I was born right here, November ’43
My dad was a captain in the army
Fighting the Germans in Sicily.
My poor little momma
Didn’t know a soul in L.A.
So we went down to the Union Station and made our getaway.Got on the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams.

Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train
Her brothers and her sisters drove down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew
Drinkin’ rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin’ to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too
Who wouldn’t down there, wouldn’t you?
An American Christian, God damn!

On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams

Very far away in a foreign land
Live the yellow woman and the yellow man
He’s been around for many-a-year
They say they were there before we were here

Eatin’ rice all day
While the children play
You see he believes
In the family
Just like you and me

Oh, yellow man, oh, yellow man
We understand, you know we understand

He keeps his money tight in his hand
With his yellow woman he’s a yellow man
Got to have a yellow woman
When you’re a yellow man

I saw your name, baby
In a telephone booth
And it told all about you, mama
Boy, I hope it was the truth
I took down your number
Looked up your address, Sue
And I was hoping that maybe
You could love me, tooI’m gonna wait in the shadows
For you to come by
I’m gonna wait in the shadows
For you to come by
And then I’ll jump from the shadows
To try and catch your eye
Gonna run my fingers through your hair

Now I don’t want to get too romantic
That’s just not my way
But when I get my arms around you
I’m gonna rock you all the night
Gonna rock you all the day
Suzanne, you won’t know it but I’ll be behind you

Don’t try and run away from me, little girl
Wherever you go I’ll find you
And when you go to the pictures
And I know you do
Don’t take no one with you
’Cause I’ll be there, too
Suzanne

Was a little girl
Maybe five-foot-two
Had the cutest little feet
Made my heart go tweet-tweet
Quite a pleasant dispositionThen came a pretty young French girl, mmm
Whom I met in Las Vegas
When I was there with my parents
Oh my
Had a real nice conversation

Met a girl at the bakery
She wanted to borrow my car from me
I said, “Take it, baby”
She took it down To Mexico
Ran over a man named Juan

Then I went to college
Met a college girl
She lived in the sorority house
Across from school
Got a real fine education
Had seven women on my mind

Now I’m married
Have a very lovely wife
Three cute little boys
It’s so nice
And that’s just half the story
Of the girls in my life

There’s a hundred-thousand Frenchmen in New Orleans
In New Orleans there are Frenchmen everywhere
But your house could fall down
Your baby could drown
Wouldn’t none of those Frenchmen careEverybody gather ’round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground
I’m a cracker
And you’re one too
But don’t I take good care of you

Who built the highway to Baton Rouge?
Who put up the hospital and built your schools?
Who looks after shit-kickers like you?
The Kingfish do

Who gave a party at the Roosevelt Hotel?
And invited the whole north half of the state down there for free
The people in the city
Had their eyes bugging out
‘Cause everyone looked just like me

It’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Everybody sing
It’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Every man a king

Who took on the Standard Oilmen
And whipped their ass
Just like he promised he’d do?
Ain’t no Standard Oilmen gonna run this state
Gonna be run by little folks like me and you

It’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Friend of the working man
It’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
The Kingfish gonna save this land

Was a fool with my money
And I lost every dime
And the sun stopped shining
And it rained all the time
It did set me back some
But I made it through
But I’ll never get over losing youDo you know how much you mean to me?
Should’ve told you ’cause it’s true
I’d get over losing anything
But I’ll never get over losing you

When you’re young
And there’s time
You forget the past
You don’t think that you will
But you do
But I know right now I don’t have time enough
And I’ll never get over losing you

I’ve been cold
I’ve been hungry
But not for awhile
I guess most of my dreams have come true
With it all here around me
No peace do I find
’Cause I’ll never get over losing you
No, I’ll never get over losing you

Close your eyes now little girl
They don’t want to hear you cryin’
You never had a chance
You never had a chanceIt’s a great big dirty world
If they say it ain’t they’re lyin’
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Close your eyes and dream
A little dream for you and me
Dream yourself a place where we can go
Baby you never know

Close your eyes now little girl
Go to sleep my little baby
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

A couple of weeks ago
My wife and I
Took a little trip down to Mexico
Met this young girl there
We brought her back with us
Now she lives with us
In our home
She cleans the hallway
She cleans the stair
She cleans the living room
She wipes the baby’s ass
She drives the kids to school
She does the laundry too
She wrote this song for me
Listen
YeahThe other afternoon
My wife and I
Took a little ride into
Beverly Hills
Went to the private school
Our oldest child attends
Many famous people send their children there
This teacher says to us
“We have a problem here
This child just will not do
A thing I tell him to
And he’s such a big old thing
He hurts the other children
All the games they play,
he plays too rough –”
Hold it teacher
Wait a minute
Maybe my ears are clogged or something
Maybe I’m not understanding
The English language
Dear, you don’t seem to realize

My life is good
My life is good, you old bat
My life is good
My life

Just this evening
Some young associates of ours
Are flying in to see us from
New York City
They’re gonna stay with us
Oh, a couple of weeks or so
I’m gonna take ’em to
Restaurants and everything
Gonna get ’em some
Real good cocaine
They don’t get much
Where they come from
And this one guy’s wife Is such a pretty little brown thing
That I’m liable to give her a poke or two
Whaddaya think of that?

Teacher, let me tell you a little story
Just this morning
My wife and I
Went to this big hotel in the hills
Where a very good friend of ours
Happens to be staying
And the name of this young man
Is Mr. Bruce Springsteen
Yeah, we talked about some kind of
Woodblock or something
And this new guitar we like
And you know what he said to me
I’ll tell you what he said to me
He said, “Rand, I’m tired
How would you like to be the Boss for awhile?”
Well, yeah

My life is good
My life is good

Got a wife, got a family
Earn my livin’ with my hand
I’m a roller in a steel mill
In downtown BirminghamMy daddy was a barber
And a most unsightly man
He was born in Tuscaloosa
But he died right here in Birmingham

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ’cross this entire land
But there ain’t no place like Birmingham

My wife’s named Mary
But she’s called Marie
We live in a three-room house
With a pepper tree
I work all day in the factory
That’s all right with me

Got a big black dog
Whose name is Dan
Lives in my backyard in Birmingham
He is the meanest dog in Alabam’
Get ’em Dan

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ’cross this entire land
But there ain’t no place like Birmingham

Last night I had a dream
You were in it, and I was in it with you
Everyone that I know
And everyone that you know was in my dream
I saw a vampire
I saw a ghost
Everybody scared me but you scared me the most
In the dream I had last night
In the dream I had last night
In my dreamIt started out in a barnyard at sundown
And everyone was laughing and you were lying on the ground
You said, “Honey, can you tell me what your name is?”
“Honey, can you tell me what your name is?”
I said, “You know what my name is”

Last night I had a dream
You were in it, and I was in it with you
Everyone that I know
And everyone that you know was in my dream
I saw a vampire
I saw a ghost
Everybody scared me but you scared me the most
In the dream I had last night
In the dream I had last night
In my dream

You’re still the same girl you always were
You’re still the same girlA few more nights on the street, that’s all
A few more holes in your arm
A few more years with me, that’s all

You’re still the same girl

With the same sweet smile that you always had
And the same blue eyes like the sun
And the same clear voice

You’re still the same girl
That I love

Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin’ to find the ocean
Lookin’ everywhereHard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain’t nowhere to run to
There ain’t nothin’ here for free

Hooker on the corner
Waitin’ for a train
Drunk lyin’ on the sidewalk
Sleepin’ in the rain

And they hide their faces
And they hide their eyes
’Cause the city’s dyin’
And they don’t know why

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live

Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Gonna buy a big old wagon
To haul us all away

Live out in the country
Where the mountain’s high
Never comin’ back here
’Til the day I die

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live

I know what’s going on here
Ain’t no great mystery
Y’all have lost faith in yourselves
It’s as clear as it can beYou can whine all you want to
Drown in your misery
Or you can listen to me
Listen to me

Laugh and be happy
Don’t you ever wear a frown
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Laugh and be happy
It’s a simple thing to do
Believe in your dreams
And your dreams will come true for you

There’ll be a red sun shining in a sky so blue
Blackbirds singing in the trees
There’ll be a real silver lining
Up there for me and you
Listen to me
Listen to me

Now the country that we’re living in
You mean the good ol’ USA?
That’s right!
It’s never been about keeping you out
It’s about inviting you in and letting you play

So laugh and be happy
Smile right in their face
’Cause pretty soon
You’re gonna take their place

You’ll come a-whack whack whackin’ like old man trouble
Whacking on their front door
They want to send you packin’ on the double
But you ain’t going away no more

Laugh and be happy
Don’t you ever wear a frown
Get right back on your feet
Whenever they knock you down

You’ve got to laugh and be happy
Believe me when I say
Everything’s going to go your way
You’ll be on top of the world

We met one summer evening
As the sun was going down
She was lying on the beach
In her graduation gown
She was wrapped up in a blanket
(I could tell she knew her way around)
And as I lay down beside her
You know she never made a soundOn down the beach came the beach-cleaning man
Scoopin’ up the papers and flattening down the sand
“Lucinda, Lucinda, Lucinda — we’ve got to run away
That big white truck is closin’ in
And we’ll get wounded if we stay”

Now Lucinda lies buried ’neath the California sand
Put under by the beach-cleaning man
Lucinda, Lucinda, Lucinda — why’d you have to go?
They sent her to high school
They sent her to low school
She just wouldn’t go no further

Sing a song of long ago
When things were green and movin’ slow
And people’d stop to say hello
Or they’d say “hi” to you
“Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?”
It’s a real nice way
To spend the day
In Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903Sing a song of long ago
When trees could grow
And days flowed quietly
The air was clean and you could see
And folks were nice to you
“Would you like to come over for tea
With the missus and me?”
It’s a real nice way
To spend the day
In Dayton, Ohio
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903

Cold gray buildings where a hill should be
Steel and concrete closin’ in on me
City faces haunt the places
I rode alone
Cowboy, cowboy — can’t run, can’t hide
Too late to fight now — too tired to tryWind that once blew free
Now scatters dust to the sky
Cowboy, cowboy — can’t run, can’t hide
Too late to fight now — too tired to try

Hasn’t anybody seen me lately
I’ll tell you why
Hasn’t anybody seen me lately
I’ll tell you why
I caught something made me so sick
That I thought that I would die
And I almost did too
First my knees begin to tremble
My heart begin to pound
First my knees begin to tremble
My heart begin to pound
It was arrhythmic and out of tune
I lost my equilibrium
And fell face down upon the ground
As I lay there on that cold pavement
A tear ran down my face
‘Cause I thought I was dying
You boys know I’m not a religious man
But I sent a prayer out just in case
You never know
Lo and behold almost immediately
I had reason to believe my prayer had been heard in a very special place
‘Cause I heard this sound
Ooooh
Yes
Ooooh
Yes, it was harps and angels
Harps and angels coming near
I was too sick to roll over and see them
But I could hear them singing ever so beautifully in my ear
Then the sound began to subside
And they sounded like background singers
And a voice come down from the heavens above
It was a voice full of anger from the Old Testament
And a voice full of love from the New One
And the street lit up like it was the middle of the day
And I lay there quiet and listened to what that voice had to say
He said, “You ain’t been a good man
You ain’t been a bad man
But you’ve been pretty bad
Lucky for you this ain’t your time
Someone very dear to me has made another clerical error
And we’re here on a bit of a wild goose chase
But I want to tell you a few things
That’ll hold you in good stead when it is your time
So you better listen close
I’m only going to say this once
When they lay you on the table
Better keep your business clean
‘Fore they lay you on the table
Better keep your business clean
Don’t want no back stabbing, ass grabbing
You know exactly what I mean
Alright girls – we’re outta here”
Ooooh
“Encore. Encore.”
Ooooh
(He spoke French)
“Tres bien
Encore”
And off they went into the night
Almost immediately I felt better
And I come round to see you boys
‘Cause you know we ain’t living right
And while it was fresh
I wanted to tell you what he told me
He said, “When they lay you on the table
Better keep your business clean
When they lay you on the table
Better keep your business clean
Else there won’t be no harps and angels coming for you
It’ll be trombones, kettle drums, pitchforks and tambourines”
Sing it like they did for me one time
Ooooh – yes
Ooooh – beautiful
Wish I spoke French
So actually the main thing about this story is for me
There really is an afterlife
And I hope to see all of you there
Let’s go get a drink

Was a fool with my money
And I lost every dime
And the sun stopped shining
And it rained all the time
It did set me back some
But I made it through
But I’ll never get over losing you

Do you know how much you mean to me?
Should’ve told you ‘cause it’s true
I’d get over losing anything
But I’ll never get over losing you

When you’re young
And there’s time
To forget the past
You don’t think that you will
But you do
But I know that I don’t have time enough
And I’ll never get over losing you

I’ve been cold
I’ve been hungry
But not for awhile
I guess most of my dreams have come true
With it all here around me
No peace do I find
‘Cause I’ll never get over losing you
No, I’ll never get over losing you

I know what’s going on here
Ain’t no mystery
Y’all have lost faith in yourselves
It’s as clear as it can be

You can whine all you want to
Drown in your misery
Or you can listen to me
Listen to me

Laugh and be happy
Don’t you ever wear a frown
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Laugh and be happy
It’s a simple thing to do
Believe in your dreams
And your dreams will come true for you

There’ll be a red sun shining in a sky so blue
Blackbirds singing in the trees

There’s a real silver lining
Up there for me and you
Listen to me
Listen to me

Now the country that we’re living in

{Happy Immigrants: You mean the good ol’ USA?}

That’s right!
It’s never been about keeping you out
It’s about inviting you in and letting you play

Laugh and be happy
Don’t you ever wear a frown
Get right back on your feet
Whenever they knock you down

You’ve got to laugh and be happy
Smile right in their face
‘Cause pretty soon
You’re gonna take their place

They’ll come whack whack whackin’ like old man trouble
Whacking on your front door
They try to send you packin’ on the double
But you ain’t going away no more

Laugh and be happy
Don’t you ever wear a frown
Don’t let the bastards grind you down

Laugh and be happy
Now listen to what I say
Everything’s going to go your way
You’ll be on top of the world

I’d like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren’t bad
Nor are they mean
Now the leaders we have
While they’re the worst that we’ve had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen

Take the Caesars for example
Within the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister,
Stashing little boys in swimming pools
And burning down the city
And one of ‘em, one of ‘em
Appointed his own horse to be Consul of the Empire
That’s like vice president or something
Wait a minute, that’s not a very good example is it?
But wait, here’s one,
The Spanish Inquisition
It put people in a terrible position
I don’t even like to think about it
Well sometimes I like to think about it

Just a few words in defense of our country
Whose time at the top
Could be coming to an end
We don’t want your love
And respect at this point is pretty much out of the question
But times like these
We sure could use a friend

Hitler
Stalin
Men who need no introduction
King Leopold of Belgium, that’s right
Everyone thinks he’s so great
Well he owned The Congo and he tore it up too
He took the diamonds
He took the silver
He took the gold
You know what he left them with?
Malaria
A President once said,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Now, we’re supposed to be afraid
It’s patriotic in fact and color-coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why of being afraid
That’s what terror means, doesn’t it?
That’s what it used to mean

You know it kind of pisses me off
That this Supreme Court is going to outlive me
A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now, too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world,
To find me two Italians as tightassed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto’s not a planet anymore either

The end of an Empire is messy at best
And this Empire is ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea
We’re adrift in the land of the brave and the home of the free

Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye

Like us all you want the very best of life
A car, a house, a neighborhood that’s nice
With flowers and trees and lots of little kids around
Where public schools aren’t breeding grounds for vice

You say you’re working harder than you ever have
You say you got two jobs and so’s your wife
Living in the richest country in the world
Wouldn’t you think you’d have a better life

If you lived in Norway
You’d be fine right now
Get sick there
You make the doctor wait
If you lived in Belgium
You could mediate
(Flemish/French debate)
Hey knock it off!
And the French fries are great
Hey!

