer breeze? Blowing through the canyons, oer the rivers, rocks and trees? It’s a match fixed from the get-go, we’re all on the losing side Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
World is full of problems that I don’t know how to fix When the Lord gets down to something, the devil’s up to his old tricks Just when you think you’re in control the bucket goes and kicks Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Time is of the essence, and the essence ain’t that strong I ain’t sayin I could do without it—man, don’t get me wrong It’s no fun while it lasts and it don’t even last that long Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
Aint it good to see your children smile? to know that what you’ve started may continue for awhile I don’t know what it’s all about, I couldn’t tell you why— Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
I’ve had me plenty enemies and plenty worthy foes Most of them began as friends—but so the story goes Come harvest time a man’s crop don’t amount to what he sews Lord, but ain’t it good to be alive?
It’s always up for auction, what is false and what is true It comes down to a difference in a different point of view But I wouldn’t trade a minute of the time I spent with you— Lord, you make me glad to be alive
Aint it good to know it ain’t the end? To look back on your life and know you had some kind of friend? We all know what’s coming, it ain’t no surprise— Lord but ain’t it good to be alive?
1 5 Johnny Mackenzie from yon Canyon County knew how to aim and to shoot 5 1 Lord knows his mantle was loaded with medals and prize-winning ribbons to boot 1 4 They say that his memory will go down in history or in a what-not-to-do-book— 4 1 5 1 For his tombstone records that that his very last words were, “don’t worry, it ain’t loaded, see—look?”
4 Famous last words—it ain’t loaded, see? Look— 1 Famous last words—my old record’s broke 5 Famous last words—be back in a few 1 1(seventh) Famous last words—oh, no, Brutus, you too? Famous last words—let’s get on with it then! Famous last words—It’s finished, Amen! Famous last words—my God, but it hurts! Famous last words—Famous last words!
Young Dylan Thomas was a poet of promise, and a regular fly at the bar He could always begin em when he had a few in him, but sometimes he’d go in too far One night he got hammered and drunkenly stammered he could outdrink the thirstiest bloke And when he’d done fifty he said, “Ain’t it nifty? My own record’s finally broke!”
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tornado season in Kansas is reason for residents to head for the hills but others’ll settle in, shooting adrenaline and chase the things down just for thrills it’s many a weatherman’s perished a’weatherin a storm that’s come barreling through saying, Don’t worry about me, I’m just going to see — I’ll be coming right back in a few—
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Julius Caesar was a real people-pleaser, opinioned and quite talkative But the people around him in the senate room found him to be less than cooperative One day in session the whole senate drew weapons, he said, “What is it you’re planning to do?” And as each stab betrayed, all he managed to say was, “Brutus! don’t tell me—you too?”
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I heard of a felon they convicted for telling lies to the country he served The history-writers, his champion indicters, all say he got what he deserved With the gas-chamber filling, they bade him speak, willing, as the newsmen took up their pens: He said “I’d say I was sorry, but it ain’t gonna save me, so let’s just get on with it then.”
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Well Jesus of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Galilee—you take your pick Travelled around making lost people found, feeding hungry folks, and healing the sick For all of his parables, disciples and miracles you’d think his end might’ve been better than Having a spear in his side, nothin left of his pride, cept to say, “Well, it’s finished, Amen.”
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Poor old man Socrates stood trial and penalty for corrupting the youth of his day Plato recorded the affair in its sorted detail that reads like a play Convicted and sentenced they sent his apprentice with a meal and hemlock for dessert In a terrible thirst he took the drink first and said, “O my god but it hurts!”
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1 4 6 5 4 His name was Jonathan Barclay / We was good pals, him and I lived on my block, across the way / you never met a nicer guy— we worked together in the factory / the summer school let out for good he said his dream was getting free / he said he’d try, and I knew he would
one day while he was on the clock / a misstep did him injury they hauled him off the loading dock / to Sacred Heart Emergency a few days later he was back in-line / with a prescription they said was for the pain the doctors said that he would heal up fine / of course he never was the same again
in a while his need had grown mature / he couldn’t do without em then and when the doctors couldn’t give no more / he turned to using heroin one day the foreman came to John and said, “you’re a good man, john, that much you know,” but for the drug-test results I just read, we’re gonna have to let you go…”
next night he tried to buy some more / after hunting all day for a job a stranger showed him something, John said, “Sure,” / turned out he was an undercover cop— he did his first six months in the county pen / they sent him upstate to serve the rest four years later he got out again / but his house was sold and his wife had left…
so he hit the streets both clean and free—but only in a narrow sense cause employers won’t take parolees—and as for housing? Not a chance— but he used the systems that were in place—that are supposed to help out folks like him in the shelters he never did feel safe—and luck has a way of wearing thin
and soon he stood before the judge, who asked him why he made the choice to use again, illegal drugs? John answered in a shaking voice: you might as well be asking why a sick man takes his medicine— if he doesn’t take it, he will die—show me where choice here factors in?
