| Long Way Back Home From the railhead to the boatyard, from the factory to the farm, from the mines to the millhouse, I've weathered the storm. From the bar room to the bedpost, I've wasted my days. All I have is my drink and the time left to think while time slips away. Just look at my face when you tell me goodbye. You'll see what I'm after by the look in my eye. Just walk away and leave me alone, it's a long way back home. Now in case you should ask me what it is that I've done, I’ll say I'm a soldier who once had a son. But my son doesn't know me, that's his right to choose. Oh, say can you see, my best friend is me, I'm a friend I could use. Just look at my face when you tell me goodbye. You'll see what I'm after by the look in my eye. Just walk away and leave me alone, it's a long way back home. Now the pages have faded, the story grows cold and the plot falls to ashes like the ruins of old. Oh, the rats in my rafters, they're after my shoes and anything else they can find on the shelf I've said they could use. Just look at my face when you tell me goodbye. You'll see what I'm after by the look in my eye. Just walk away and leave me alone, it's a long way back home. It's a long way back home. Unsettled Ways Forgive me my unsettled ways. Don't linger in time or finger what's mine, don't make me do what you wouldn't do yourself. Forgive me the bad things I do. Don't ask me to change or exchange what I am for something else, you know that wouldn't do. If time gets to heavy and you can no longer bear it and you need someone to share it, tell me girl, I'll try to make amends. Forgive me the ways of my heart. Don't try to pretend or lend me your love, don't ask of me what you wouldn't ask yourself. If time gets to heavy and you can no longer bear it and you need someone to share it, tell me girl, I'll try to make amends. Forgive me my unsettled ways. Don't linger in time or finger what's mine, don't make me do what you wouldn't do yourself. Don't make me do what you wouldn't do yourself. Long Thin Dawn That long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. I've seen the hills of Frisco and the streets of Montreal. In every town I've been to, I've had someone to call. From Winnipeg to Edmonton, Vancouver to St. Paul, I've had so many good friends I couldn't miss them all. And that long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. Last night I came to Denver beneath the snow-capped ridge, I thought about my darling as I stood beneath the bridge. And there were times I made her cry but I guess by now she's learned that any time I've wandered, I always have returned. And that long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. Right now I'm on a highway just east of Omaha, riding shotgun on the biggest rig you ever saw. With forty tons of pig iron and a trucker known as Bill, all the way to Windsor, we've got some miles to kill. And that long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. While climbing up a hillside, Bill drops her down a gear. And the engine sings so sweetly, 'tis music to my ear. I tell him how I long to be just like him if I can, driving like the restless wind across this precious land, and that long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. Says Bill "the air is clean tonight" as he puffs a big cigar, "and if this rig keeps rolling, my boy you'll travel far. But when you are a trucker you'll come to realize, the only thing a man can do is watch the world go by." And that long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. That long thin dawn, that long thin dawn is coming on again. Bitter Green Upon the bitter green, she walked the hills above the town, echo to her footsteps as soft as Eider down. Waiting for her master to kiss away her tears, waiting through the years, Bitter Green, they called her, walking in the sun, loving everyone that she met. Bitter Green, they called her, waiting in the sun, waiting for someone to take her home. Some say he was a sailor who died away at sea, some say he was a prisoner who never was set free. Lost upon the ocean, he died there in the mist, dreaming of her kiss, Bitter Green, they called her, walking in the sun, loving everyone that she met. Bitter Green, they called her, waiting in the sun, waiting for someone to take her home. But now the Bitter Green is gone, the hills have turned to rust, there comes a weary stranger, his tears fall in the dust. Kneeling by the churchyard in the autumn mist, dreaming of a kiss, Bitter Green, they called her, walking in the sun, loving everyone that she met. Bitter Green, they called her, waiting in the sun, waiting for someone to take her home. The Circle Is Small It's all right for some, but not all right for me when the one that I'm loving slips around. You think it's fine to do things I cannot see and you're doing it to me, baby, can't you see that I know how it is. I can see it in your eyes and feel it in the way you kiss my lips. I can hear it in your voice whenever we are talking like this. I can see the way you look when his name is mentioned and I die. I can watch the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you close your eyes. It's all right for some, but not all right for me when the one that I'm loving can't be found. The city where we live might be quite large but the circle is small, why not tell us all and then all of us will know. I can see it in your eyes and feel it in the way you kiss my lips. I can hear it in your voice whenever we are talking like this. I can see the way you look when his name is mentioned and I die. I can watch the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you