Jesus Christ it stinks here high and low
The rich are getting richer
I should know
While we’re going up
You’re going down
And no one gives a shit but Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson
Jackson

There’s a famous saying someone famous said
As General Motors goes so go we all
Johnny Cougar’s singing it’s their country now
He’ll be singing for Toyota by the fall

Patriots:
That’s not true
John’s a patriot
He’s not like you
He’s a……

Jesus Christ it stinks here low and high
Some get rich
And others just get by
Bono’s off in Africa – he’s never around
The country turns it’s lonely eyes to who?
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne

A piece of the pie
That’s all we’re asking for
A piece of the pie

Satisfaction guaranteed
Getting everything you need?
Hand delivered, quite discreet
‘Cause you’re on Easy Street

Any place you want to go
We’ll call ahead and let them know
Get you in through the backdoor
But you get a front row seat
‘Cause you’re on Easy Street

All your old friends
I know you love ‘em so
Gonna break your heart
But you’re gonna have to let them go
Your friends up here must be the elite
You’ll like everyone you meet

On Easy Street
Life is sweet
Accommodations can’t be beat
On Easy Street

Easy Street
Here’s your seat
Watch the world roll by at your feet
Don’t look down
That’s it

Doesn’t matter if you act a little strange
Do your worst
Don’t ever change
‘Cause no matter what you do
You think anyone up here is ever going to say no to you?
Nah

That’s it Miss B
Yes

Now you don’t know how you got here
And how the whole world knows your name
Forget about it
Relax enjoy yourself
Everywhere you go they’re glad you came

Baby you’re on Easy Street
Life is sweet
Let them worship at your feet
On Easy Street

Kids today got problems
Like their parents never had
Neighborhoods are dangerous
The public schools are bad
At home there are distractions so irresistible
The hours fly by
No work gets done

Some Jewish kids still trying
Some white kids trying too
But millions of real American kids don’t have a clue
Right here on the lot
We got the answer
A product guaranteed to satisfy

Korean parents for sale
You say you’re not all that you want to be
You say you got a bad environment
Your work at school’s not going well

Korean parents for sale
You say you need a little discipline
Someone to whip you into shape
They’ll be strict but they’ll be fair

Look at the numbers
That’s all I ask
Who’s at the head of every class?
You really think they’re smarter than you are
They just work their asses off
Their parents make the do it

{Saleslady:
Oh, learn to play the violin
Oh, to turn your homework in right on time}

What a load off your back that will be
No tears
No regret
Never forget who sent Fido to the farm

The greatest generation
Your parents aren’t the greatest generation
So sick of hearing about the greatest generation
That generation could be you
So let’s see what you can do
Korean parents and you

She’s only a girl
And her voice is peculiar
And her eyes are strange
She’s prone to be willful
You try to cheer her up some
But she’s impervious to change

She’s dresses in black all of the time
Wears an orthopedic shoe
It’s some sort of uglification thing she’s into

She’s a hundred and ten
Maybe five foot five
She don’t eat meat
But she’ll eat you alive
She’s only a girl
But she’s big time

She’s only a girl
And I’ll tell you about her
At least all that I know
She’s from South Carolina
And she came out here
A few years ago

She waits on tables
Works in a bank
Volunteers at the zoo
She sure ain’t lazy
But she’s very young
That’s why I called you

Now that you’ve seen her, what do you think?
Uh-huh
Yeah
Etc…

Love is blind
And deaf as well
But I love this girl
Can’t you tell?
She’s only a girl
And she loves me

Why would someone
Beautiful as she
Love someone old like me
Maybe it’s the money
Jeez, I never thought of that

God damn it

I love women
Have all my life
I love my dear mother
And I love my wife – God bless her
I even love my teenage daughter
There’s no accounting for it
Apparently I don’t care how I’m treated
My love is unconditional or something

I’ve been hurt a time or two
I ain’t gonna lie
I have my doubts sometimes
About the ethics of the so called fairer sex
Fair about what?
But I find time goes by
And one forgives as one forgets
And one does forget

God bless the potholes
Down on memory lane
God bless the potholes
Down on memory lane
Everything that happens to me now
Is consigned to oblivion by my brain

I remember my father
My brother of course
I remember my mother
I spoke of her earlier and I remember that
I remember the smell of cut grass
And going off to play ball in the morning
Funny story about that

Now I used to pitch
I could get the ball over the plate
But anyway, this one time
I must of thrown a football around or something the day before
I walked about fourteen kids in a row
Cried
Walked off the mound
Handed the ball to the third baseman
And just left the field

Anyway, many years later
I brought the woman who was to become my second wife-God bless her
To meet my father for the first time
They exchanged pleasantries
I left the room for a moment
It was the first time he had met her you understand
When I came back
He was telling her the story
Right off the bat
About how I had walked fourteen kids
Cried and left the mound
Next time he met her he told her the same Goddamn story!

God bless the potholes
Down on memory lane
God bless the potholes
Down on memory lane
I hope some real big ones open up
And take some of the memories that do remain

There’s something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms

There’s something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how low I’ve felt for so long
If you knew how I wanted someone
To come along
And change my world the way you’ve done

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

A window breaks
Down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But that’s alright ‘cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see
Through the dark there’s a light

If you knew
How much this moment
Means to me
And how long I’ve waited for your touch
If you knew
How happy you are making me
I never thought I’d love anyone so much

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

I’ve been around the world
Had my pick of any girl
You’d think I’d be happy
But I’m not
Ev’rybody knows my name
But it’s just a crazy game
Oh, it’s lonely at the top
Listen to the band, they’re playing just for me
Listen to the people paying just for me
All the applause-all the parades
And all the money I have made
Oh, it’s lonely at the top
Listen all you fools out there
Go on and love me-I don’t care
Oh, it’s lonely at the top
Oh, it’s lonely at the top

Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:
Man means nothing, he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
‘Cause he thinks that’s where I’ll be
That’s why I love mankind
I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That’s why I love mankind
The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, “Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won’t take care of us
Won’t you please, please let us be?”
And the Lord said
And the Lord said
I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That’s why I love mankind
You really need me
That’s why I love mankind

What has happened down here is the winds have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tyrin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, “Little fat man isn’t it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers land.”
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

Maybe I’ll write you a letter
Maybe I’ll give you a call
Maybe I’ll drop you a line
When I’m feelin’ better
Maybe I won’t after all
Somewhere a river is flowing
Rollin’ on into the sea
Somewhere a flower is growing
That don’t mean anything to me
Let me go
Let me go
Let me go
Don’t give me the answer
‘Cause I don’t wanna know
Just let my heart go on beating a little bit longer
I’m so young
I’m so young
Don’t pick me up
If you think you see me falling
I’ve been waiting so long to fall
Don’t come to me
If you think you hear me calling
It won’t be me that called
Let me go
Let me go
Let me go
Don’t give me the answer
‘Cause I don’t want to know
Just let my heart go on beating a little bit longer
I’m so young
I’m so young
I’m so young
I’m so young

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he’s our fool
If they think they’re better than him they’re wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that’s where I made this song
We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol’ boys from Tennessee
And college men from LSU
Went in dumb – come out dumb too
Hustlin’ ’round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin’ drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they’re keepin’ the niggers down
We’re rednecks, rednecks
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down
Now your northern nigger’s a Negro
You see he’s got his dignity
Down here we’re too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he’s free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he’s free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They’re gatherin’ ‘em up from miles around
Keepin’ the niggers down
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
We don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down
We are keeping the niggers down

The milk truck hauls the sun up
And the paper hits the door
The subway shakes my floor
And I think about you
Time to face the dawning gray
Of another lonely day
Baby, it`s so hard
Living without you
It`s so hard
It`s so hard
Baby, it`s so hard
Living without you
Ev`ry one`s got something
And they`re out tryin` to get some more
They got something to get up for
Well I ain`t about to
Nothin`s gonna happen
Nothin`s gonna change
Baby, it`s so hard
Living without you
It`s so hard
It`s so hard
Baby, it`s so hard
Living without you

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I’ll kick it down the street
That’s the way to treat a friend
Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today

Baby, take off your coat…(real slow)
Baby, take off your shoes…(here, I’ll take your shoes)
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
Go on over there and turn on the light…no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair…that’s right
Raise your arms up in to the air…shake ‘em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
I know what love is

I don’t love the mountains
And I don’t love the sea
And I don’t love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain’t pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love
They say that money
Can’t buy love in this world
But it’ll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right
One, two
It’s Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you
Three, four
It’s Money That I Love
Used to worry about the poor
But I don’t worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don’t worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say now about the starving children of India?
I say, “Oh mama”
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love

You looked like a princess the night we met
With your hair piled up high
I will never forget
I’m drunk right now baby
But I’ve got to be
Or I never could tell you
What you meant to me
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
You’re the song that the trees sing when the wind blows
You’re a flower, you’re a river, you’re a rainbow
Sometimes I’m crazy
But I guess you know
And I’m weak and I’m lazy
And I’ve hurt you so
And I don’t listen to a word you say
When you’re in trouble I just turn away
But I love you and I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

In America you’ll get food to eat
Won’t have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You’ll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It’s great to be an American
Ain’t no lions or tigers
Ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev’rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You’ll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You’re all gonna be an American
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

When Karl Marx was a boy
He took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town (buh, buh, buh)
The public spirited boy
Became a public spirited man
So he worked very hard and he read everything
Until he came up with a plan
There’ll be no exploitation
Of the worker or his kin
No discrimination ’cause the color of your skin
No more private property
It would not be allowed
No one could rise too high
No one could sink too low
Or go under completely like some we all know
If Marx were living today
He’d be rolling around in his grave
And if I had him here in my mansion on the hill
I’d tell him a story t’would give his old heart a chill
It’s something that happened to me
I’d say, Karl I recently stumbled
Into a new family
With two little children in school
Where all little children should be
I went to the orientation
All the young mommies were there
Karl, you never have seen such a glorious sight
As these beautiful women arrayed for the night
Just like countesses, empresses, movie stars and queens
And they’d come there with men much like me
Froggish men, unpleasant to see
Were you to kiss one, Karl
Nary a prince would there be
Oh Karl the world isn’t fair
It isn’t and never will be
They tried out your plan
It brought misery instead
If you’d seen how they worked it
You’d be glad you were dead
Just like I’m glad I’m living in the land of the free
Where the rich just get richer
And the poor you don’t ever have to see
It would depress us, Karl
Because we care
That the world still isn’t fair

No one likes us-I don’t know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let’s drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they’re spiteful and they’re hateful
They don’t respect us-so let’s surprise them
We’ll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin’, too
Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We’ll set everybody free
You’ll wear a Japanese kimono
And there’ll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let’s drop the big one now
Let’s drop the big one now

The Great Nations of Europe
Had gathered on the shore
They’d conquered what was behind them
And now they wanted more
So they looked to the mighty ocean
And took to the western sea
The great nations of Europe in the sixteenth century
Hide your wives and daughters
Hide the groceries too
Great nations of Europe coming through
The Grand Canary Islands
First land to which they came
They slaughtered all the canaries
Which gave the land its name
There were natives there called Guanches
Guanches by the score
Bullets, disease, the Portugese, and they weren’t there anymore
Now they’re gone, they’re gone, they’re really gone
You’ve never seen anyone so gone
They’re a picture in a museum
Some lines written in a book
But you won’t find a live one no matter where you look
Hide your wives and daughters
Hide the groceries too
Great nations of Europe coming through
Columbus sailed for India
Found Salvador instead
He shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead
They got TB and typhoid and athlete’s foot
Diptheria and the flu
Excuse me – Great nations coming through
Balboa found the pacific
And on the trail one day
He met some friendly Indians
Whom he was told were gay
So he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say
The great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way
Now they’re gone, they’re gone, they’re really gone
You’ve never seen anyone so gone
Some bones hidden in a canyon
Some paintings in a cave
There’s no use trying to save them
There’s nothing left to save
Hide your wives and daughters
Hide your sons as well
With the great nations of Europe you never can tell
From where you and I are standing
At the end of a century
Europes have sprung up everyone as even I can see
But there on the horizon as a possiblity
Some bug from out of Africa might come for you and me
Destroying everything in its path
From sea to shining sea
Like the great nations of Europe
In the sixteenth century

In Germany Before The War
There was a man who owned a store
In nineteen hundred thirty-four
In Dusseldorf
And every night at fine-o-nine
He’d cross the park down to the Rhine
And he’d sit there by the shore
I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea
A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray
Reflected in his glasses
As he watches her
A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray
I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
We lie beneath the autumn sky
My little golden girl and I
And she lies very still

Let’s go back to yesterday
When a phone call cost a dime
In New Orleans, just a nickel
Turn back the hands of time
Turn back the hands of time

Picture a room
With a window
A sofa and some chairs
A television turned on for the night
Picture a woman, two children seated
A man lying there
Their faces softly glowing in the light

This is my country
These are my people
This is the world I understand
This is my country
These are my people
And I know ‘em like the back of my own hand

If we had something to say
We’d bounce it off the screen
We were watching and we couldn’t look away
We all know what we look like
You know what I mean
We wouldn’t have had it any other way
We got comedy, tragedy
Everything from A to B
Watching other people living
Seeing other people play
Having other people’s voices fill our minds
Thank you Jesus
Feelings might go unexpressed
I think that’s probably for the best
Dig too deep who knows what you will find

This is my country
Those were my people
Theirs was a world I understand

Picture a room, no window
A door that leads outside
A man lying on a carpet on the floor
Picture his three grown boys behind him
Bouncing words off a screen
Of a television big as all outdoors
Now your children are your children
Even when they’re grown
When they speak to you
You got to listen to what they have to say
But they all live alone now
They have TVs of their own
But they keep on coming over anyway
And much as I love them
I’m always kind of glad when they go away

This is my country
These are my people
This is the world I understand
This is my country
These are my people
And I know ‘em like the back of my own hand
I know ‘em like the back of my own hand

Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
I sent you all them pretty flowers
Now you’re nowhere to be found

I call you up at midnight sometimes I must admit
And when I find you’re not at home
My head heats up like a furnace
My heart grows colder than a stone
So what’s the good of all this money I got
If every night I’m left here all alone?
It’s a gun that I need

Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I ain’t ashamed of nothing
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I don’t know what you’re talking about

All right let’s talk a little business
You know what I’m saying
A man of my experience of life
Don’t expect a beautiful young woman like yourself
To come on over here every day
And have some old dude banging on her like a gypsy on a tambourine

That’s not what we’re talking about
That’s not what we’re talking about
That’s not what we’re talking about

But I will say this
I’ve been all over the world
I’ve seen some wonderful things
I haven’t been well lately
I have no one to share my plans, my dreams
My hopes and my schemes, my…

Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
You could be right
I’ve sunk pretty low this time
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
These are truly desperate times

Saw your little sandals baby
Out behind the wishing well
Down here in the cool depths of the Quarter
Where the rich folk dwell
And I pictured you in diamonds, satins and pearls
Come on back to Daddy
Daddy miss his little baby girl

Now, my father, he was an angry man
You cross him he made you pay
I myself,am no longer an angry man
Don’t make me beg you
Don’t make me beg

Do you know what if feels like
To wake up in the morning
Have every joint in your body aching, God damn it?
Do you know what it feels like
To have to get up in the middle of the night and sit down to take a piss?
You do know?
So you say
I have my doubts, Missy
Do you know what it feels like
To have to beg a little bum like you for love?
God damn it you little bitch, I’d kill you if I didn’t love you so much

Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
Shut up

Forgive me
My unfocused words
I was flying blind
I lost my mind (Shame Shame Shame)

If you could find it in your heart, if you got one
To forgive me
I’d be ever so grateful (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please I’m trying to talk to someone (Shame)
Thank you

You know, I have a Lexus now
I don’t get out much
You know what I’m saying
Come on home

I have nothing left to say
But I’m gonna say it anyway
Thirty years upon a stage
And I hear the people say
Why won’t he go away?
I pass the houses of the dead
They’re calling me to join their group
But I stagger on instead
Dear God, sweet God
Protect me from the truth, hey

I’m dead but I don’t know it
He’s dead, he’s dead
I’m dead but I don’t know
He’s dead, he’s dead
I’m dead but I don’t know it
He’s dead, he’s dead
Please don’t tell me so
Let me, let me, let me go

I have a family to support
But surely, that is no excuse
I’ve nothing further to report
Time you spend with me
Is time you lose
I always thought that I would know
When it was time to quit
That when I lost a step or two or three or four or five
I’d notice it
Now that I’ve arrived here safely
I find my talent has gone
Why do I go on and on and on and on and on
And on and on and on and on and on

He’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead
I don’t know it
He’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead
I didn’t know
He’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead
I didn’t know it
Who would be so cruel to tell me so?
You’re dead!

