WOMEN I LOVE 29 Palms CA 1977
There's only two men / you'll find in the world
Who don't try to take it / away from the girls
The first one is deaf / the other guy's blind
They don't see or hear / to trouble their minds
The women I love / are somewhere else
--
The women are pinched down / and done up and drawn
For each one that comes in / there's another one gone
[instrumental]
--
There's less men than women / that live to grow old
But some girls give up / and make men grow cold
The slow men drink whiskey / the quick guys get kids
The women get old cars / and purple eyelids
The women I love / are somewhere else
DELTA HEAD [bluesy] 29 Palms CA 1977 *
There's no sense in me listenin' to you
Four-fifths of what you say ain't true
I'd leave you now but that wouldn't do
You've taken my head 'way down
--
I've tried livin' with you and takin' you out
I ate your fried chicken and that gives me gout
I'd leave you now but there's no doubt
You've got my head and gone
--
[break] I've understood you all I can
You've been some kind of strange woman
And you want some kind of strange man
Is it me? Is it me? Is it me?
--
I've stretched my love all out long
I've bought you perfume that's too strong
I even stayed in nights, to write you this song
You've taken my head all around
--
[break] I gave you chewin' tobacco and gum
I bought you sugar cubes and Cajun rum
You talked me deaf and struck me dumb
Is it you? Is it you? Is it you?
--
Well, I don't know why I'm stayin' around here
You took all the rent, and spent it on beer
I'd leave you now but I want you near
You've took off my head and flown
FRIDAY NIGHT RERUN [bluesy] 29 Palms CA 1977
Cold weather, cold clothes
Foggy weather, raining night
I need a woman to turn me right
An' there's cold sores on my nose
--
Pitcher of beer and pool game
So I come back home all cold and wet
The pool I lost an' the beer helps me forget
Friday night stays the same, the same
--
[instrumental]
--
Where you hidin', woman?
I almost saw you pass
Down thru the bottom of the glass
You must like beer some too, woman
WITH YOU [slow jazz] 29 Palms CA 1977
Show me the way
Show me a new light burning
Show me a lifetime turning
Give me your love and learning
Take me back home
--
Show me a daydream
Show me suits and leather
Show me city weather
Let's try to live together
Take me back home
--
Show me the way you live
Show me a way to give
Show me an honest day
Show me, I want to stay
With you [, with you]
TANGIER II [jazz] 29 Palms CA 1978
Last year / in Tangier
While the rosamund sky traded
Its sunlit warmth to the sea
And you stayed with me, awhile
Your tired smile gave you away
We didn't have much more to say
So you went away
--
Months ago / long ago
In a time to travel untramelled
And pretend to be free
To dance and sing to the sea, awhile
To watch the world bake quietly
Our time and lives to float away
And be lost at sea
--
Peasant nights / bloody cockfights
I gambolled my worthless money
On worthless people and toys
Gambolled on you and some women
A pleasant waste of time
A bad waste of life
In North Africa
CROSSROADS [country] 29 Palms CA 1978
I stopped at the crossroads to find where I was
Somewhere out between Singapore and San Blas
The roadsign pointed one way to Seville
The other way to Castroville
So I'm lost on the road again
--
All I carried with me, my rucksack and gold banjo
And a big green bag marked OREGANO
I searched my soul like never beforee
I found my life in days of yore
And I'm out on the road again
SWEET LINDA AND HER SHEPHERD [folky] 29 Palms CA 1978
I drank your bitter wine
Passed my wasted time with you
Had nothing better to say or do
I was your holy fool
You were my virgin Mary, never contrary
Even as you lay with me and held me closer
I fell and shone like a comet, glowing
--
You were so sweet like biting sugar cane
Dancing out in the rain
Anything to soothe our pain
I tasted your sweet breast
You scratched the itch of my hairy chest
And you must have rubbed me the right way
'Cause I haven't left yet and I want you to stay
With me
--
Sweet Linda, the night's screaming at us
Like the banshee's pain
Hold me again, again, again
Midnight Linda, I know your smile
As dark as a deserted mile
And the earth glows radioactive
I still feel the somewhere we could be
SAN YSIDRO, SAN DIEGO [coplas] 29 Palms CA 1978
Jesus left me as I sat alone
I thought we'd been going home
But home was just a dream to me
And I can't dream alone
--
I was lost in San Diego
Knew I had nowhere to go
Thought I'd go home with Jesus
But the police came to seize us
--
I'd hitchhiked down from Corona
Stayed with old friends in Pomona
But they caught me at the border
Felt sad and lost at the border
--
The judge saw my mind as it was
Vagrant and lost with no cause
My sentence was harsh with no leeway
Picking up trash on the freeway
--
Nixon's just up from where I stand
Picking up the next beer can
I asked him of his crime
He said he was in the wrong time
--
Jesus came back to smile as I worked
