Go tell that long tongue liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down
You may run on for the long time
Run along for the long time
Run along for the long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down
[couldn’t have teed that up today any better for me and John L., knoodler:]
Run, run my last race,
Take my place
Have this number
Of mine.
Run, run like a fire,
Don’t you run in
In the lanes
Run for time.
I walked along the avenue
I never thought I’d meet a girl like you
Meet a girl like you
With auburn hair and tawny eyes
The kind of eyes that hypnotize me through
Hypnotize me through
And I ran, I ran so far away
I just ran, I ran all night and day
But couldn’t get away
It’s the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide, at least half of a playing field
Because there’s no explaining what your imagination
Can make you see and feel
Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized
But in the depth of a dream
Where the grass is always so green
And the sky is always blue
I’m escaping silently
I’m rejecting violently
This world for something new
Imagination
Living mental isolation
Imagination
Imagination
Far from your contamination
Drifting in my inner space
Imagination
Melinda was mine til the time that I found her
Holding Jim; loving him
Then Sue came along; loved me strong, that’s what I thought
Me and Sue, but that died too
Don’t know that I will, but until I can find me
Someone who’ll stay and won’t play games behind me
I’ll be what I am
Solitary man
Solitary man
And solitaire’s the only game in town
And every road that takes him
Takes him down
And by himself it’s easy to pretend
He’ll never love again
And keeping to himself he plays the game
Without her love
It always ends the same
While life goes on around him everywhere
He’s playing solitaire
He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn’t play for the money he wins
He doesn’t play for respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs, the weapons of war
I know that diamonds bring money for this art
But that’s not the shape of my heart
She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes
And she said, “Honey take me dancing”
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes
In the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch
Sashay on the boardwalk, scurry to the ditch
Just another future song, lonely little kitsch
(There’s gonna be sorrow) try and wake up tomorrow
I keep a friend serene
(Will they come?) Oh, baby, come unto me
(Will they come?) Well, she’s come, been and gone
Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with collar and chain
Who was given a pat on the back
Who was breaking away from the pack
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone.
There’s a red fox torn by a huntsman’s pack
There’s a black-winged gull with a broken back
There’s a little black spot on the sun today
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
I have stood here before, inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles, running 'round my brain
I guess I’m always hoping that you’ll end this rain
But it’s my destiny to be the King of Pain
Don’t call me highness
It’s a long way down.
Up, up, up where the birds fly
Up, up, up where they go
Up, up, up like a bird
Up, up, up like a bird
It’s a long way down
Street and houses people toytown
And from here to as fro
As I can see there’s no one higher
Than me
Love is waiting there in my beautiful balloon
Way up in the air in my beautiful balloon
If you’ll hold my hand we’ll chase your dream across the sky
For we can fly (we can fly)
Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
Balloon…
Mama, dear mama, look in yonder tree
See that pretty little sparrow, a-lookin’ back at me
She can soar above the clouds, way up in the sky
She can fly away from here, why, o why, can’t I?
Daughter, dear daughter, I’ll tell you something true
Remember Granny Liza? Well every night she flew
They tried to keep her down but there was nothing they could do
She could fly, she could fly
She could slip the bonds of earth and rise so high
She could fly across the river
Her spirit in her hands
Searching, always searching for the promised land
I try to laugh about it now but isn’t it funny how everything works out
I guess the joke’s on me, she said
I was up above it
I was up above it
Now I’m down in it
Your American nightclubs
Ah, they’ve got nowhere left
Something for nothing
All of your friends gone
Something for nothing
That’s all that you know
There’s something down in the hole
Down down down in the hole
There’s something down down down down in the hole
He will go down he will drown drown deeper down
The river wild will take your only child
He will go down he will drown drown deeper down
The mills grind slow in a riverbed ghost town
He will go down he will drown drown deeper down
The river wild will take your only child
He will go down he will drown drown deeper down
The mills grind slow in a riverbed ghost town
He will go down he will drown drown deeper down
If you want me, do come across
"Look down, look down, don’t look them in the eye
“Look down, look down, you’re here until you die”
“The sun is strong, it’s hot as hell below”
“Look down, look down, there’s twenty years to go”
“I’ve done no wrong; sweet Jesus, hear my prayer”
“Look down, look down, sweet Jesus doesn’t care”
“I know she’ll wait; I know that she’ll be true”
“Look down, look down, they’ve all forgotten you”
“When I get free, you won’t see me here for dust!”
“Look down, look down, don’t look them in the eye”
“How long, O Lord, before you let me die?”
"Look down, look down, you’ll always be a slave
“Look down, look down, you’re standing in your grave”