When will I end this bitter game?
When will I end this cruel charade?
Everything I write all sounds the same
Each record that I’m making
Is like a record that I’ve made
Just not as good

I’m dead but I don’t know it
He’s dead, he’s dead
I’m dead but I don”t know
He’s dead, he’s dead
I’m dead but I don’t know it
He’s dead, he’s dead
Please don’t tell me so
Please don’t tell me so
You’re dead!

Every time it rains
I sit at home and wonder why
Ever since you said goodbye
I felt so all alone

Every time it rains
And summer showers soak the ground
I watch the rain come pouring down
And I call out your name

Every time it rains
I hang my head and want to die
And I don’t seem to care that
I’m just not making it on my own

Every time it rains
Sometimes late at night
I close my eyes
And pretend that you’re here with me
But every time it rains
I realize just how lonely my life is going to be

Every time it rains
Every time I hear the raindrops fall
I may say that I don’t mind it at all
But I do

Every time it rains
Every time I try to tell myself
That in time I’ll find somebody else
But it won’t be you

Every time it rains
Every time it rains

The Great Nations of Europe
Had gathered on the shore
They’d conquered what was behind them
And now they wanted more
So they looked to the mighty ocean
And took to the western sea
The great nations of Europe in the sixteenth century

Hide your wives and daughters
Hide the groceries too
Great nations of Europe coming through

The Grand Canary Islands
First land to which they came
They slaughtered all the canaries
Which gave the land its name
There were natives there called Guanches
Guanches by the score
Bullets, disease, the Portugese, and they weren’t there anymore

Now they’re gone, they’re gone, they’re really gone
You’ve never seen anyone so gone
They’re a picture in a museum
Some lines written in a book
But you won’t find a live one no matter where you look
Hide your wives and daughters
Hide the groceries too
Great nations of Europe coming through

Columbus sailed for India
Found Salvador instead
He shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead
They got TB and typhoid and athlete’s foot
Diptheria and the flu
Excuse me – Great nations coming through

Balboa found the pacific
And on the trail one day
He met some friendly Indians
Whom he was told were gay
So he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say
The great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way

Now they’re gone, they’re gone, they’re really gone
You’ve never seen anyone so gone
Some bones hidden in a canyon
Some paintings in a cave
There’s no use trying to save them
There’s nothing left to save
Hide your wives and daughters
Hide your sons as well
With the great nations of Europe you never can tell

From where you and I are standing
At the end of a century
Europes have sprung up everyone as even I can see
But there on the horizon as a possiblity
Some bug from out of Africa might come for you and me
Destroying everything in its path
From sea to shining sea
Like the great nations of Europe
In the sixteenth century

You’ve got to learn to get to know the one you love
To anticipate her every move
You got to know exactly what she’s thinking of
She may be hungry
She won’t say
You better get a burger or something in her right away
If you don’t you’re gonna pay
At the hand of the one you love
The one you love
The one you love

Young man
You’re running free
You’re running wild
You fall in love
You become nothing but a little baby child
She can hurt you
With the sound of her voice
You can leave her
But you got no choice
You can’t leave her man
You’re just a prisoner of the one you love
The one you love
The one you love

True love never runs smooth you know
Sometimes there’ll be sunny days
Sometimes there’ll be sleet and snow
When true love calls you
Man you gotta go
And when you gotta go, you gotta go
You got to know the one you love
You got to know the one you love
The one you love
The one you love
The one you love
The one you love

Once a great man’s heart was captured by a lovely chest
He told himself it was her mind he loved
But he was blind like all the rest
Twenty hard years went by
Till another chest will catch his eye
He just hung his head and cried
And said, “Sorry dear you’re too late
I’ve already ruined my life”
You’ve got to know the one you love
You’ve got to know the one you love

She may be gentle
She may be kind
She may not know exactly what’s on her mind
But you better know
Or you’re gonna find
You lose the one you love
The one you love
The one you love

When Karl Marx was a boy
He took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town (buh, buh, buh)

The public spirited boy
Became a public spirited man
So he worked very hard and he read everything
Until he came up with a plan
There’ll be no exploitation
Of the worker or his kin
No discrimination ’cause the color of your skin
No more private property
It would not be allowed
No one could rise too high
No one could sink too low
Or go under completely like some we all know

If Marx were living today
He’d be rolling around in his grave
And if I had him here in my mansion on the hill
I’d tell him a story t’would give his old heart a chill
It’s something that happened to me

I’d say, Karl I recently stumbled
Into a new family
With two little children in school
Where all little children should be
I went to the orientation
All the young mommies were there
Karl, you never have seen such a glorious sight
As these beautiful women arrayed for the night
Just like countesses, empresses, movie stars and queens
And they’d come there with men much like me
Froggish men, unpleasant to see
Were you to kiss one, Karl
Nary a prince would there be

Oh Karl the world isn’t fair
It isn’t and never will be
They tried out your plan
It brought misery instead
If you’d seen how they worked it
You’d be glad you were dead
Just like I’m glad I’m living in the land of the free
Where the rich just get richer
And the poor you don’t ever have to see
It would depress us, Karl
Because we care
That the world still isn’t fair

Since I was a child
I’ve tried to be what I am not
I’ve lied and I’ve enjoyed it all my life
I lied to my dear mother
To my sisters and my brother
And now I’m lying to my children and my wife

Big Hat, no cattle
Big head, no brain
Big snake, no rattle
I forever remain
Big hat, no cattle
I knew from the start
Big boat, no paddle
Big belly, no heart
Can’t remember why I do it
Oh, maybe I can

An honest man these days is hard to find
I only know we’re living in an unforgiving land
And a little lie can buy some real big peace of mind
Oftimes I have wondered what might I have become
Had I but buckled down and really tried
But when it came down to the wire
I called my family to my side
Stood up straight, threw my head back, and I lied, lied, lied

Big hat, no cattle
Big shoes, well you know
Big horse, no saddle
He goes wherever I go
Big hat, no cattle
Right from the start
Big guns, no battle
Big belly, no heart

When it came down to the wire
I called my little family to my side
Stood up straight, threw my head back, and I lied, lied, lied
Lied, lied, lied

Big hat, no cattle
Big head, no brain
Big snake, no rattle
I forever remain
Big hat, no cattle
I knew from the start
Big boat, no paddle
Big belly, no heart
Big boat, no paddle
Big belly, no heart

When you fall in love with someone
Who doesn’t love you
Someone who treats you so badly
It ramifies your head
Someone who doesn’t want you
But won’t let you go
Someone who thinks you’re crazy
And tells you so
Over and over
If this happens to you
You’d be better off dead

You might be surprised to learn how often it can happen
In a love affair
(And boy does it hurt)
You fall in love with someone for whom you really care
And they treat you just like dirt
They make you feel all fat and fumbly
Make you feel kind of dirty and flirty
Hey I’m talking to you
Didn’t you hear what I said?

Better off dead
Than living with someone
Whose every word’s like a knife that cuts through you
Better off dead
Than living with someone
Who just doesn’t give a shit what happens to you
You know that it’s wrong
But you go on and on and on
Better off dead
Better off dead
Better off dead

When you fall in love with someone
Who doesn’t love you
You better run for daylight
Just as fast as you can (Little man)
Forget your foolish dreams and schemes that things will work out in the end
Put some real mileage between yourself and the object of your love my friend
Or become what you see
Yes, a loser like me
Someone who’d be
Better off dead
Better off dead
Better off

Still in my heart
After all these years
Separated by time
And now by distance
I couldn’t allow myself to feel
The loss that I feel right now
As I put this song down
You’re far away
And happy I know
And it’s a little bit late
Twenty years or so
And it’s a little bit cold
For all those concerned
But I’d sell my soul and your souls for a song
So I’ll pour my heart out

I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I’m sorry but I do
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I’m sorry but it’s true

I want to thank you for the good years
And apologize for the rough ones
You must be laughing yourself sick
Up there in Idaho
But I wanted to write you one
Before I quit
And this one’s it

I miss you
I miss you
And I wanted you to know
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
And I still love you so

Going home
Going home
Oh the dark night is over now
I’m going home

To the land I love
To the land I love
And the one girl who waits for me
I’m going home

I will cross the sea
I will cross the sea
I am going home forever
I’m going home

Going home
Going home
Going home

I want everyone to like me
I want everyone to like me real bad
I want everyone to approve of me
‘Cause when they disapprove of me it makes me feel so sad

I want to earn the respect of my peers
If it takes a hundred years
I’d like to find out where they are, by the way,
For I would run to embrace them

I’m only kidding
I’m really very modest once you get to know me

A house, a little land
Maybe someone to lend a helping hand
A little money set aside
Ah, then I would be satisfied

I want someone to tell me one time
“Honey, you don’t look well.
Why don’t you lie down for a couple of years
I’ll look after things.” Yeah.
A grown up woman would be nice
I’d like to flip her over once or twice
Find out what makes her tick

Some friends to call my own, God knows,
A family and a home
A couple kiddies at my side
To keep me fat and satisfied

I want everyone to like me
That’s one thing
I know for sure
I want everyone to like me
‘Cause I’m a little insecure

It is 4004 B.C., and the Lord has just created the Universe. He and His Original Angels celebrate the Lord’s great acheivement (Glory Train). Lucifer, the Lord’s favorite, and the best looking angel by far, makes a little mistake, as will happen at parties, and is banished from Heaven forthwith and forever.

The centuries fly by. Lucifer, the Devil, now reigns in Hell where to the surprise of many, he has proven to be an effective administrator–harsh to be sure, vicious, even sadistic, ruthless when necessary but always fair. His life has not been an easy one however, and he longs to return to Heaven where they now have golf, roller coasters and Hawaiian music. He promises revenge (Can’t Keep A Good Man Down).

The Devil visits the Lord in Heaven. He notices the Lord seems bored, and even for Him, a little irritable (note unfortunate reference to Buddhists and lack of modesty in How Great Our Lord). He senses that the Lord may have lost a step or two, and decides to take advantage of it. The Devil contends that the Lord made a mistake when He created Mankind. The Lord says he doesn’t make mistakes. Knowing Him and His little, not weaknesses exactly, idiosyncrasies perhaps, better than anyone, the Devil goads the Lord into making a bet — a representative specimen of Human life on Earth is to be selected, the Devil will try to corrupt the selectee. After negotiating a bit, even at one point considering a Canadian (Northern Boy), they agree on Henry Faust, a schizophrenic student from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana (Bless The Children). Should the Devil win, he would be permitted to move back up to Heaven. If the Lord wins, he would get Faust’s soul which proves to be so tiny as to be almost invisible, but it is important to the Lord as are we all. The two old adversaries part amicably and get on with the rest of the show.

The Devil makes himself known to the boy and proffers a contract which Henry signs without reading. The Devil is astonished. Henry explains he doesn’t like to read on his own time. The Devil dislikes Henry at sight; he’s a bad boy alright, but in such an unimaginitive, illmannered, uncultured way (The Man)that the Devil, though sure of victory, is desheartened by the company he must keep. In any case, the Devil is certain that Henry will come through for him, and that he will once again abide with the Lord in Heaven. Right next door if possible. In addition, the Devil happens to know that an important member of the Lord’s staff, an English Angel, is angry about the Lord’s inexplicably cavalier treatment of his country, which did, after all, win those two Big Wars thereby saving the world (Little Island).

After spending some hard time with Henry, the Devil zips up to Heaven to pass a few quiet hours in the best place he knows. He unexpectedly encounters the Lord and some Angel Children. The Devil complains about having to deal with a barbarian like Henry. The Lord sympathizes, not liking the kid any better than the Devil does, and incidentally, genuinely worried about the viability of his bet–the Devil in Heaven would be intolerable. He’d ruin everything and probably would want to come over all the time and “do things” like they did as boys. The Lord loads up and with the help of the children, fires off an inspirational song at the Devil (Relax, Enjoy Yourself).

Faust has never been in love except with himself. The Lord decides to send down Cupid to shoot Faust to get a love thing going for the boy. The Lord’s personnel resources are staggeringly comprehensive. Cupid shoots Faust at a big St. Patricks Day Easter Bunny festival in South Bend on Easter Sunday. Henry falls in love with Margaret, the poorest, nicest and most beautiful girl in South Bend (Gainsville). The Devil, raging inwardly at the Lord’s perfidy (Cupid is after all a mythological figure from a pagan culture), notices Margaret has a friend with her, Martha, the most sophisticated girl in Indiana (Life Has Been Good), and one who has seen action not only at Arlington Park, but at Belmont, Aqueduct and Bay Meadows. The Devil falls for Martha hard; as only a middle-aged man can fall for a beautiful heartless young girl. Believe me. It’s the truth. He’s headed for trouble (I Gotta Be Your Man). Martha seems to reciprocate his feelings for her (Feels Like Home). It’s a trick. Too late. Martha Dumps the Devil (Bleeding All Over The Place). Meanwhile, Margaret, against her better judgment, falls in love with Faust (My Hero). Faust poisons her mother so he can be alone with her, sleeps with Margaret, impregnates her, and with the Devil’s help kills Maraget’s brother, Valentine, who sees Faust leave his sister’s humble little sleep chamber. Henry and the Devil are forced to skip town. They head for a cabin the Devil keeps on Lake Superior near Duluth. They bring their own water and stay a year.

In South Bend, Margaret has Henry’s child, and crazed with grief and shame, drowns it in a creek. This is the comic high point of Goethe’s original play, and one of the most delightfully urbane moments in all of German literature. In a hilarious courtroom sequence, Margaret is convicted of murder and sentenced to die at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. She sings a lullaby (Sandman’s Coming) though her baby is, of course, dead. She sings to a blanket!

