These are lyrics to songs I picked up along the way
Bridge Over Troubled Water (C)
Don’t Mess Around With Jim (E)
American Pie (G)
A long, long time ago…I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.
But february made me shiver With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
So bye-bye, miss american pie. Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so? Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died.
Chorus
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.
Chorus
Bobbie McGee (A)
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train
Feelin’ near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained
Rode it all the way into New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
Playin’ soft while Bobby sang the blues
Windshield wipers slappin’ time, holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew,
Chorus: Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’ don’t mean nothin’ but its free
Feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when she sang the blues
Feelin’ good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Standin’ right beside me, through everything I done
And every night she kept me from the cold
One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away
She’s lookin’ for that love and I hope she finds it
But I’d trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday
Joldin’ Bobby’s body next to mine
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, that’s all that Bobby left me …
Bridge Over Troubled Water (C)
When You’re Weary Feeling Small
When Tears Are In Your Eyes I Will Dry Them All
I’m On Your Side Oh When Times Get Rough
And Friends Just Can’t Be Found
Chorus: Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water
I Will Lay Me Down
Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water
I Will Lay Me Down
When You’re Down And Out When You’re On The Street
When Evening Falls So Hard I Will Comfort You
I’ll Take Your Part Oh When Darkness Comes
And Pain Is All Around
Chorus
Sail On Silver Girl Sail On By
Your Time Has Come To Shine All Your Dreams Are On Their Way
See How They Shine Oh When You Need A Friend
Look Around I’m Sailing Right Behind
Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water
I Will Ease Your Mind …
Brown Eyed Girl (G)
Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow,
Playin’ a new game,
Laughing and a running hey, hey
Skipping and a jumping
In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a thumpin’ and you
My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl.
Whatever happened
To dancin’ so slow
Going down the old mine
With a transistor radio
Standing in the sunlight laughing,
Hiding behind a rainbow’s wall,
Slipping and sliding
All along the water fall, with you
My brown eyed girl,
You my brown eyed girl.
Do you remember when we used to sing,
Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da
So hard to find my way,
Now that I’m all on my own.
I saw you just the other day,
My how you have grown,
Cast my memory back there, Lord
Sometime I’m overcome thinking ’bout
Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium with you
My brown eyed girl
You my brown eyed girl
City of New Orleans (C)
Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin’ trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old grey men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.
Chorus: Good morning America how are you?
Don’t you know me I’m your native son,
I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
Dealin’ card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain’t no one keepin’ score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin’ ‘neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father’s magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin’ to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
Chorus
Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we’ll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain’t heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues.
Chorus: Good night, America, how are you?…
Country Roads (G)
Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze
Chorus:
Country roads, take me home
To the place, I belong
West Virginia, Mountain Mama
Take me home, country roads
All my mem’ries, gather ’round her
Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
I hear her voice, in the mornin’ hours she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin’ down the road I get the feeling’
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
Deportee (C)
The crops are all in, the peaches are rotting
The oranges are piled in their creosote dumps
They’re flying you back to the Mexico border
To pay all your money to wade back again
Chorus: Good-bye to my Juan, Good-bye Rosalita
Adios mes amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane
And all they will call you will be “deportee”
My father’s own father, he waded that river
They took all the money he made in his life
My brothers and sisters they work in the fruit trees
They rode the truck till they took down and died
The skyplane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all our hills
Who were all these dear friends all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says they were just deportees.
Don’t Mess Around With Jim (E)
Uptown got it’s hustlers
Bowery got it’s bums
42nd Street got Big Jim Walker
He’s a pool-shootin’ son of a gun
Yea, he big and dumb as a man can come
But he stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call big Jim Boss … just because …
And they say …
CHORUS:
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim
From south Alabama came a country boy
Hey say I’m lookin’ for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin’ boy
My name is Willie McCoy
But down home they call me Slim
Yea I’m lookin’ for the king of 42nd Street
He drivin’ a drop top Cadillac
Last week he took all my money
And it may sound funny
But I come to get my money back
And everybody say Jack … don’t you know that
Well a hush fell over the pool room
Jimmy come boppin’ in off the street
And when the cuttin’ were done
The only part that wasn’t bloody
Was the soles of the big man’s feet
Yea he were cut in in ’bout a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big Jim hit the floor … now they say
Feelin Groovy (E)
Slow down, you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last
Just kickin’ down the cobble-stones, lookin’ for fun and feelin’ groovy, feeling groovy
Hello lamp-post, what’cha knowin’, I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’
Ain’cha got no rhymes for me, do-it-a-do-do, feelin’ groovy, feeling groovy
I’ve got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life I love you, all is groovy
Fire and Rain (A)
Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susan the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again
Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I won’t make it any other way
I’ve been movin’ my mind to an easy time
my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground
Four Strong Winds (G)
CHORUS:
Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don’t change come what may.