He gave me his seamless shirt
Now we're both burnt and red
And neither of us has a bed
--
And I feel like I'm fixin' to die
THE CORNER APARTMENT [jazzy] 29 Palms CA 1978
He wrote,
O honey
I wish I had you here in Kansas, I need you
When the winds blow down from Canada
I hear them singing, sad
As sad as I am without you
I want you
--
She wrote,
O honey
San Francisco is the same
I'm crushed on the road and rushed in the office
The all stand around me and talk and push
But still I'm all alone, the fog calls your name
It's all a lonely game
--
He thought,
I can't stand it here anymore
I won't stay anymore
I won't
--
She thought,
He's gone for too long, too long 'til he comes home
I'd find a man her to warm he thru the cold nites
But the men here only want each other
Or they want the bottle
The women here want me but I'm not that way
This is hell
--
He knew,
This is hell
--
She knew
UNSEASONABLE [rock] 29 Palms CA 1978
My smile hides under the edges of time
My brain is blunted, I have no mind
And I can't trust my senses
And I speak in past tenses
And I'm building falling fences
To hide what I find
--
This is all an animated pantomime
A soundless song of words and picadilly signs
Voiceless, speaking of joy
As I hold love like a toy
And I must be just a boy
Playing in the road
--
Guess it's just the same old silly season
'Cause I'm singing scatsongs without reason
Tried walking down the street
Didn't make it
Couldn't take it
Only lost my feet
THE SECRET MIND [rock] 29 Palms CA 1978
The secret mind sings swinging corrupt
A hard tune, only the sound of death
While the girls who'll never be women
(Who can taste hate? How long does it shine?)
Sit at barstools, hard magpies at a price
Screeching from their insulated perches
--
And I too wail at the moon, the moon
My rock's rolled over, I crawl from under it
And over to the lined-up lovers
(Who can taste love? How long does it shine?)
Can I afford this one? Where is the time?
Where is the love? Where is the strength?
--
The secret mind sings swinging corrupt
Time continues onward, ever focking onward
[2 instrumental lines]
Mostly undisturbed by petty shit, pretty tits
Lowly bits, all of it, all of it, all of it
[extended instrumental]
--
The secret mind sings swinging corrupt
[repeat and fade]
SURFING SAFARI [surf] 29 Palms CA 1978
We went surfing at San Clemente
'Til the Secret Service threw us out
Now it's just me and you, baby
Surfing medical waste at Malibu
Surfing safari, surfing safari
--
All the kids do Southern Comfort
But we're drinking sweet vermouth
Our cash crops are all hash tops
Don't know what I'd do without you
Surfing safari, surfing safari
--
So let's drive fast in my woody
Out to the county line tonight
Pick from our patch of long green
And roll in the sweet singing surf
Surfing safari, surfing safari
FREEWAY FLIERS [rock] 29 Palms CA 1978
This morning is not quite wrong
To start this journey, will be so long
Filled with danger and fears, fears
--
My friends warn me of vampires
It's werewolf weather again, damn!
And leather cowgirls on the interstate
--
We're overwhelmed by heat
Maggoty old meat on display
All the way into L.A.
--
[instrumental]
--
But speak not now of peril
Your efforts are feeble and glorious
Your spasms are mostly hilarious
--
I travel on, stumbling mostly alone
My cave is not a pleasure dome
Nor even a work of [a rational] man
--
And after I take the last off-ramp
I lie me down in the oily sand
Am I not the child of man?
HOUSE I LIVE IN Rohnert Park CA 1980's
The house I live in / has more corners / than I can count
And numberless cobwebs / in every corner
The house has just so / many doors and windows
Each an eye into the / souls of the inhabitants
The house I live in / is squarish, with protrusions
The walls form regular angles / at regular distances
Broken by interruptions
The walls are covered / with images and /shelves of items
The house I live in is not round
(If God had wanted round houses,
She'd have given us curves instead of corners)
The house I live in is open / yet privacy is assured
The house I live in will not last forever
Not in California
The house I live in is me
THROW ANOTHER BUNNY ON THE BARBIE, BABY [bouncy] Rohnert Park 1980's
The Smiths just moved from Melbourne.
They bought the place next door
They used to live in West Australia,
and they've solved an ancient horror
Their station was deluged with rabbits,
but they've learnt to cope
Now we're at their patio party;
and while the Weber smokes, we call:
-
[chorus:] "Throw another bunny on the barbie, Bud
Spear another rabbit from the flames
Soak their little buns in papaya juice and rum
And we'll quilt a blanket from their fuzzy manes..."
-
[needs more work...]
MY GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST [bluesy] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
Got so stoned I fell on the floor, sugar babe
Got so stoned I fell on the floor, sugar babe
Got so stoned I fell on the floor
Damn good hash, can I have some more?