Henry attempts to rescue Margaret who is already in the spirit world in spirit but because she was so good in life, the Angels come down and take her off to Heaven even before she is dead. Henry is impressed. He asks the Lord for forgiveness and takes some of the poison he gave Margaret’s mother. The Devil laughs, his own move to Heaven seems imminent; he says he’s going home to pack. Henry, expiring noisily, with neither dignity nor courage (he tries to induce vomiting to rid himself of the poison) asks again for forgiveness. The Devil laughs, but Lo! The Angels decend. The Lord’s voice booms down “he is saved.” Henry ascends to Heaven, favoring the Devil with a little wave as he goes. At this point, the impartial observer, if one such could be found, might agree that the Devil has been denied the victory to which he was entitled. Predictably, he is angry, very angry. Then after rage, depression, deep depression. He stands alone inthe cell. Head down, beaten. Even the Lord, watching from above, feels sorry for him.

A wind begins to blow, a warm, dry wind. The Devil’s hair is ruffled as the breeze freshens. His cape billows to the east. He wags his tail. He thinks of something that makes him very, very happy (Happy Ending).

THE END

Lord: Will you pass on over?
Angels: Yes, Lord
L: Will you all pass over?
A: Yes, Lord
L: Will you pass on over, and join the Lord?

L: Have you been redeemed?
A: Yes we have
L: Have you been redeemed?
A: Yes we have
L: Then you can pass on over, you can join the Lord

I see some hard times coming
Fire and wind and rain
Billions of people, all scared of each other
Hearts full of envy and anger and pain

There on the edge of darkness
People come together again
Standing on the platform
Waiting for the glory train
Get on the glory train
Get on the glory train
They’ll be standing on the platform
Waiting for the glory train

Lift up your head and stand tall
Let faith be your only guide
With all that love inside you
Salvation cannot be denied
Just when the storm is breaking
Just when no hope remains
Rollin’ into the station
Here comes the glory train

Get on the glory train
Get on the glory train
It’s rollin’ into the station
Bound for glory, bound for glory
Get on the glory train

Devil: If I might intrude
Just for a moment
If only to inject a note of reality
On this festive occasion

In all my life
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard such bullshit
Even from you
A master of bullshit
You know it
I know it
It’s bullshit
Bullshit

All of the faith and prayer in the world
All of your dumb show and circuses
You know it’s a lie
It’ll always be a lie
The invention of an animal
Who knows he’s going to die

Some fools in the desert
With nothing else to do
So scared of the dark
They didn’t know if they were coming or going
So they invented me
And they invented you
And other fools will keep it all going
And growing

Everybody
We’re a figment of their imagination
A beautiful dream, it is true
A figment of their imagination
Me and you
And you know it
Me and you

Devil: Everybody, gather ’round me
I got somethin’ I wanna tell you
Listen to me
When you’re on the bottom like I am today
And those around you are losing faith in what you’re tryin’ to do
There is only one thing a man can say
You can’t keep a good man down

There’ve been mistakes and I’ve made a few
But oh, what a price I had to pay
Yet still they try to push me around
But they can’t keep a good man down

There may be times when I’m feelin’ low
I lose sight of the dream
But that’s alright ’cause soon I know
I’ll be back on top again, runnin’ things
Hey hey

Treat a man like dirt. Give him no respect for who he is
Expect something dirty in return
Oh they’re flyin’ high up there
But they’ve got a lot to learn
Because you can’t keep a good man down

They shame me, blame me. They’re tryin’ to frame me
But they can’t keep a good man
They can’t keep a good man
They can’t keep a good man down .
Whoa, whoa, whoa
They can’t keep a good man…down

Lord: Sorry ladies, to make you wait
There’s a couple of Buddhists at the Pearly Gate
Asked my permission to come on board
Angel: What’d you do Lord?
I had to have ‘em put out with the trash
Sing it!

Oh Lord, how great our Lord
Oh Lord, how great our Lord

Ladies. Ladies!
Why does the earth, glide by below
Like a great big rubber ball?
Angel: It is like a rubber ball!
Why does the bird, fly through the sky
Why does the apple fall?

Folks up here, ask me why
Things go so badly down below
I tell them when they ask me why
I really do not know
Angel: But you do know, don’t you Lord?
Of course I do! Sing it!

Oh Lord, how great our Lord!
Oh Lord, how great our Lord!

Folks up here, ask me why
Things go so badly down below
I like to tell them when they ask me why
I say I really do not know
Angel: But you do know, right?
You know it! Come on!

Oh Lord, how great our Lord
Oh Lord, how great our Lord

Devil: I once knew a girl
Her name was Barbara
The cutest little muffin you have ever seen
I was livin’ in St. Louis
At the Chase Hotel
And she lived there
With her mommy and her daddy
And her little brother Skipper
Who was just thirteen

She went to church every morning
Said her prayers real loud every night
She was the best little girl
In the whole damn town
Lord: Watch it. Devil
Devil: But you know I’m right
You know I’m right

One morning in the lobby
I whispered in her ear
“Honey it’s too hot today to go to school
Whyn’t you call up
That cute little lifeguard?
He’s out by the hotel pool”
They drank all her daddy’s whisky
They took all her mama’s pills
They were found the next day
Drowned in their own vomit
Poor little fool
Poor little fool

Lord: In Ottawa, there is a custom
Before the boy becomes the man
He takes a drop of Northern courage
And swears he’ll do the best he can
He swears he’ll do the best he can

Devil: Oh Northern boy
As thick as a tree
As dull as a butterknife

L: Oh, Northern boy
Clean of limb, clear of eye
Unfettered he lives, unfettered he’ll die
The Northern boy
Oh Northern boy
Saskatchewan
An endless prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam

D: Only a man
Half blind on whisky
Would choose to make
This land his home
Would choose to make
This land his home

L: Oh Northern boy
As strong as an oak
As quick as thunderbolt
To adventure he’ll rise
The Northern boy
Can be as gentle as a lamb

D: And just like a sheep he will follow you
Whenever he can
The Northern boy

L: The Northern boy
The Northern boy

Faust: Sometimes you know I think that I
Will surely go insane
Got suicide and murder
Runnin’ in and out my brain
I dream of love, I dream of hate
I dream of death and pain
But no matter how I try
The dream remains the same
The same

All the little piggies
Up against the wall
All the little piggies ‘gainst the wall
(‘Gainst the wall)
One little piggie
Catch a bullet and he falls
Now there’s one less piggie ‘gainst the wall
(‘Gainst the wall)
Next little piggie
Gets a bullet in the eye
(Bullet in the eye)
Last little piggie
Falls to his knees and cries
‘Cause he’s blown away blown away
Blown away

Bless the children of the world
Give us all a chance to grow and live
Give us all you have to give
Bless the children of the world

Bless the children of the world
We’re the one’s who’ll have to carry on
Even though all hope is gone
Bless the children of the world

All we need is understanding
A sign to show us that you care
It isn’t love that we’re demanding
Just be there

Bless the children of the world
All we want is just to live our life
All we ask is to be free
Let it be
Bless the children of the world
Please bless us
Bless the children
Bless us
Bless the children of the world

Margaret: I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a café near the university

I’ve a brother died a’borning
And another who’s a sailor
I’ve a sister who is older, and living on her own
I have tried all my life to be kind to others
Even when others were unkind to me
I’ve been told all my life when I found someone
He would look at me and I’d know

Are you really mine?
Are you really mine?
Does your heart glow
When you see me walkin’ down the street, boy?
Do your eyes shine
When you know that we’re about to meet?
I don’t think they do
I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a café near the university
And she didn’t raise a fool when she raised me

Lord: When I’m feeling down
Worried about every little thing
I take a look around and this is what I say

Relax, enjoy yourself
It’s only a glorious game
There’s fruit trees growin’ in an open field
And wild roses bloomin’ down a country lane
Look around, old chum
Slow it down, old chum
For you never will succeed
You never will succeed

Relax, enjoy yourself
It’s all just a wonderful game
There are rivers and forests,
And mountains high
There’s the deep green ocean
And the pale blue sky

Let it go and then, you will know, old friend
That you never will succeed
You never will succeed

Angel Child: It must be very trying to be bad all the time
Vicious and cruel and mean
When there’s so much beauty
All around us to be seen
And so very little time in which to see it all
And feel it all
So little time
Perhaps when you were little
No one held you in their arms
And told you that they loved you very much
Perhaps you were embittered
By your fall from grace

D: How long have you been dead?

AC: Two Months

D: Do you miss your friends?

AC: Yes, I miss them
I’ve tried to make friends here, but it’s hard

D: You were a good girl
Cut down in your prime

AC: Yes

D: The man who shot you in the head
In that ‘Burger King in Tucson
Well, he never will be punished you know
He will move to Big Pine, California
Become the richest man in Inyo County
While that may not be much, it’s enough
When he dies
Sixty-five years from today
With his loved ones all around him
He’ll be whisked right up to heaven
He won’t pass go or have to wait
He’ll just march right through the Goddamned gate
And why, you may ask yourself why
For thousands and thousands of years
I have asked myself why

L: Faith.
Contrition.
Sincere contrition.
Confession.
Sincere confession
Redemption.
Absolution
Those who seek Me shall find Me
In the case of this man,
Predestination

My ways are mysterious
Sometimes even to myself
My ways are mysterious

D: Relax, old chum. Relax.
Its only a glorious game that we’re playing
And in a few more years
When I move up here
Things will never be the same

Martha: Life has been good to me
Got very few complaints so far
Life has been good to me
Hope you’re as happy wherever you are

I got the blue sky every mornin’
Big yellow moon at night
I always do whatever I want to
And everything I do, it always turns out right

Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey

Life has been good to me
Man, I would not change a thing
Life has been good to me
Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring

In every life a little rain must surely fall
I’m here to say that there’s a rainbow
Just around every corner

Life has been good to me
Well, I admit I’ve had a ball
Life has been good to me
I never worry ’bout nothin’ at all
I’ve got some good friends, they adore me
Know how to treat me right
I got a good man waitin’ for me
I’ve won every fight I’ve been in, and it always
Turned out that I was right

Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey.

Life has been good to me
Life has been good to me

Angel Rick: In two long wars, my country bled
To save the world for everyone
As through the years, the fight we’ve led
Too long, we stood alone, too long alone
And when at last, the battle won
We asked for no reward
An empire gone
Two generations turned to blood and dust
Only the best were lost
Only the best

And now, the years have passed
The times have changed
The foe is risen up
He stands
Astride the world
His dreams of conquest all fulfilled

Little Island, Little Island
Glory lost in the mists of time
They will pay
For what was done
To those of us
Who died so young
They will pay
For what was done
Little Island, Little Island
Little Island

Faust: Absolute control
Absolute power
I don’t have any power
I need power power power power power
power power
Absolute obedience
To my every command
I want to be the man
I want to be The Man
I want to be The Man
I’ve got to got to got to

Bodyguards
I’m gonna have bodyguards
When I walk into a club
With my bodyguards
They’ll say excuse me
That’s Mr. Faust’s table you’re sitting at
(You can’t sit there)
‘Scuse me sir
That’s Mr. Faust’s chair your big ass is in
(You can’t sit there)

‘Scuse me motherfucker
Don’t you understand motherfucker?

D: He’s the man
F: What?
D: You’re the man
F: I am?
D: Yes you are
F: I’m the man?
D: You’re the man
F: I’m the man
Women will come
Women will go
Big tits, pretty little tits
I just don’t know
Goddamn it I just don’t know

Do I have your respect?
D: Yes you have it
F: Do I have your admiration?
D: You know you got it
F: Do you get those good vibrations?
D: Yes, we do, you’re the man
F: I’m the man
I’m the man
I’m the man

Money, power, control
Equals love

Margaret: There’s something in his eyes that I like
He’s got this lazy little smile that he stole from a movie he saw
But I like him
He’s a momma’s boy for sure
It’s their lips that give them away you know
So soft, so pink
My hero. My little hero

I believe that in the sky there shines a star for me
Clean and bright and shining like the sun shines
And when it seemed that life was hard
Impossible to find your way
I thought about my star and kept on

Listen to your heart
It will tell you everything
Follow it wherever it would go

I believe that in the sky there shines a star
My special star
But I like this boy and I hope that he likes me
I like this boy and I hope that he likes me

Devil: Let me be your lover boy
Just wanna hold your hand
Something we might both enjoy
Can you understand

Now I been waitin’ for a long time
For you to tell me that you’d be mine
And honey I’m doin’ the best I can
But I got to be your man
I got to be your man
I got to

That great big moon that shines
Down in the sky above
Remindin’ me of love baby
Whoa, I’m really gonna give it to you
And in our solitude
I hold you in my arms
Captivated by your charms
Whoa
Whoa, now you’re gonna get it

When the mornin’ sun comes up
I’ll be there by your side
Fetch your coffee in your favorite cup
Do anything to keep you satisfied

Now people say this, people say that
People say they know where it’s at
But the proof of the pudding is in the pan
And I gotta be your man
I gotta be your man
I gotta be it

There’s somethin’ you should know
Tell you where I stand
Never gonna let you go
Yours to worship or command

I been waitin’ for a long time
For you to tell me that you’d be mine
Honey I’m doin’ the best I can
But I gotta be your man
I gotta be your man
I gotta be your man

Margaret: Something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms

There’s something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how low I’ve felt for so long
If you knew how I wanted someone
To come along
And change my life the way you’ve done

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

A window breaks
Down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But I’m alright ’cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see
Through the dark there’s a light

If you knew how much this moment
Means to me
And how long I’ve waited for your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought I’d love anyone so much

Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back
Where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

Martha: Sounds like a real sad song.
Devil: Why don’t you love me like you used to do?
Are you trying to break my heart?
M: Not me, baby
D: I know there’s somethin’ goin’ on with you
M: Un uh
D: Whatever it is, it’s tearin’ me apart
I walk along the river every night
Tryin’ to figure out why we fuss and fight
Is love once again to slip right through my hand?
M: I hope not
D: Baby, Have you been messin’ with another man?
M: Ohhh
D: Ohhhh

I’m bleedin’ all over the place
Bleedin’ all over the place
I don’t mean to be rude
But I’m in a pretty bad mood
Just take a look at my face
M: Yep, you look awful

D: I’m bleedin’ all over the place
Bleedin’ all over
Someone call a doctor
We got a serious case
Of bleedin’ all over the place

Why don’t you love me like you used to do
M: He’s startin’ to repeat himself, now
D: Tell me, what did I do wrong?
Seems like you’re through with me
I wasn’t through with you
My love for you is still very strong
M: Oh, yeah?

D: I wander aimlessly, not knowing what to do
I’ve become quite shameless in my love for you
I’m tryin real hard to understand
Have you been sleeping with another man baby, baby?

I’m bleedin’ all over the place
Bleedin’ all over
Get me a witness
To record my disgrace
How I’ve been dishonored
Deceived and debasedThen someone get me a band-aid
Before I fall on my fuckin’ face
‘Cause I’m bleedin’ all over the place

Margaret (in prison): Close your eyes now little girl
They don’t want to hear you cryin’
You never had a chance,
You never had a chance

It’s a great big dirty world
If they say it’s not they’re lyin’
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Close your eyes and dream
A little dream for you and me
Dream yourself a place where we can go
Baby you’ll never know

Close your eyes now little girl
Go to sleep my little baby
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Devil: I feel the hot wind blowin’
From the West to the East
I feel the hot wind blowin’
Can’t get no relief
I feel the hot wind blowin’
Ev’ry day and ev’ry night
I feel my confidence growin’And I know I’m gonna be alright

I see the volcanoes
‘Rupting and erupting
Red walls of fire

I got corruption
Seduction
Destruction
Reproduction
I got Las Vegas in my mind
Seem like it’s stuck up in there
Like it’s been up there for all times
You can take your desert
Goddamn it, give me mine
‘Cause I got Las Vegas in my mind

Through these portals
Pass the rich and the famous
Through these portals
Pass the very best at what they do
Man, they’re the greatest
It’s the land of giant women
But the little man is king
Here in Las Vegas
Man, they got ev’rything
Run with it

They got English girls
With legs so long
You gotta use a stepladder
To lick their love thing
It’s a family place too now
So bring the kids along
They’re gonna have a real good time here

They got wild women from Borneo
Playin’ the piano
In your bungalow
They got monkey women from the Amazon
Or something really funky
From the lands beyond
They’re here in Las Vegas
They’re here in Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Man, I’m speaking in tongues!