they give you something that you’ll need to live and you’ll take it cause it’s for the pain then when you’re hooked they cut you off, and so you take the outlaw’s medicine and for that you sentence time and guilt, and while you’re in, the rest dissolves this is the system that you’ve built to make the door to death revolve—“
He did another stint away / came back a reeling, hungry ghost His obit in the papers say / his cause of death was overdose His name was Jonathan Barclay / his story makes me think sometimes That if the cards were dealt some other way / it could easily have been yours or mine
5 1 5 1 There once was a man name of Hannible Lee, he was well-known in his hometown 4 1 5 1 Said he was born at the top of an ugly tree and hit every branch on his way down 5 1 5 1 Well one day he vanished, some thought he had died, gone so long folks was plumb ashamed— 4 1 5 1 But then he turned up, had a girl at his side who had gone and taken his last name 3 4 3 4 And everyone wondered how it came about, they thought: she’s much too pretty for Lee 3 4 5 5(7th) Either she’s blind or her contacts fell out, or no, wait a minute, I think I see:
4 1 5 1 He must’ve made a deal with the devil, surrendered it all I’m sure 4 1 5 1 Sold in his soul for collateral, how else’d he win a girl like her?
There once lived a man named of Bobby J., Mississippi born and bred Until his 20th year, there was little to say, folks thought he’d sharecrop til he was dead Well one day he vanished, to where, nobody saw, his name was something they’d soon forget But when he came back, he was playing guitar— And folks ain’t quit talking bout it yet They said: How did he do it? It don’t make no sense! A gift like that can’t come free— If I had to wager an educated guess There’s only one explanation that I can see
Must’ve made a deal with the devil, I think it’s pretty well understood Sold in his soul for collateral, How else’d he learn to play so good?
There once lived a man who had it real bad, a case of prideful ambition that showed— In the time it took most to get through their undergrad, he’d had gone and mastered all there was to know Faustus, they called him, and “Doctor” by day—one of them know-it-all ne’er-do-well Gave a brand new meaning to the age-old phrase “smarter than all hell” His colleagues suspected something was up, but they never could discover the source Then at the snap of his fingers his number came up, and everybody said, “obviously! of course!”
He must’ve made a deal with the devil, success always precedes a fall Sold in his soul for collateral, else he’d’ve never made it as a doctor at all
Way back when, a few centuries past, before anybody here was around A rash of executions up Salem Mass was the talk of every New England town What had started it all would have been hard to say, most of the records have been lost to time The contemporary papers read, anyway, that women had been speaking their minds And everyone wondered: how this could be? It just wasn’t the puritan way— in a White Male Anglican Theocracy, just one thing that could make a woman stray:
Must’ve made a deal with the devil / they thought it was safe to say: Sold in their souls for collateral / how else’d they’d learn to disobey?
There once lived a man by the name of Job, he was righteous in just about every way When the times were good his happiness flowed, and he never did forget to pray One day his fortune was suddenly reversed, into tragedy he was violently hurled He wept and he prayed while his wife wept and cursed, and said “there’s no justice in this world” well he rent all his clothes and furrowed his brow, and didn’t say a word for a week Then his wife asked him where he thought his God was now, and it was all he could do to speak:
Job said: he must’ve made a deal with the devil, that must have been the course he chose But what he did it for, I’ll never be sure—God help us if Heaven knows!