If all the good times are all gone
Then I’m bound for movin’ on
I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way.
Think I’ll go out to Alberta
Weather’s good there in the fall
I got some friends that I could go to working for.
Still I wish you’d change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we’ve been through this a hundred times or more.
If I get there before the snow flies
And if things are lookin’ good
You could meet me if I send you down the fare.
But, by then it would be winter
Not too much for you to do
And those winds sure can blow cold ‘way out there.
Here Comes the Sun (D)
Little darlin’ it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darlin’ it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right
Little darlin’ the smiles returning to their faces
Little darlin’ it seems like years since it’s been here
Little darlin’ I feel the ice is slowly meltin’
Little darlin’ it seems like years since it’s been clear
If I Had A Hammer (A)
If I had a hammer
I’d hammer in the morning
I’d hammer in the evening
All over this land
I’d hammer out danger
I’d hammer out a warning
I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land
If I had a bell
I’d ring it in the morning
I’d ring it in the evening
All over this land
I’d ring out danger
I’d ring out a warning
I’d ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land
If I had a song
I’d sing it in the morning
I’d sing it in the evening
All over this land
I’d sing out danger
I’d sing out a warning
I’d sing out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Well I’ve got a hammer
And I’ve got a bell
And I’ve got a song to sing
All over this land
It’s the hammer of justice
It’s the bell of freedom
It’s the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Johnny B Goode (E)
Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood an log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like ringing a bell
Go Johnny go go go…Johnny B. Goode
He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Sat beneath the tree by the railroad track
An engineer could see him sitting in the shade
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
The People passing by, they would stop and say
Oh my, how that little country boy could play
His mother told him, someday you will be a man
You will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun goes down
And maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight
Oh Very Young (G)
Oh Very Young, what will you leave us this time
You’re only dancin’ on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your dads best jeans
Denim blue, faded up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
(You know they never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still.
Oh Very Young what will you leave us this time
There’ll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
(You know you never will)
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still.
Operator (G)
Operator, could you help me place this call
You see the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She’s livin’ in LA, With my best old ex-friend ray
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated
Isn’t that the way they say it goes
But let’s forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell them I’m fine and to show
I’ve overcome the blow, I’ve learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
But that’s not the way it feels
Operator, could you help me place this call
’cause I can’t read the number that you just gave me
There’s something in my eye’s
You know it happens every time
I think about the love that I thought would save me
Operator, let’s forget about this call
There’s no one there I really wanted to talk you
Thank you for your time
Oh you’ve been so much more than kind
And you can keep the dime
Surfer Girl
Little surfer little one
Made my heart come all undone
Do you love me, do you surfer girl
Surfer girl my little surfer girl
I have watched you on the shore
Standing by the ocean’s roar
Do you love me do you surfer girl
Surfer girl surfer girl
We could ride the surf together
While our love would grow
In my Woody I would take you everywhere I go
So I say from me to you
I will make your dreams come true
Do you love me do you surfer girl
Surfer girl my little surfer girl…
Teach Your Children Well (C)
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
The Boxer (C)
I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
All lies in jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest
When I left my home and my family, was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers In the quiet of the railway station running scared
Laying low seeking out the poorer quarters, Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know
Asking only workman’s wages I come looking for a job, but I get no offers
Just a come on from the whores on seventh avenue
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
Ooh la la la …
And I am laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone, Going home
Where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me, Leading me, going home
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and shame, I am leaving, I am leaving,
But the fighter still remains, yes he still remains
Well the years are rollin by now, they’re rockin easily
And I’m older than I once was, but younger than I’ll be
That’s not unusual
Nor is it strange, after changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same