Lord: Will you pass on over?
Angels: Yes, Lord
L: Will you all pass over?
A: Yes, Lord
L: Will you pass on over, and join the Lord?

L: Will you pass on over?
A: Join the Lord
L: Will you all pass over?
A: Join the Lord
L: Will you pass on over, will you join the Lord?

L: Have you been redeemed?
A: Yes, Lord
L: Have you been redeemed?
A: Yes, Lord
L: Then you can pass on over
You can join the Lord

Angels: He isn’t in the garden
Nor on the golden stair
We searched beside the campground
But we couldn’t find him there

You know He’s very busy
For he listens to every prayer
Almost every prayer
Almost, almost

When He’s gone, we miss him
We miss our Lord

[The Lord enters.]

Whoa Lord
Whoa

Lord: Sorry ladies, to make you wait
There’s a couple of Buddhists at the Pearly Gate
They asked permission to come on board
A: What’d you do Lord?
L: I had ‘em put out with the trash
Sing it!

A: Whoa Lord!
How great our Lord
Whoa Lord!
How great!
H ow great our Lord

L: Ladies. Ladies!
Why does the earth, glide by below
Like a great big rubber ball?

Angel: We don’t know Lord

L: Why does the bird, fly through the sky
Why does the apple fall?
Angels: We don’t know.

L: Folks up here, they ask me why
Things go so badly down below
I tell them when they ask me why
I really do not know

Angel: But you do know, don’t you Lord?

L: ‘Course I do! Sing it!

Angels: Whoa Lord!
H ow great our Lord.
L: Sing it ladies!
A: Oh Lord!
How great!
So great
So great
Whoa Lord!
How great our Lord
Whoa Lord!
How great our Lord

Lord [complaining about his soft, boring, wimpy life]: The grass is green
The sky is blue

Each perfect day is a dream come true
The days are mellow
And the nights are sweet

Each perfect day is a dream come true
The days are mellow
And the nights are sweet

Devil: Once knew a girl
Her name was Barbara
Cutest little muffin you have ever seen
Livin’ in St. Louis
Chase Hotel
Lord: I know the place
D: And she lived there
With her mommy and her daddy
And her little brother Skipper
Who was just thirteen
Backup Devilettes: Just thirteen

D: Went to Church every morning
Said their Prayers real loud every night
She was the best little girl
In the whole damn town

Lord: Watch it, Devil

Devil: Sorry, Lord
But you know I’m right
You know I’m right

One morning in the lobby
I whispered in her ear
“Honey it’s too hot today to go to school
Whyn’t you call up
that cute little lifeguard?
He’s out by the hotel pool”

They drank all her daddy’s whisky
And they took all her mama’s pills
They were found the next day
Drowned in their own vomit
[Angels gasp]
Poor little fool
Poor little fool

Lord: Deep within my heart
Still there glows an ember
One golden dream that only I remember
Long ago

Blue, the deepest blue
How it shown within me
Greens and golds delight the darkness in me
Long ago I dream

Long ago I dream
But once I’ve dreamed
And it was beautiful
It was beautiful, beautiful

Deep within my heart
I dream

Lord: In Ottawa, there is a custom
Before the boy becomes the man
He takes a drop of Northern courage
And swears he’ll do the best he can
He swears he’ll do the best he can

Devil: Oh Northern boy
As thick as a tree
As dull as a butterknife

L: Oh, Northern boy
Clean of limb, clear of eye
Unfettered he lives, unfettered he’ll die
The Northern boy
Oh Northern boy Northern boy

Saskatchewan
Thy endless prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam

D: Only a man
Half blind on whisky

Would choose to make
This land his home
Would choose to make
This land his home

L: Oh Northern boy
As strong as an oak
As quick as thunderbolt
To adventure he’ll rise
The Northern boy
Can be as gentle as a lamb

D: And just like a sheep he will follow you
Whenever he can
The Northern boy

L: The Northern boy
Oh Northern boy

(Henry Faust on Easter Eve in South Bend, playing an electric guitar):

Faust: Sometimes you know that I think that I
Will surely go insane

Got suicide and murder
Runnin’ in and out my brain

I dream of love, I dream of hate
I dream of death and pain

But no matter how I try
The dream remains the same
The same

Four little piggies
Up against the wall
Four little piggies ‘gainst the wall
Backup Faustettes: ‘Gainst the wall
F: One little piggie
Catch a bullet and he falls
Now there’s three little piggie ‘gainst the wall
BF: ‘Gainst the wall
F: Second little piggie
Gets a bullet in the eye
BF: Bullet in the eye
F: Last little piggie
Falls to his knees and cries
‘Cause he’s blown away blown away
Blown away

[Henry moves to the front of the stage and plays an acoustic guitar]
Bless the children of the world
Give us all a chance to grow and live
Give us all you’ve got to give
Bless the children of the world

Bless the children of the world
We’re the one’s who’ll have to carry on
Even though all hope is gone
Bless the children of the world

All we need is understanding
A sign to show us that you care
It isn’t love that we’re demanding
Just be there

Bless the children of the world
All we want is just to live our life
All we ask is to be free
Let it be
And bless the children of the world
Bless us bless us
Please bless us
Bless the children of the world

The Irish: Oh Easter times are time for eggs
And the time for eggs is Easter time

It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)
It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)

It’s a damn fine day for the USA
And a damn fine day for the Irish

In spring the golden daffodils
Spread so sweetly o’er the hills

It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)
It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)

It’s a damn fine day, it’s a damn fine day
It’s a damn fine, damn fine day

Before the piper’s tune is played
A man may woo a pretty maid

It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)
It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)

It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)
It’s a damn fine day
(It’s a damn fine day)

It’s a damn fine day, it’s a damn fine day for the USA
And a damn fine day for the Irish

It’s a damn fine day for the USA
And a damn fine day for the Irish

Marchers [inspiring fear in the crowd]:
Oh, here we come
There’s a bold new spirit in the land
Not from Spain, not from Rome
But our own thing

All that we ask
Is the right to worship as we please
No more priests with their stuck-up ways
No nuns

Oh, we are men
And a man of god should marry if he wants to marry

Oh, we’re men, men, men, men

But our own thing

Oh, here we go
Will we find the answer, who can say
Won’t you all wish us well on our way

(The Doppler effect kicks in as the marchers march away.)

(Angel Rick, a British angel who always wears a flight jacket, in the Lord’s office alone with pictures of
prosperous Germans and Japanese and their cities rising to the sky)

Angel Rick: In two long wars, my country bled
To spare the world the fearsome Hun
As through the years, the fight we’d led
Too long, we stood alone, too long alone
Little Island

And when at last, battle’s won
We asked for no reward and no reward was received
The empire gone
Two generations turned to blood and dust
Only the best were lost
Only the best

And now, the years have passed
The times have changed
The foe is risen up
He stands
Astride the world
His dreams of conquest all fulfilled

Little Island, Little Island
Glory lost in the mists of time
Little Island

They will pay
For what was done
To those of us
Who died so young
They will pay
For what was done
Little Island, Little Island
Little Island

(Henry, playing on the guitar Hendrix was buried with)
Faust: Absolute control
Absolute power
I don’t have any power
I need power power power power power
power power yeah
Absolute obedience
To my every command
I want to be the man
I want to be the man
Devil: You’re the man

F: I want to be the man
D: You’re the man

F: I’ve got to got to got to got to got to got to got to got to

Bodyguards
Gonna have bodyguards
When I walk into a club
With my bodyguards
They’ll say excuse me
That’s Mr. Faust’s table you’re sitting at
Bodyguards: You can’t sit there
F: ‘Scuse me sir
That’s Mr. Faust’s chair your big ass is in
B: You can’t sit there
F: ‘Scuse me motherfucker
Don’t you understand motherfucker?

D: He’s the man
F: What?
D: You’re the man
F: I am?
D: Yes, you are
F: I’m the man?
D: You’re the man
F: I’m the man!

Women will come
Women will go
Big tits, pretty little tits
I just don’t know
Goddamn it I just don’t know

Who?

D: You
F: Who?
D: Man, it’s you
F: Do I have your respect?
D: Yes you have it
F: Do I have your admiration?
D: You know you got it
F: Do you get those good vibrations?
D: Yes, we do. You’re the man!
F: I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man
Money
Power
Control
Equals love

Devil: There is a boulevard
Where lonely people go
When all their dreams have withered and died
This is the place they go

They bring their broken hearts
Hearts that will never mend
They come here for they know
There’s nowhere else to go
This really is the end

[Tap dancers make an appearance.]

Along the boulevard
Think of the tears they’ve shed
They’ve nothing left to lose
They’ll always have the blues
They might as well be dead

[Girl standing on a bridge, looking to jump. She jumps.
Then she enters a little love-land, a little damp. She sees some other girls are there already.]

Girl: I never felt this way before
I don’t know what to do
You girls look like you know the score
That’s why I’m asking you
When he whispers sweet words in my ear
Tell me what I long to hear
Will he try to steal a kiss or two?

Existing Girls: Oh he’ll do more than that I’m telling you
First he’ll kiss your dainty finger tips
And then he’ll kiss your ruby lips
Then he’ll plant one right on your wazoo
You won’t know if the sky is green or blue
You won’t know if the sky is green or blue

Devil (entering with a top hat): It’s love time, whoa baby, it’s love time
You drive me crazy
I’d walk a mile just for a smile from you
Dance with me

It’s love time let me put my arms around you
Honey I’m so glad I found you

[The Devil exposes himself to the audience.]
(Spoken)
Just take a look at this
Oh, I ‘m so excited

Lets spoon a little, croon a little
Moon a little, Tune a little
Pretty soon, in a little while
I’ll be all over you

It’s love time

Here we are, we’re all alone
Lock the door, unplug the phone
Get into bed, we’ll turn out the lights
And say goodnight, goodnight
Say goodnight

It’s love time
Little honey, it’s love time
The days are sunny
What could I do, I’m so in love with you
Say goodnight
Goodnight

(Growling and commotion)
Girl: What’s the matter?
D: Just tired I guess

Love time

Lord (taking some kids on a Nature tour, including a little Chinese girl, who is standing apart from the rest):
Relax, enjoy yourself
You know it’s only a glorious game
They’ve fruit trees growin’ in an open field
And wild roses bloomin’ down a country lane
Look around, old chum
Slow it down, old chum
Or you never will succeed
You never will succeed

[The Devil is still pretty unhappy]

Relax, enjoy yourself
It’s all such a wonderful game
There are rivers and forests,
And mountains high
There are deep green oceans
And the pale blue sky

Let it go and then, you will know, old friend
That you never will succeed
You never will succeed

Chinese Angel Child (to the Devil):
It must be very trying to be bad all the time
Vicious and cruel and mean
[you get used to it]
When there’s so much beauty
All round us to be seen
And so very little time in which to see it all
And feel it all
So little time
[you should know]
Perhaps when you were little
No one held you in their arms
And told you that they loved you very much
Perhaps you were embittered
By your fall from Grace

Devil: How long have you been dead?

Angel Child: Two Months

D: Do you miss your friends?

AC: Yes, I miss them
I’ve tried to make friends here, but it’s hard

D: Yes, they resent you

AC: Perhaps

D: They know you’re smarter than they are

AC: Perhaps

D: Yes

AC: Perhaps

D: Yes

AC: Yes

D: Your parents, do you miss them?
Do you wish that you were with them?

AC: Yes, I miss them
I do miss them

D: The man who shot you in the head
In that Burger King in Tucson
Well, he never will be punished you know
He will move to Big Pine, California
Become the richest man in Mono County
While that may not be much, it’s enough
When he dies
Sixty-five years from today
With his loved ones all around him
He’ll be whisked right up to heaven
He won’t pass go or have to wait
He’ll just march right through the God-damned gate

Why
you may ask yourself why
For thousands and thousands of years
I have asked myself why

Lord: Faith

Angels: Contrition

L: Sincere contrition.
Confession.

A: Yes Lord

L: Sincere confession

A: Yes Lord. Yes Lord

L: Redemption.
Absolution
Those who seek Me shall find Me
In the case of this man,
Predestination

A: Predestination

L: My ways are mysterious
Sometimes even to myself
My ways are mysterious

Devil: Relax, old chum, relax
It’s all just a beautiful game that we’re playing
And in a few more years
When I move up here
Things will never be the same
Same
Same
Same

(Night March 17th, Sunday, in South Bend)
(Cupid shoots Faust and the Peasants notice)

Chorus of South Bend peasants: When love is in the air
It may strike swiftly
Like a bolt out of the blue
One never knows whom it might fall on
Maybe me, maybe you
Maybe me, maybe you …

Faust: I love you
Those words sound strange in my ear
I’ve never said them before to anyone
I love you
Now I know I’ll always love you
That must sound crazy to you
But girl, I love you
If you knew how lonely I have been
How cold and how lonely my life has been
I need the warm touch
Of someone who loves me like I love you
I love you and I don’t know your name

Margaret (speaking): It’s Margaret.

Faust: Margaret, do you love me?

Margaret: No

Faust: What was that?

Margaret: No

Faust: What was that you just said?

Margaret: No, I don’t love you
I don’t know you
I don’t love you

Faust: You little bitch
You whore
The first person I ever love and they don’t love me?
Unbelievable!

Forgive me, I didn’t know what I was saying

South Bend Chorus: Forgive him

Chorus from above: Forgive him

Margaret: I forgive you

South Bend Chorus: When love is in the air
It may strike swiftly
Like a bolt out of the blue
One never knows whom it might fall on
Maybe me, maybe me maybe you, maybe you
Maybe you

Gainesville, Florida

Margaret: I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a café near the university

I’ve a brother died aborning
And another who’s a sailor
I’ve a sister who is older, and living on her own
I have tried all my life to be kind to others
Even when others were unkind to me
I’ve been told all my life when I found someone
He would look at me and I’d know

Are you really mine?
Are you really mine?
Does your heart glow
When you see me walkin’ down the street, boy?
Do your eyes shine
When you know that we’re about to meet?
I don’t think they do

I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a café near the university
And she didn’t raise a fool when she raised me

Martha (scaring the Devil a bit):
Life has been good to me
Got very few complaints so far

Life has been good to me
Hope you’re as happy wherever you are

I got the blue sky every mornin’
Big yella’ moon at night
I always do whatever I want to
And everything I do
it always turns out right

Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey. Hey, Hey.

Life has been good to me
Man, I would not change a thing

Life has been good to me
Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring

In every life a little rain must surely fall
I’m here to say that there’s a rainbow
Just around every corner

Life has been good to me

Life has been good to me
I admit I’ve had a ball

Life has been good to me
I’ve never worried ’bout nothin’ at all

I’ve got some good friends
They adore me
Know how to treat me right
I got a good man waitin’ for me
I’ve won every fight I’ve been
and it’s always turned out that I was right

Hey, Hey. Hey

Life has been good to me

Margaret: There’s something in his eyes that I like
And he’s got this lazy little smile he stole from a movie he saw
But I like him
He’s a momma’s boy for sure
It’s their lips that give them away you know
So soft, so pink
My hero. My little hero

I believe that in the sky there shines a star for me
Clean and bright and shining like the sun shines

When it seemed that life was hard
Impossible to find your way
I thought about my star and kept on

Listen to your heart
It will tell you everything
Follow it wherever it would go

(Played, not sung) I believe that in the sky there shines a star
My special star
But I like this boy and I hope that he likes me

I like this boy and I hope that he likes me

(Martha is heading toward the Costa Rica airport, in posession of Margaret’s jewels.)
(Industrialists, the military, and peasants are waiting at the airport for Martha.)