close your eyes. It's all right to leave but not all right to lie hen you come home and you can't say where you've been. You think it's fine to do things I cannot see and you're doing it to me, baby, can't you see that I know how it is. I can see it in your eyes and feel it in the way you kiss my lips. I can hear it in your voice whenever we are talking just like this. I can see the way you look when his name is mentioned and I die. I can watch the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you close your eyes. I can see it in your eyes and feel it in the way you kiss my lips. I can hear it in your voice whenever we are talking like this… Marie Christine Have you seen the lighthouse shining from the rock for the ship Marie Christine and all her gallant lot? Now have you seen the lighthouse, oh, we are close to land, cried the brave young captain to his wretched band. Now, have you seen the harbor, cried Marie Christine? Have you seen the jagged rocks in the waters in between? Now have you seen the lighthouse, oh, save me if you can, for if you do I promise I'll never sail again. Now have you seen the lighthouse shining from the rock cried the brave young captain to his wretched lot. Now gather all your photographs and don your coats of blue, if anyone can save us now, Marie Christine 'tis you. When I first saw Marie Christine, the woman that she was, I signed aboard to man her sails and honor well her cause. I christened her with old champagne and I drove her to the west, of all the men who sailed on her, in truth I sailed her best. Have you seen the lighthouse shining from the rock for the ship Marie Christine and all her gallant lot? Now have you seen the lighthouse, oh, we are close to land cried the brave young captain to his wretched band. Come all ye would be sailors, all ye would be sailors, all ye would be sailors. If anyone can save us now, Marie Christine 'tis you, if anyone can save us now, Marie Christine 'tis you. Cold Hands From New York I came down from Albany to New York to find what I'd been missing. I looked across the river to the city where the windows all stood glistening, I stood listening. Into a tunnel I did rise, like a grave inside, but I was young and able. When I came out the other end, through the smoke the winter light was feeble, unreadable. I was optimistic though, a cabbie told me where to go, I thanked him. A face of white a face of brown, here a smile, there a look of danger for a stranger. It was too unreal for me, I found no one who trusted me, there was no man could offer me a cold hand from New York. Cold hands from New York, a voice within you cries won't someone please help me? I'll do the same for you one day if you should ever pass my way and need me. I came down to live alone in New York, the city of the living. There were fortunes at my feet but most of men were taking, none we giving or forgiving. Children ran and children played and roses grew in alleyways, I saw them. There were men who lived in style and others who had died where no one knew them cause they couldn't win. There were parks where old men slept and dingy rooms where babies crept unwanted. Till I began to ask myself if there was hope or if it mattered what the did or if they lived. It was too unreal for me, I found no one who trusted me, there was no man could offer me a cold hand from New York. Cold hands from New York, a voice within you cries won't someone please help me? I'll do the same for you one day if you should ever pass my way and need me. I came down from Albany to New York to find what I'd been missing. I looked across the river to the city where the windows all stood glistening, I stood listening. There were prophets in the squares and people there who smiled and said, "forget it." There were lovers in the park and there was danger in the dark, I felt it, so afraid of it. There were preachers of the word and poets who were never heard, I heard them. There were those who would not try to learn the measure of the lie they're living. I heard a young musician play in a place where they paid you not to listen. I heard a woman scream for help while men stood by and offered their best wishes, that's how it is. It was too unreal for me, I found no one who trusted me, there was no man could offer me a cold hand from New York. Cold hands from New York, a voice within you cries won't someone please help me? I'll do the same for you one day if you should ever pass my way and need me. It was too unreal for me, I found no one who trusted me, there was no man could offer me a cold hand from New York. Cold hands from New York, a voice within you cries won't someone please help me? I'll do the same for you one day if you should ever pass my way and need me. Affair On 8th Avenue The perfume that she wore was from some little store on the down side of town. But it lingered on long after she'd gone, I remember it well. And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light and we came through a doorway somewhere in the night. Her long flowing hair came softly undone and it lay all around. And she brushed it down as I stood by her side in the warmth of her love. And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin, and then we played a game only she could win. And she told me a riddle I'll never forget, then left with the answer I've never found yet. How long, said she, can a moment like this belong to someone? What's wrong, what is right, when to live or to die, we must almost be born. So if you should ask me what secrets I hide, I'm only your lover, don't make me decide. The perfume