Sugar babe, O baby mine
--
C'mon over here and sit in my lap, sugar babe
C'mon over here and sit in my lap, sugar babe
C'mon over here and sit in my lap
You'n'me are gonna take a little nap
Sugar babe, O baby mine
--
[break:]
I met her in the fun zone at the county fair
Wearin' a cowboy hat and silver spurs
The pin on her buckskin vest said WEST COAST SHOWS
She ran the ferris wheel and did some deals
My girl of the golden west
My girl of the golden west
--
Slide around and sit on my face, sugar babe
Slide around and sit on my face, sugar babe
Slide around and sit on my face
You'n'me won't leave no trace
Sugar babe, O baby mine
ALL AND YOU [folksy-jig] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
All I had, I gave to you
all you have, you've given to me
Like Celtic fiddling mixing
With firelight and smoke and flame
--
[chorus:] All I had, I've given up
All you own, you've given too
--
I saw you in the spotted meadow
Alone with smoky starlight
Turning and singing in the midnight
Spinning, laughing, moon-bright [chorus]
--
My strength is a granite boulder
My patience is a tree unborn
My wonder is a child unborn
My days are quiet and stern [chorus]
--
Throw me onto the fungus rocks
I'll be just the same
Smother me, take my death
I'll still know your name [chorus]
--
I found you in the crystal meadow
The grasses were silvered mirrors
The image was a thousand lovers
The image crashed and sang [chorus]
--
Thunderstorms and memories
Lightning and hemorrhage
All the same, all the same
The lightning writes your name [chorus]
NATURAL DRUG BLUES [coplas] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
I'm out here at the end of my rope
I got nothin' but wine, there's no more dope
--
Just gimmee a jay, that's all I can say
There's no more smoke blowin' round my way
--
chorus: This ain't a joke, I need a smoke
Marijuana, marijuana, marijuana, marijuana
--
They poison the fields, they poison our heads
If I keep on drinkin' I'm gonna be dead
--
We're killing our young with booze and crack
Designer drugs and consumer smack [chorus]
--
If you stick it in your vein you gotta be insane
If you stick it up your nose you're gonna get froze
--
Methedrine kills, and so does tequila
Hashish is my favorite feeler [chorus]
--
So here I am at the end of my rope
With nothin' but shit and no more dope
--
Chemical factory drugs are no joke
We'll die unless we get natural dope [chorus]
DON'T DO ME WRONG [bluesy] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
I used to know you, girl / When you were a dancer
A high-school queen / In a honky-zonk lagoon
Things weren't so hard / But not so easy either
You'd be grinning all night / Like a greasy raccoon
--
[chorus:]
But now you're gettin' tired of this livin'
'Cause it ain't gold or silver that I'm givin'
Just a little bit of hell or maybe heaven
O Baby, please don't do me wrong
O Baby, please don't do me wrong
--
It was back in Delaware / When you was in trouble
I helped you out, Baby / Just 'cause I was there
I took you home, Baby / To South Cincinati
It looked like you'd make it / Without worry or care
[chorus]
--
[needs another verse]
MACHINE GUN [rock] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
Never mind the talk, never mind the shock
Spent my best years locked in rocks
Never mind the talk, never mind the shock
---
If you call this livin', might as well be dead
These sounds in my ears may's well smash my head
What's goin' into my gut don't wanta be fed
--
This all fits me like a barbed-wire jockstrap
Like I fit in the legal trap [legal trap]
Like I fit in a shit bust, no trust
--
What I need is a machine gun, machine gun
What I need is freedom to run, machine gun
What I need is a machine gun, machine gun
--
[instrumental]
--
Got my machine gun, but here comes the sun
Got my machine gun, it's another day again
O shit, o shit, just another day again
MIRRORS FOR MIGRAINES [jazzy] Rohnert Park CA 1980's
I found you in the spotted meadow
Alone with just the starlight
Turning and singing in the midnight
Spinning and laughing all alone
--
My strength is like a granite boulder
My patience is like a tree unborn
My kindness is like a lamb unshorn
My days [eyes] are quiet and alone
--
I found you in the spotted meadow
The grasses blades are silvered mirrors
The image was a thousand migraine livers
The image shattered, splintered, died alone
GREENWOOD RIDGE [folksy] Rohnert Park 1980's
The fog was in my eyebrows / the rain was in my nose
My hand and feet were naked / bloody awful froze
I stumbled down the road / hoping for a ride
You're just beyond my reach / and just outside my stride
--
[chorus:] You're just outside my memory / and just beyond my eyes
Somewhere out beyond the edge / and just within my lies
--
I stuck my thumb out hopefully / a van stopped but it wasn't you
I climbed in barefoot, dripping / steaming like a caribou
Up the Mendocino coast / past Point Arena, Garcia Bridge
Now I'll take a soggy chance / climbing Greenwood Ridge
[chorus]
--
If your heart is open / if your love is real
If your temper's cooled / if your wounds have healed
Can I cross your door again / or should I stay outside
Stumbling down the coastal road / hoping for a ride?
[chorus]
|