Chorus: She’s coming, she’s coming, she’s coming
With a great silver bird she is coming
She’s coming, she’s coming, she’s coming
With a great silver bird she is coming

Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha
Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha

Martha: When I was poor I hated it
Always the wolf at the door
Now that I’m rich I’m so happy
I’ll never be poor anymore
Never be poor anymore

Chorus: Heavy industry
A higher standard of living

Martha: When I was a kid grandma told me
Girl, now you listen to me
Without any money you’re nothing
Without money you’ll never be free

Chorus: Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha

Martha: You might be pretty. Forget it. (Forget it.)
You might be smart but so what?
If you don’t have plenty of money
It’s plenty of nothing you’ve got

Chorus: Heavy industry
A higher standard of living

¡Hard currency!

(The crowd dances an unwritten dance until Martha shushes them.)

Martha: I had a friend
I betrayed that friend
Am I an animal or what?
Does not a human heart beat within my breast
Maybe not!

Chorus: Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha

Martha (speaking to the audience): Goodbye! Goodbye everyone! We won’t see each other ever again. But in my heart, I’ll always be an American. (Some angry grumbling.) A North American! Goodbye and give my regards to broadway!

Margaret: Close your eyes now little girl
They don’t want to hear you cryin’
You never had a chance,
you never had a chance

It’s a great big dirty world
If they say it ain’t they’re lyin’
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Close your eyes and dream
A little dream for you and me
Dream yourself a place where you can go
Baby you never know

Close your eyes now little girl
Go to sleep my little baby
Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Sandman’s comin’ soon
You know he’s comin’ soon

Devil: Won’t you come along with me,
To the Mississippi,
We’ll take a boat to the land of dreams,
Steam down the river to New Orleans.
The band’s there to greet us,
Old friends there to meet us.
Where the rich and the poor folks meet,
Let me take you down to Basin Street.

Basin Street,
That’s the street,
Where the elite
Always meet,
In New Orleans,
The Land of Dreams,
You’ll never know how nice it seems or
Just how much it really means,
I’m glad to be,
Yes siree,
Where the welcome’s free.
They’re so good to me,
That’s where I can lose,
My Basin Street Blues.

Will you have whiskey with your water
Or sugar with your tea?
What are these crazy questions
That they’re asking of me?
This is the wildest party that there ever could be
Oh, don’t turn on the light ’cause I don’t want to see

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, “That ain’t no way to have fun”

Open up the window, let some air into this room
I think I’m almost choking on the smell of stale perfume
And that cigarette you’re smoking ’bout to scare me half to death
Open up the window, let me catch my breath
The radio is blasting, someone’s beating on the door
Our hostess is not lasting – she’s out on the floor
I seen so many things here I ain’t never seen before
I don’t know what it is – but I don’t wanna see no more

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, “That ain’t no way to have fun”

Baby, take off your coat…(real slow)
Baby, take off your shoes…(here, I’ll take your shoes)
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
Go on over there and turn on the light…no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair…that’s right
Raise your arms up in to the air…shake ‘em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
I know what love is

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I’ll kick it down the street
That’s the way to treat a friend
Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today

In America you’ll get food to eat
Won’t have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You’ll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It’s great to be an American
Ain’t no lions or tigers
Ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev’rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You’ll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You’re all gonna be an American
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

No one likes us — I don’t know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let’s drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they’re spiteful and they’re hateful
They don’t respect us-so let’s surprise them
We’ll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin’, too
Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We’ll set everybody free
You’ll wear a Japanese kimono
And there’ll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let’s drop the big one now
Let’s drop the big one now

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he’s our fool
If they think they’re better than him they’re wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that’s where I made this song
We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol’ boys from Tennessee
And college men from LSU
Went in dumb – come out dumb too
Hustlin’ ’round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin’ drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they’re keepin’ the niggers down
We’re rednecks, rednecks
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down
Now your northern nigger’s a Negro
You see he’s got his dignity
Down here we’re too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he’s free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he’s free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They’re gatherin’ ‘em up from miles around
Keepin’ the niggers down
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
We don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down
We are keeping the niggers down

You looked like a princess the night we met
With your hair piled up high
I will never forget
I’m drunk right now baby
But I’ve got to be
Or I never could tell you
What you meant to me
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
You’re the song that the trees sing when the wind blows
You’re a flower, you’re a river, you’re a rainbow
Sometimes I’m crazy
But I guess you know
And I’m weak and I’m lazy
And I’ve hurt you so
And I don’t listen to a word you say
When you’re in trouble I just turn away
But I love you and I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

What has happened down here is the winds have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tyrin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, “Little fat man isn’t it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers land.”
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live
They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around
Tellin’ great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet
Well, I don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
`Round here
Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A Fool Such As I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It’s A Wonderful World)
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love
They got little baby legs
That stand so low
You got to pick ‘em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin’ peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They’re gonna get you every time
Well, I don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
‘Round here

What you wanna come back here for?
Thought you’re with your uptown friends
Don’t need none of your junkie business
You gonna screw us up again
Get your blackjack off my table
Get your coat out of my rack
We don’t need you ’round here, jerk-off
Chuck, I want you off my back
‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top
Got a gun from Uncle Freddy
Got a station all picked out
Got a plan and now we’re ready
Gonna take that station out
So you go on about your business
You just leave use folks alone
We don’t need no two-bit junkie
Screwin’ up our happy home
‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

I don’t love the mountains
And I don’t love the sea
And I don’t love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain’t pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love
They say that money
Can’t buy love in this world
But it’ll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right
One, two
It’s Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you
Three, four
It’s Money That I Love
Used to worry about the poor
But I don’t worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don’t worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say now about the starving children of India?
I say, “Oh mama”
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love

Hate New York City
It’s cold and it’s damp
And all the people dressed like monkeys
Let’s leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town’s a little too rugged
For you and me, you bad girl

Rollin’ down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin’ hot from the north
And we was born to ride
Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don’t let the music stop
We’re gonna ride it till we just can’t ride it no more
From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody’s very happy
‘Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Look at that mountain
Look at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man
He’s down on his knees
Look at these women
There ain’t nothin’ like em nowhere
Century Boulevard (We love it)
Victory Boulevard (We love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (We love it)
Sixth Street (We love it, we love it)
We love L.A.
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

There’s a girl over there
With the rhythm everywhere
She’s a very fine girl
And she’s been awfully nice to me
When we walk as we sometimes do
All the way out to Collins Avenue
Well it’s very, very fine
Very, very special
Very
Gee, I love Miami
It’s so nice and hot
And every building’s so pretty and white
And I always get into so much trouble
When I’m down here
I know these two old stiffs
Live on the Waterway
That’s where I like to stay
When I’m down
In
Miami
Blue Day
Best dope in the world
And it’s free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!
There’s a man over there
With the conk in his hair
He’s a very bad man
Don’t look now
He’s really very bad
And his name is Medina
And he comes from Argentina
See that little dog there with him
Well, he treats it just like it was his little boy
Oh, I love Miami
It’s so hot
And the women down here
Are so impure
I love to hang around
The big hotels
And sleep in the sun all day
I know this double jointed guy
With the circus in St. Pete
He’s with me now
He says hello
From Fourteenth Street
In
Miami
Blue day
Best dope in the world
And it’s free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!

Everyone tells me
I was dealt a losing hand
The way that I look
And the way that I act
It’s not hard to understand
Sure I got troubles
Maybe you got’em too
I’d like to explain what has happened to me
So it doesn’t happen to you
I was born in Los Angeles
Many, many, many years ago
We lived out in North Hollywood then
In a steamy little bungalow
My mother, my father
My baby brother and me
Playin’ cowboys all day
Out there in the valley
What a perfect family
Hey, hey
Get ‘em up, get ‘em up
Come a ti yi
Hey
Went off to high school
When I was thirteen
I was kind of advanced
If you know what I mean
Ran into some trouble
Drinkin’ heavy with my friends in the hills
My daddy had to come down to the station to get me
He said, “Where is my angry young man?”
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don’t wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance and we’ll start all over again
Now that young girl
Was just a summertime thing
She went back to school
When the school bell rang
Now I do my laundry by myself
Every night I eat alone
Baby please, please, please
Won’t you let me come back home
Goin’ off to college
Passed every test
They said, “Let’s send this boy to Palo Alto
He could be one of the best”
Four years at Stanford
Worked very hard
A lot of good it did me, little tramp,
You’re ruining my life
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don’t wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance
And we’ll start all over again
Just give me a chance
And we’ll start all over

You’re still the same girl you always were
You’re still the same girl you always were
A few more nights on the street, that’s all
A few more holes in your arm
A few more years with me, that’s all
You’re still the same girl
With the same sweet smile that you always had
And the same blue eyes like the sun
And the same clear voice that I always
You’re still the same girl
That I love

I was born right here, November ’43
My dad was a captain in the army
Fighting the Germans in Sicily.
My poor little momma
Didn’t know a soul in L.A.
So we went down to the Union Station and made our getaway.
Got on the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams.
Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters drove down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew.
Drinkin’ rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin’ to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too.
Who wouldn’t down there, wouldn’t you?
An American Christian, God damn!
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.

Devil: I feel the hot wind blowin’
From the West to the East
I feel the hot wind blowin’
Can’t get no relief
I feel the hot wind blowin’
Ev’ry day and ev’ry night
I feel my confidence growin’And I know I’m gonna be alright
I see the volcanoes
‘Rupting and erupting
Red walls of fire
I got corruption
Seduction
Destruction
Reproduction
I got Las Vegas in my mind
Seem like it’s stuck up in there
Like it’s been up there for all times
You can take your desert
Goddamn it, give me mine
‘Cause I got Las Vegas in my mind
Through these portals
Pass the rich and the famous
Through these portals
Pass the very best at what they do
Man, they’re the greatest
It’s the land of giant women
But the little man is king
Here in Las Vegas
Man, they got ev’rything
Run with it
They got English girls
With legs so long
You gotta use a stepladder
To lick their love thing
It’s a family place too now
So bring the kids along
They’re gonna have a real good time here
They got wild women from Borneo
Playin’ the piano
In your bungalow
They got monkey women from the Amazon
Or something really funky
From the lands beyond
They’re here in Las Vegas
They’re here in Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Man, I’m speaking in tongues!

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me
Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
If you got troubles
I got them too
There isn’t anything
I wouldn’t do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
Cause you’ve got a friend in me
Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me

Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them
Will ever love you
The way I do
It’s me and you, boy

And as the years go by,
Our friendship will never die
You’re gonna see it’s our destiny
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me

Something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms
There’s something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life
If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how low I’ve felt for so long
If you knew how I wanted someone
To some along
And change my life the way you’ve done
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
A window breaks
Down a long dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But I’m alright ’cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see
Through the dark there’s a light
If you knew how much this moment
Means to me
And how long I’ve waited for your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought I’d love anyone so much
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back
Where I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels like home to me
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong
Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong

Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
Pretty little baby
How come you never come around?
I sent you all them pretty flowers
Now you’re nowhere to be found
I call you up at midnight sometimes I must admit
And when I find you’re not at home
My head heats up like a furnace
My heart grows colder than a stone
So what’s the good of all this money I got
If every night I’m left here all alone?
It’s a gun that I need
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I ain’t ashamed of nothing
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
I don’t know what you’re talking about
All right let’s talk a little business
You know what I’m saying
A man of my experience of life
Don’t expect a beautiful young woman like yourself
To come on over here every day
And have some old dude banging on her like a gypsy on a tambourine
That’s not what we’re talking about
That’s not what we’re talking about
That’s not what we’re talking about
But I will say this
I’ve been all over the world
I’ve seen some wonderful things
I haven’t been well lately
I have no one to share my plans, my dreams
My hopes and my schemes, my…
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
You could be right
I’ve sunk pretty low this time
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
These are truly desperate times
Saw your little sandals baby
Out behind the wishing well
Down here in the cool depths of the Quarter
Where the rich folk dwell
And I pictured you in diamonds, satins and pearls
Come on back to Daddy
Daddy miss his little baby girl
Now, my father, he was an angry man
You cross him he made you pay
I myself,am no longer an angry man
Don’t make me beg you
Don’t make me beg
Do you know what if feels like
To wake up in the morning
Have every joint in your body aching, God damn it?
Do you know what it feels like
To have to get up in the middle of the night and sit down to take a piss?
You do know?
So you say
I have my doubts, Missy
Do you know what it feels like
To have to beg a little bum like you for love?
God damn it you little bitch, I’d kill you if I didn’t love you so much
Shame Shame Shame Shame Shame
Shut up
Forgive me
My unfocused words
I was flying blind
I lost my mind (Shame Shame Shame)
If you could find it in your heart, if you got one
To forgive me
I’d be ever so grateful (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please (Shame Shame Shame)
Will you stop that please I’m trying to talk to someone (Shame)
Thank you
You know, I have a Lexus now
I don’t get out much
You know what I’m saying
Come on home

Still in my heart
After all these years
Separated by time
And now by distance
I couldn’t allow myself to feel
The loss that I feel right now
As I put this song down
You’re far away
And happy I know
And it’s a little bit late
Twenty years or so
And it’s a little bit cold
For all those concerned
But I’d sell my soul and your souls for a song
So I’ll pour my heart out
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I’m sorry but I do
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I’m sorry but it’s true
I want to thank you for the good years
And apologize for the rough ones
You must be laughing yourself sick
Up there in Idaho
But I wanted to write you one
Before I quit
And this one’s it
I miss you
I miss you
And I wanted you to know
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
And I still love you so

I was born right here, November ’43
My dad was a captain in the army
Fighting the Germans in Sicily.
My poor little momma
Didn’t know a soul in L.A.
So we went down to the Union Station and made our getaway. 

Got on the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams.

Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters drove down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew.
Drinkin’ rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin’ to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too.
Who wouldn’t down there, wouldn’t you?
An American Christian, God damn!

On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams
On the Dixie Flyer bound for New Orleans
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams
Across the state of Texas to the land of dreams.