that she wore was from some little store on the down side of town. But it lingered on long after she'd gone, I remember it well. And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin, and then we played a game only she could win. And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light and we came through a doorway somewhere in the night. Don't Beat Me Down When he was a man, my father would stand, I never saw him run, there wasn't anyone could make the man bend. And the strength of his will was the tool of his trade, and he did his work well. Till the powers that be took a liking to him and they traded his body for a cold empty shell. Don't beat me down, don't beat me down. I've got something to say, don't you stand in my way and don't beat me down. When I was a youth, I found the truth in the eyes of a friend, there wasn't anyone could make the light dim. And we talked and we rambled and we gambled to win, and the learning was good. Till the powers that be to a liking to him and they traded their fortunes for the sight of his blood. When I was a child, my mother smiled at the cradle she bought for the little tot she held to her breast. And the song that she sang was an anthem to love, it was all that I heard. Till the powers that be took a liking to me and they told me that love was a four-letter word. Don't beat me down, don't beat me down. Don't beat me down, don't beat me down. I've got one life to live and that's all I can give, so don't beat me down. Now I've got a place, got a worried face and the question in mind, please let me find a reason somehow, why some reap the harvest while other men die and the joker runs wild. And if powers that be take a liking to us, then we all must return to the ways of a child, we all must return to the ways of a child. Don't beat me down, don't beat me down. Don't beat me down, don't beat me down. I've got something to say, don't you stand in my way and don't beat me down. I've got one life to live and that's all I can give, so don't beat me down. Don't beat me down. The Gypsy Step inside my tent, said she, I'd like to read you palm. Leave the dollar in the jar, this won't take very long. Leave the circus noise behind, close your eyes, relax your mind, I'll tell you if you should quit now or if you should go on. Then I said, now what do you see, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Where'll I go, what'll I be, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. She threw some sawdust in the air and her hands began to shake. She told me the town where I was born, she almost knew the date. She lit a candle with her eyes and then she made the table rise. She took the dollar from the jar and then she guessed my weight. Then I said, now what do you see, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. You are so old, you are so wise, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dy. Give me a sign, tell it to me, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Then she spoke most quietly, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. When you we a child at school, they taught you quite a lot. You were told when you should speak and when you should not. You were taught to read and write, to take your lessons home at night. A little knowledge serves you well but the golden rule does not. Then I said, now what do you mean? she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Where'll I go, what'll I be, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Then when I came home that night to lie in bed awake, I thought of that old gypsy and the words that she had said. And now I see with due respect, the more we learn the worse we get. So if you feel you've no regrets, go have your fortune read. Then I said, now what do you see, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Where'll I go, what'll I be, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. You are so old, you are so wise, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dy. Give me a sign, tell it to me, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. Where'll I go, what'll I be, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. You are so old, you are so wise, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dy Give me a sign, tell it to me, she said, deedle dee dum, deedle dee dee. If I Could If I could sing like the poets and kings of this world, of I could rise like the wind or the tides of the sea, I would sing you to sleep my love with sweet melody. And let you dream away till the morning light returned again to take you away from me. If I could speak with the tongues of the masters of old, if I could tame all the fleeting perceptions I hold, would I stand in the marketplace before you to be shouted down without any warning at all, to be stood by the wall and shot by the man in blue? If I could run with the grace of a sun-colored stallion, if I could fly like the great silver jets in the morning, if I caused the wind to change with one wave of my hand and if I could play the final symphony and set it free would it mean anything to you? If I could stand like a rusty old man in his armor, if I could ride the steed that he rode in his time, I would turn his head away to the river and let him wander through the meadow grass, wild and free for everyone to see. If I could sing like the poets and kings of this world, of I could rise like the wind or the tides of the sea, I would sing you to sleep my love with sweet melody. And let you dream away till the morning light returned again to take you away from me. |
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