1 6 A man outstanding on the ledge / of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge 4 5 is demanding that somebody fetch / a friend, whose name he won't say the negotiator, he arrives / with 5 women he's identified four of them are his ex-wives and one claims she's his fiance a ladder from the truck extends to the lamppost that he's up against an hour later he descends, his tongue swollen and bitten the bride-to-be asks on a hunch if the negotiator knew at once "How did you know he wouldn't jump?" and he replies, "I didn't-- but
I been doing this awhile –I been doing this awhile I been doing this awhile –I been doing this awhile…”
they sent a man from management / to greet the only candidate "you're a step up from inanimate," he said, smiling through a paint-on they started him on sweeping floors / next they had him holding doors he got so good at doing chores his entire life became one he retired to the mezzanine of the Hotel d'Medici and remained a curiosity til the day they mummified him the guests, chauffeurs and visitors who got lost on the city tours would have him tell them where they were and he would unfailingly advise them, saying
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some monster broke the doctor's mold / then set off in the freezing cold the footprints lead right to the road that goes to civilization a flash mob has convened to search / composed of members of the church who believe that what don't kill or hurt ain't worthy of salvation nearby in the parking lot / where Jacob and the angel fought the detective and the thief he caught / are gazing at Orion the name's writ on the dotted line where the borrower's been asked to sign if you can't win friends by bein kind, don't think you cannot buy them
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The apprentice solved the mystery / of the killer who deliberately left the clues for all to see / at least those that were willing they seemed so disparate and forced / at first, but then again, of course the magician must reveal his source to keep his own blood from spilling they caught him in the sulfur mine where'd he'd committed heinous crimes they saved a woman just in time from falling victim to his purpose the commissioner read his rights and spit which convinced him to own up to it sayin, "If you think this was all I did--man, you ain't but scratched the surface--"
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I knealt outside your balcony / for what felt like eternity but you never came to look for me / you were too busy with your lover the lights were on, the shades above / were drawn, your shadows, making love was all I saw from where I was -- you were so good to each other I should have left, I knew it then / call it trespasser's acumen but there I stayed til it was done / and you emerged, soliloquizing your thoughts went soaring like a prayer / that hasn't anything to spare and when you cried out "Are you there?" -- it sounded like apologizing
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I come in here most every week / a pitstop on my losing streak with nothing new of which to speak / on the subject of the City I sit down on my favorite stool / order up my usual the waitress knows me for the fool / I am but she's got pity on stage a man is going on about how and why he wrote some song he sings and we all sing along and for a minute life's less lonely he steps out smoking afterwards to proselytize the amateurs whose praise he says is for the birds, he says the difference tween us is only
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with one wave of a magic wand your absence makes the heart grow fond in me a starving vagabond is riding on a boxcar the country unwinds as from a spool that uses yesterday for fuel propelling me to my renewal, the sense that, permanently, I’ve lost her my letters haven't gotten through cause I still ain't heard back from you it seems no matter what I do, the goalpost keeps retreating friends, like heroes, come and go / like David's Michaelangelo this isn't my first rodeo / and perhaps it bears repeating:
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4 1 4 1 Time’s come to say fare thee well 6 5 4 1 If I don’t go now I probably never will 4 1 3 4 Feels like I’m fightin a battle, and it’s all up-hill 1 4 5 What’s waiting at the top—Lord, I just can’t tell
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure glad I came Tho I could’ve done without all the cause to complain And tho I don’t know when I’ll be back this way again You know I’ll look you up first chance I can
The car’s packed, the house is sold we’ll be gone tomorrow fore the rooster’s crowed But you know our story ain’t but even half-way told I’ll be down, just around the first bend in the road
No one gets it right, but hell, we’re all trine the postman can’t seem to deliver a thing on time just like I know you ain’t when you say you’re fine By now I’ve learned to read a little in-between the lines
I’ve been bottom-feedin at the literal dregs Spurred on by dissatisfaction from one town to the next I arrive with the rumor of what everyone expects When I leave it’s with my tail in between my legs
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I gave all I had, and now I’m all used up You can’t keep on pourin from an empty cup It’s been so long since I felt like I’s anything but stuck Whether fate or free will, right now it feels like luck—
4 1 5 1 whether for or against, asleep or awake 4 1 5 1 whether it’s everything or nothing that’s at the stake 4 1 5 1 Whether three or three thousand, feet or miles, give or take 4 1 5 Beyond the bend in the road, what difference does it make?
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Don’t say Goodbye—a Fare-thee-well will do Or until next time, sayanora, so long, too-da-loo I hate to know that you feel so blue but I’d be lyin if I said I ain’t gonna miss you, too
This hand makes the chords while this one strums Heart keeps the rhythm and you sing from the lungs You need a little bit of grace, I’m all thumbs But just cause I ain’t pretty don’t mean I deserve the crumbs
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My hunger you’ve nourished, my nakedness clothed you know all of my secrets, you taught me your code: the way out’s uncertain; the way home’s been showed I’ll be down just around the first bend in the road