Don’t remember much about my baby days,
But I been told
We used to live on Willow near the Garden District
Next to the Sugar Bowl
Momma used to wheel me past an ice cream wagon
One side for White and one side for Colored
I remember trash cans floatin’ down Canal Street
It rained every day one summer
Momma used to take me to Audubon Park
Show me the ways of the world
She said, “here comes a white boy, there goes a black one,
that one’s an octoroon
This little cookie here’s a macaroon, that big round thing’s
a red balloon
And the paper down here’s called the Picayune
And here’s a New Orleans tune”
In 1948 my Daddy came to the city
Told the people that they’d won the war
Maybe they’d heard it, maybe not
Probably they’d heard it and just forgot
‘Cause they built him a platform there in Jackson Square
And the people came to hear him from everywhere
They started to party and they partied some more
‘Cause New Orleans had won the war
(We knew we’d do it, we done whipped the Yankees)
Daddy said, “I’m gonna get this boy out of this place
Bound to sap his strength
People have fun here, and I think that they should
But nobody from here every come to no good
They’re gonna pickle him in brandy and tell him he’s saved
Then throw fireworks all ’round his grave”
So he took us down to the airport, and flew us back to L.A.
That was the end of my baby days
Blue blue morning, blue blue day
All your bad dreams drift away
It’s a blue blue morning, of a blue blue day
Lose those bad dreams
Those gray clouds above you, what you want them around
with you for?
You got someone to love you
Who could ask for more?
It’s a blue blue morning, of a blue blue day
All your bad dreams drift away

One September morning when I was five
My daddy said, “Son, rise from your bed.”
I thought, I must be dreaming, it’s still dark outside
He said, “Son if you fall behind you’ll never get ahead
Here’s your little brown cowboy shirt, put it on
Here’s your little brown cowboy pants, put ‘em on
Here’s your little brown shoes, can you tie them yourself?
Get into the car, we’re gone!”
We drove, it seemed like forever,
Further than I’d ever been away from home
Then my daddy stopped the car, and he turned to me
He said, “Son it’s time to make us proud of you,
It’s time to do what’s right
Gonna have to learn to work hard”
I said, “Work? What are you talking about?
You’re not gonna leave me here, are you?”
He said “Yes I am!”
And drove off into the morning light
For a while I stood there, on the sidewalk
A Roy Rogers lunch pail in my hand
Then I heard sweet children’s voices calling
And I began to understand
They said, “Four eyes! Look like you’re still sleeping!”
“Four eyes! Look like you’re dead!”
“Four eyes! Where have you been keeping yourself?”
“Look like you been whupped upside the head.”

Your eyelids are gettin’ heavy
Hard to lift
Your mind begins to wander
Things start to drift
Your arms are getting heavy
Hard to lift
You sink down a little deeper
You’re feeling wonderful 

Maybe you’re falling in love
Maybe you’re falling in love
Maybe you’re falling, falling, falling, falling in love
You stare across the harbor
At the lights along the bay
Your arms have got so heavy, now
They’re just getting in your way
Look
Now you’re walkin’ in the holy land
Yeah, that’s you there, walkin’ with the king
You ask “What have I done to deserve this?”
Why, you haven’t done a thing
Maybe you’re falling in love
Maybe you’re falling in love
Maybe you’re falling, falling, falling, falling in love

All dressed up, nowhere to go
Looks so easy but it isn’t you know
Hard to find what you’re dreamin’ of
But there’s something special about our love
Different people, different worlds
You just call me, and I’ll be there for you
We belong together you know it’s true
‘Cause there’s something special about me and you
Something special about our love
It’s all right,
Baby, it’s ok
We’re gonna make it no matter what they say
Sure as the stars shine in the sky above
There is something special about our love
People change as time goes by
Others come between
But I’ll love you ’til the day I die
‘Cause there’s something special ’bout you and me
Something special about our love

High on a cliff in Mexico
Staring down at the rocks and the sea below
I can hear the church bells ring
I can hear the choir
I remember the night she left
I drove to the station in the pouring rain
Sat all night behind my big iron desk
The oil on the water made a rainbow
At the end of this bone-white gravel road
They both lie sleeping on a feather bed
And her hair is black as the sky at night
But her eyes are gray like the moon
You can run but you can’t hide
You can run but you can’t hide
You said you love me but I know you lied
You said you love me but I know you lied

They say that people are livin’ in the street
No food in their belly, no shoes on their feet
Six black children livin’ in a burned-up room
One bare light bulb swinging
Little black kid come home from school
Put his key in the door
Mr. Rat’s on the stairway, Mr. Junkie’s lyin’ in his
own vomit on the floor
You gotta roll with the punches, little black boy
That’s what you got to do
You got to roll with the punches
Tap it baby
There’s all these boring people, you see ‘em on the TV
And they’re making up all these boring stories
About how bad things have come to be
They say “You got to, got to, got to feed the hungry”
“You got to, got to, got to heal the sick”
I say we ain’t gotta do nothin’ for nobody
‘Cause they won’t work a lick, you know
They just gonna have to roll with the punches, yes they will
Gonna have to roll with them
They gonna have to roll with the punches, yes they will
It don’t matter whether you’re white, black or brown
You won’t get nowhere putting down
The old Red, White and Blue
Tap it baby. Alright.
Look at those little shorts he’s got on, ladies and
gentlemen
You can see all the way to Argentina
Get it
So pretty
Let ‘em go to Belgium, let ‘em go to France
Let ‘em go to Russia
Well at least they ought to have the chance to go there
We have talked about the red, we have talked about the blue
Now we gonna talk about the white
That’s what we’re gonna have to do
Now we had to roll with the punches, yes we did
We had to roll with ‘em
We had to roll with the punches
Yes we did
We had to roll with ‘em
I don’t care what you say
You’re livin’ in the greatest country in the world
When you’re livin’ in the USA
Tap it out baby, all right

People tell me that I brag a lot ’cause I call myself the Masterman
Always talkin’ ’bout how I got dynamite in every hand
Hit it
Me and my brother we live alone, got no television, got no telephone
But when we walk down the street people get out of the way
They say “Here come the Masterman and Baby J”
“Here come the Masterman and Baby J”
Hit it–hit it
When we get on the mike we’ll be number one
Even top D.M.C. and Run
Everybody’s gonna have some fun
‘Cause we’re takin’ ‘em all the way down
We’re takin’ ‘em all the way down
Gonna rap about this, gonna rap about that
Gonna tell everybody where it’s at
All over the world people gonna say
You got to dig the Masterman and Baby J
You got to dig the Masterman and Baby J
Hit it
People tell me “Man you live in a dump”
“You won’t never be nothin’ but a pumped-up chump”
You got no money–you got no sense
You won’t never be nothing, you won’t never be nothing
I say well-well-well-well 

When I look out my window, you know what I see
I don’t see no whores in the stinkin’ street
I don’t see no drunks and junkies dying
I don’t see no bums or garbage flyin’
I see me and J in the L.A. Coliseum
100,000 people on their feet
And they’re laughin’ and bumpin’ and screamin’ and cryin’
And jumpin’ up on their seat
And then the band begins to play and then they hush up
And then the band begins to play and then they hush up
And it gets real quiet in the Coliseum with the stage all
dark and bare
Maybe a little rain begins to fall–yeah
But the people stayin’ right there
Then you can hear that announcer say
Please welcome! (the crowd roars)
Please welcome! (the crowd roars)
L.A.’s own, the number one
The biggest, the best, the number one band in the USA
The Masterman and Baby J!
The Masterman and Baby J!

Left Los Angeles a short while ago
Flew ‘cross the country back to Buffalo
Walked around through the sleet and the snow
With a red bandana on my head
Saw my momma on 12th and Grand
Standing in the alley with the junkyard man
They were both so loaded they could hardly stand
Talkin’ ’bout going to Mexico
I said “Momma I was born
Out there I was born again
Been clear to California and back
Was out there so long many times I thought I was dead”
She said, “Sonny what’s that you got wrapped around your head?”
It’s a Red Bandana
It’s a Red Bandana
It’s a Red Bandana
It’s from Hollywood USA
Looked for the woman I used to love
Seen her in a bar off the Harlem road
Talking in a booth with Charley Hobbs
And this ugly little dude whom I didn’t know
She said “Honey you’re back I’m so glad
When you was gone I was so sad
You come in here lookin’ so bad
With that red bandana on your head
With that red bandana on your head”
Yes! It’s a Red Bandana
It’s a Red Bandana
It’s a Red Bandana
And it’s red just like your blood is

You can stand alone
Or with somebody else
Or stand with all of us, together
If you can believe
In something bigger than yourself
You can follow the flag forever
They say it’s just a dream
That dreamers dreamed
That it’s an empty thing that really has no meaning
They say it’s all a lie
But it’s not a lie
I’m going to follow the flag ’til I die
Into every life a little rain must fall
But it’s not gonna rain forever
You can rise above–you can rise above it all
We will follow the flag together
We will follow the flag forever

Of all of the people that I used to know
Most never adjusted to the great big world
I see them lurking in book stores
Working for the Public Radio
Carrying their babies around in a sack on their back
Moving careful and slow
It’s money that matters
Hear what I say
It’s money that matters
In the USA
All of these people are much brighter than I
In any fair system they would flourish and thrive
But they barely survive
They eke out a living and they barely survive
When I was a young boy, maybe thirteen
I took a hard look around me and asked what does it mean?
So I talked to my father, and he didn’t know
And I talked to my friend and he didn’t know
And I talked to my brother and he didn’t know
And I talked to everybody that I knew
It’s money that matters
Now you know that it’s true
It’s money that matters
Whatever you do
Then I talked to a man lived up on the county line
I was washing his car with a friend of mine
He was a little fat guy in a red jumpsuit
I said “You look kind of funny”
He said “I know that I do”
“But I got a great big house on the hill here
And a great big blonde wife inside it
And a great big pool in my backyard and another great big pool
beside it
Sonny it’s money that matters, hear what I say
It’s money that matters in the USA
It’s money that matters
Now you know that it’s true
It’s money that matters whatever you do”

I ran out on my children
And I ran out on my wife
Gonna run out on you too, baby
I’ve done it all my life
Everybody cried the night I left
Well, almost everybody did
My little boy just hung his head
And I put my arm, put my arm around his little shoulder
And this is what I said:
“Sonny I just want you to hurt like I do
I just want you to hurt like I do
I just want you to hurt like I do
Honest I do, honest I do, honest I do”
If I had one wish
One dream I knew would come true
I’d want to speak to all the people of the world
I’d get up there, I’d get up there on that platform
First I’d sing a song or two you know I would
Then I’ll tell you what I’d do
I’d talk to the people and I’d say
“It’s a rough rough world, it’s a tough tough world
Well, you know
And things don’t always, things don’t always go the way we plan
But there’s one thing, one thing we all have in common
And it’s something everyone can understand
All over the world sing along
I just want you to hurt like I do
I just want you to hurt like I do
I just want you to hurt like I do
Honest I do, honest I do, honest I do”

I like your mother
I like your brother
I like you
And you like me too
We’ll get a preacher
I’ll buy a ring
We’ll hire a band
With an accordion
A violin
And a tenor who can sing

You and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby

We’ll have a kid
Or maybe we’ll rent one
He’s got to be straight
We don’t want a bent one
He’ll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up

You and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby
You and me you and me you and me, baby

I’ll take the train into the city ev’ry mornin’
You may be plain – I think you’re pretty in the mornin’
And some nights we’ll go out dancin’
If I am not too tired
Some nights we’ll sit romancin’
Watching the Late Show by the fire

When our kids are grown
With kids of their own
They’ll send us away
To a little home in Florida
We’ll play checkers all day
Until we pass away

Sit by my window and watch the rain
I hear it beating on my windowpane
Well, it makes me so sad
Be no one ever hurt this bad

My baby left me and now I’m alone
Wait for a letter and I sit by the phone
Oh, the troubles I’ve had
Bet no one ever hurt this bad

Since you went away
I can’t face the day
And night brings nothin’ but pain
Thought I could go on
I see that I was wrong
Baby, please come home – I just can’t stand to be alone

Somebody somewhere here my plea
And send my baby back to me
It’d make me so glad
‘Cause no one ever hurt this bad

Cold gray buildings where a hill should be
Steel and concrete closin’ in on me
City faces haunt the places
I used to roam
Cowboy, cowboy – can’t run, can’t hide
Too late to fight now – too tired to try

Wind that once blew free
Now scatters dust to the sky
Cowboy, cowboy – can’t run, can’t hide
Too late to fight now – too tired to try

“Since you’re the delegate from Kansas
Will you kindly take the floor
And tell us what is Kansas thinking
And what is Kansas for?”

“Well Kansas is for the farmer
We stand behind the little man
And we need a firehouse in Topeka
So help us if you can”

“I see the gentleman from Utah
Our friendly Beehive State
How can we help you, Utah?
How can we make you great?”

“Well, we got to irrigate our deserts
We’ve got to get some things to grow
And we got to tell this country about Utah
`Cause nobody seems to know”

Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today

Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today

Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I’ll kick it down the street
That’s the way to treat a friend

Bright before me the signs implore me
Help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today

I’ve been his friend since we were little babies
I was a comfort to his mother and a pal to his dad
Before they passed away they said,
“Please take care of our Davy
You may be the only friend he ever will have”

Davy the fat boy, Davy the fat boy
Isn’t he round? Isn’t he round?
What do he weigh, folks?
Can you guess what he weighs?
It’s only a quarter
Win a teddy bear for the girlfriend
Or something for the wife
You got to let this fat boy in your life

I think we can persuade him to do
The famous fat boy dance for you
Give me half a chance
I just know you’ll like my fat boy’s dance

Davy the fat boy, Davy the fat boy
Isn’t he
Isn’t he round?

Have you seen my baby
On the avenue?
You know she’s driving me crazy
With the funny things she do
I seen her with the milkman
Ridin’ down the street
When you’re through with my baby, milkman
Send her home to me

Hold on, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on
You know it’s been so long
Since she have been gone
Hold on, hold on, hold on

I seen her with the gypsies
Dancin’ in the wood
She’s always been unfaithful to me
She ain’t never been no good
I say, “Please don’t talk to strangers, baby”
But she always do
She say, “I’ll talk to strangers if I want to
‘Cause I’m a stranger, too”

Hold on, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on
You know it’s been so long
Since she have been gone
Hold on, hold on, hold on

Let’s burn down the cornfield
Let’s burn down the cornfield
And we can listen to it burn

You hide behind the oak tree
You hide behind the oak tree
Stay out of danger ’til I return

Oh, it’s so good
On a cold night
To have a fire
Burnin’ warm and bright

You hide behind the oak tree
You hide behind the oak tree
Stay out of danger ’till I return

Let’s burn down the cornfield
Let’s burn down the cornfield
And I’ll make love to you while it’s burning

Will you have whiskey with your water
Or sugar with your tea?
What are these crazy questions
That they’re asking of me?
This is the wildest party that there ever could be
Oh, don’t turn on the light ’cause I don’t want to see

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, “That ain’t no way to have fun”

Open up the window, let some air into this room
I think I’m almost choking on the smell of stale perfume
And that cigarette you’re smoking ’bout to scare me half to death
Open up the window, let me catch my breath

The radio is blasting, someone’s beating on the door
Our hostess is not lasting – she’s out on the floor
I seen so many things here I ain’t never seen before
I don’t know what it is – but I don’t wanna see no more

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
Mama said, “That ain’t no way to have fun”

I saw your name, baby
In a telephone booth
And it told all about you, mama
Boy, I hope it was the truth
I took down your number
Looked up your address, Sue
And I was hopin’ that maybe
You could love me, too

I’m gonna wait in the shadows
For you to come by
I’m gonna wait in the shadows
For you to come by
And then I’ll jump from the shadows
And try and catch your eye
Gonna run my fingers through your hair
And love you everywhere

Now I don’t want to get too romantic
That’s just not my way
But when I get my arms around you
I’m gonna rock you all the night
Gonna rock you all the day
Suzanne, you won’t know it but I’ll be behind you
Don’t try and run away from me, little girl
Wherever you go I’ll find you
And when you go to the pictures
And I know you do
Don’t take no one with you
‘Cause I’ll be there, too
Suzanne

Turpentine and dandelion wine
I’ve turned the corner and I’m doin’ fine
Shootin’ at the birds on the telephone line
Pickin’ em off with this gun of mine
I got a fire in my belly
And a fire in my head
Goin’ higher and higher
Until I’m dead

Sister Sue, she’s short and stout
She didn’t grow up – she grew out
Mama says she’s plain but she’s just bein’ kind
Papa thinks she’s pretty but he’s almost blind
Don’t let her out much ‘cept at night
But I don’t care ’cause I’m all right

Oh, the sun shines bright on
My Old Kentucky Home
And the young folks roll on the floor
Oh, the sun shines bright on
My Old Kentucky Home
Keep them hard times away from my door

Brother Gene, he’s big and mean
And he don’t have much to say
He had a little woman who he whupped each day
But now she’s gone away
He got drunk last night
Kicked mama down the stairs
But I’m all right so I don’t care

In America you’ll get food to eat
Won’t have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You’ll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It’s great to be an American

Ain’t no lions or tigers
Ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev’rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You’ll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You’re all gonna be an American

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

I’ve been around the world
Had my pick of any girl
You’d think I’d be happy
But I’m not
Ev’rybody knows my name
But it’s just a crazy game
Oh, it’s lonely at the top

Listen to the band, they’re playing just for me
Listen to the people paying just for me
All the applause-all the parades
And all the money I have made
Oh, it’s lonely at the top

Listen all you fools out there
Go on and love me-I don’t care
Oh, it’s lonely at the top
Oh, it’s lonely at the top

Last night I had a dream
You were in it, I was in it with you
Everyone that I knew
And everyone that you know was in my dream
I saw a vampire
I saw a ghost
Everybody scared me but you sacred me the most
In the dream I had last night
In the dream I had last night
In my dream

It started out in a barnyard at sundown
And everyone was laughing and you were lying on the ground
You said, “Honey, can you tell me what you name is?”
“Honey, can you tell me what your name is?”
I said, “You know what my name is.”

Last night I had a dream
You were in it, I was in it with you
Everyone that I knew
And everyone that you know was in my dream
I saw a vampire
I saw a ghost
Everybody scared me but you sacred me the most
In the dream I had last night
In the dream I had last night
In my dream

No one likes us-I don’t know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let’s drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they’re spiteful and they’re hateful
They don’t respect us-so let’s surprise them
We’ll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us

We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin’, too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We’ll set everybody free
You’ll wear a Japanese kimono
And there’ll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let’s drop the big one now
Let’s drop the big one now

There’s a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There’s a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There’s an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There’s an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you’re calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
‘Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin’ through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on
Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can’t make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on

What have you done to the mirror?
What have you done to the floor?
Can’t I go nowhere without you?
Can’t I leave you alone any more?
Can’t I leave you alone any more?

I know you don’t think much of me
But someday you’ll understand
Wait’ll you learn how to talk, baby
I’ll show you how smart I am
I want to show you how smart I am

A quitter never wins
A winner never quits
When the going gets tough
The tough get going

Maybe you don’t know how to walk, baby
Maybe you can’t talk none either
Maybe you never will, baby
But I’ll always love you
I’ll always love you

Baby, take off your coat…(real slow)
Baby, take off your shoes…(here, I’ll take your shoes)
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on

Go on over there and turn on the light…no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair…that’s right
Raise your arms up in to the air…shake ‘em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live

Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
I know what love is

Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

Man means nothing, he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
‘Cause he thinks that’s where I’ll be
That’s why I love mankind

I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That’s why I love mankind

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, “Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won’t take care of us
Won’t you please, please let us be?”
And the Lord said
And the Lord said

I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That’s why I love mankind
You really need me
That’s why I love mankind

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he’s our fool
If they think they’re better than him they’re wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that’s where I made this song

We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the niggers down
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol’ boys from Tennessee
And college men from LSU
Went in dumb – come out dumb too
Hustlin’ ’round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin’ drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they’re keepin’ the niggers down

We’re rednecks, rednecks
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger’s a Negro
You see he’s got his dignity
Down here we’re too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he’s free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he’s free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They’re gatherin’ ‘em up from miles around
Keepin’ the niggers down

We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
We don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the niggers down
We are keeping the niggers down

Got a wife, got a family
Earn my livin’ with my hand
I’m a roller in a steel mill
In downtown Birmingham

My daddy was a barber
And a most unsightly man
He was born in Tuscaloosa
But he died right here in Birmingham

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ‘cross this entire land
But there ain’t no place like Birmingham

My wife’s named Mary
But she’s called Marie
We live in a three room house
With a pepper tree
I work all day in the factory
That’s alright with me

Got a big black dog
Whose name is Dan
Lives in my backyard in Birmingham
He is the meanest dog in Alabam’
Get ‘em Dan

Birmingham, Birmingham
The greatest city in Alabam’
You can travel ‘cross this entire land
But there ain’t no place like Birmingham

You looked like a princess the night we met
With your hair piled up high
I will never forget
I’m drunk right now baby
But I’ve got to be
Or I never could tell you
What you meant to me

I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

You’re the song that the trees sing when the wind blows
You’re a flower, you’re a river, you’re a rainbow
Sometimes I’m crazy
But I guess you know
And I’m weak and I’m lazy
And I’ve hurt you so
And I don’t listen to a word you say
When you’re in trouble I just turn away

But I love you and I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie
I loved you the first time I saw you
And I always will love you Marie

Yes, baby, I been drinkin’
And I shouldn’t come by I know
But I found myself in trouble, darlin’
And I had nowhere else to go

Got some whisky from the barman
Got some cocaine from a friend
I just had to keep on movin’
Til I was back in your arms again

I’m guilty, baby I’m guilty
And I’ll be guilty all the rest of my life
How come I never do what I’m supposed to do
How come nothin’ that I try to do ever turns out right?

You know, you know how it is with me baby
You know, you know I just can’t stand myself
And it takes a whole lot of medicine
For me to pretend that I’m somebody else

What has happened down here is the winds have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne

Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, “Little fat man isn’t it a shame what the river has
done
To this poor crackers land.”

Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away
They’re tryin’ to wash us away

There’s a hundred-thousand Frenchmen in New Orleans
In New Orleans there are Frenchmen everywhere
But your house could fall down
Your baby could drown
Wouldn’t none of those Frenchmen care

Everybody gather ’round
Loosen up your suspenders
Hunker down on the ground
I’m a cracker
And you are too
But don’t I take good care of you

Who built the highway to Baton Rouge?
Who put up the hospital and built your schools?
Who looks after shit-kickers like you?
The Kingfish do

Who gave a party at the Roosevelt Hotel?
And invited the whole north half of the state down there for free
The people in the city
Had their eyes bugging out
Cause everyone looked just like me

Here comes the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Everybody sing
Here’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Every man a king

Who took on the Standard Oil men
And whipped their ass
Just like he promised he’d do?
Ain’t no Standard Oil men gonna run this state
Gonna be run by little folks like me and you

Here’s the Kingfish, the Kingfish
Friend of the working man
The Kingfish, the Kingfish
The Kingfish gonna save this land

Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin’ to find the ocean
Lookin’ everywhere

Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain’t nowhere to run to
There ain’t nothin’ here for free

Hooker on the corner
Waitin’ for a train
Drunk lyin’ on the sidewalk
Sleepin’ in the rain

And they hide their faces
And they hide their eyes
‘Cause the city’s dyin’
And they don’t know why

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live

Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Buy a big old wagon
Gonna haul us all away

Livin’ in the country
Where the mountain’s high
Never comin’ back here
‘Til the day I die

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it’s hard just to live, just to live

Got a gun in my holster
Got a horse between my knees
And I’m goin’ to Arizona
Pardon me, boys, if you please

I have been a desperado
Raped and pillaged ‘cross the plain
Now, I’m goin’ to Arizona
Just a Rider In The Rain

He’s a Rider In The Rain
He’s a Rider In The Rain
And I’m goin’ to Arizona
He’s a Rider In The Rain

Oh, my mother’s in St. Louis
And my bride’s in Tennessee
So, I’m goin’ to Arizona
With a banjo on my knee

He’s a Rider In The Rain
He’s a Rider In The Rain
And I’m goin’ to Arizona
He’s a Rider In The Rain

Used to work in Uncle’s feed store
While he was fightin’ in the war
Now I’m goin’ to Arizona
Ain’t gonna work for him no more

I’m the son of the prairie
And the wind that sweeps the plain
So, I’m goin’ to Arizona
Just a Rider In The Rain

I’m a Rider In The Rain
I’m a Rider In The Rain
And he’s goin’ to Arizona
Just a Rider In The Rain

He’s a Rider In The Rain
He’s a Rider In The Rain
And I’m goin’ to Arizona
Just a Rider In The Rain

Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live

They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around
Tellin’ great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet

Well, I don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
`Round here

Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A Fool Such As I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It’s A Wonderful World)

Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love

They got little baby legs
That stand so low
You got to pick ‘em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin’ peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They’re gonna get you every time
Well, I don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
Don’t want no Short People
‘Round here

What you wanna come back here for?
Thought you’re with your uptown friends
Don’t need none of your junkie business
You gonna screw us up again

Get your blackjack off my table
Get your coat out of my rack
We don’t need you ’round here, jerk-off
Chuck, I want you off my back

‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

Got a gun from Uncle Freddy
Got a station all picked out
Got a plan and now we’re ready
Gonna take that station out

So you go on about your business
You just leave use folks alone
We don’t need no two-bit junkie
Screwin’ up our happy home

‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

In Germany Before The War
There was a man who owned a store
In nineteen hundred thirty-four
In Dusseldorf
And every night at fine-o-nine
He’d cross the park down to the Rhine
And he’d sit there by the shore

I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea

A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray
Reflected in his glasses
As he watches her
A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray

I’m looking at the river
But I’m thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea

We lie beneath the autumn sky
My little golden girl and I
And she lies very still

I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home
When your nights are troubled
And you’re all alone
When you’re feeling down
And need some sympathy
And there’s no one else around
To keep you company
Remember, baby,
You can always count on me

I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home

I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home
Wherever you may wander
And wherever you may roam
You come back
I’ll be waiting here for you
No one else will ever love you
The way I do
I’ll be here to comfort you
And see you through

I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home
I’ll Be Home

I don’t love the mountains
And I don’t love the sea
And I don’t love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain’t pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama

It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love

They say that money
Can’t buy love in this world
But it’ll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right

One, two
It’s Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you
Three, four
It’s Money That I Love

Used to worry about the poor
But I don’t worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don’t worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say now about the starving children of India?
I say, “Oh mama”

It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love
It’s Money That I Love

Stay with me for a little while
You’ve nowhere to go
I’ve nowhere to go
It makes me so happy
When you smile
At me

Work all your life
And you end up with nothing
Live in one room like a bum
Once I flew in a plane
And I fought in a war
We lived in a castle
And slept on the floor
And I don’t want to be
All alone anymore
I’m sorry

Out in the street
There’s little colored kids playing
Where my own little boy used to play
So I sit in this chair
And I ache with the gout
And I talk to myself
‘Cause I’m scared to go out
And I just want to know
What was it all about
I’m sorry

Was a little girl
Maybe five-foot-two
Had the cutest little feet
Made my heart go tweet-tweet
Quite a pleasant disposition

Then came a pretty young French girl, mmm
Whom I met in Las Vegas
When I was there with my parents
Oh my
Had a real nice conversation

Met a girl at the bakery
She wanted to borrow my car from me
I said, “Take it, baby”
She took it down
To Mexico
Ran over a man named Juan

Then I went to college
Met a college girl
She lived in the sorority house
Across from the school
Got a real fine education
Had seven women on my mind

Now I’m married
Have a very lovely wife
Three cute little boys
It’s so nice
And that’s just half the story
Of the girls in my life

William Brown, a tobacco man
Left North Carolina when he sold his land
He took a train to Omaha
Stayed there with some friends he had

And he didn’t mind the dust
And he didn’t mind the wind
And he didn’t mind the cold
And he didn’t miss home

And he liked the people
And he liked the town
So he built himself a house beside the river
And he sent for his children
And he sent for his cars
And he bought a little business that would
run itself

And he didn’t mind the dust
And he didn’t mind the wind
And he didn’t mind the cold
And he didn’t miss home

Hate New York City
It’s cold and it’s damp
And all the people dressed like monkeys
Let’s leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town’s a little too rugged
For you and me, you bad girl

Rollin’ down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin’ hot from the north
And we was born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don’t let the music stop
We’re gonna ride it till we just can’t ride it no more

From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody’s very happy
‘Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Look at that mountain
Look at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man
He’s down on his knees
Look at these women
There ain’t nothin’ like em nowhere

Century Boulevard (We love it)
Victory Boulevard (We love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (We love it)
Sixth Street (We love it, we love it)
We love L.A.

I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Have you seen my Marie?
She’s gone off somewhere
Unexpectedly
If she wanders in here, babe
Tell her I’m lookin’ for her
I ain’t mad or nothing
I just wanna talk

You know, Mikey
We’ve been friends for a long time
You tell me all your troubles
And I’ve always told you mine
North Beach has changed though
Since we were growin’ up
Didn’t used to be any spades here, now you got ‘em
Didn’t used to be any Mexicans here, now you got ‘em
Didn’t used to be any Chinamen here
Didn’t used to be this ugly music playing all the time
Where are we, on the moon?
Whatever happened to the old songs, Mikey?
Like the Duke of Earl
Mikey, whatever happened to the fucking Duke of Earl?

A couple of weeks ago
My wife and I
Took a little trip down to
Mexico
Met this young girl there
We brought her back with us
Now she lives with us
In Our Home
She cleans the hallway
She cleans the stair
She cleans the livingroom
She wipes the baby’s ass
She drives the kids to school
She does the laundry too
She wrote this song for me
Listen
Yeah

The other afternoon
My wife and I
Took a little ride into
Beverly Hills
Went to the private school
Our oldest child attends
Many famous people send their children there
This teacher says to us
“We have a problem here
This child just will not do
A thing I tell him to
And he’s such a big old thing
He hurts the other children
All the games they play, he plays so rough
Hold it teacher
Wait a minute
Maybe my hears are clogged or somethin’
Maybe I’m not understanding
The English language
Dear, you don’t seem to realize

My Life Is Good
My Life Is Good
My Life Is Good, you old bag
My Life, My Life

Just this evening
Some young associates of ours
Are flying in to see us from
New York City
They’re gonna stay with us
Oh, a couple of weeks or so
I’m gonna take ‘em to
Restaurants and everything
Gonna get’em some
Real good cocaine
They don’t get much
Where they come from
And this one’s guy wife
Is such a pretty little brown thing
That I’m liable to give her a poke or two
Whaddaya think of that?

Teacher, let me tell you a little story
Just this morning
My wife and I
Went to this hotel in the hills
That’s right
The Bel-Air Hotel
Where a very good friend of ours
Happens to be staying
And the name of this young man
Is Mr Bruce Springsteen
That’s right, yeah
Oh, we talked about some kind of
woodblock or something
And this new guitar we like
And you know what he said to me
I’ll tell you what he said to me
He said, “Rand, I’m tired
How would you like to be the Boss for awhile?”
Well, yeah
Blow, Big Man, blow

My Life Is Good
My Life Is Good
My Life Is Good
My Life, My Life Is Good

There’s a girl over there
With the rhythm everywhere
She’s a very fine girl
And she’s been awfully nice to me

When we walk as we sometimes do
All the way out to Collins Avenue
Well it’s very, very fine
Very, very special
Very

Gee, I love Miami
It’s so nice and hot
And every building’s so pretty and white
And I always get into so much trouble
When I’m down here
I know these two old stiffs
Live on the Waterway
That’s where I like to stay
When I’m down
In

Miami
Blue Day
Best dope in the world
And it’s free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!

There’s a man over there
With the conk in his hair
He’s a very bad man
Don’t look now
He’s really very bad
And his name is Medina
And he comes from Argentina
See that little dog there with him
Well, he treats it just like it was his little boy

Oh, I love Miami
It’s so hot
And the women down here
Are so impure
I love to hang around
The big hotels
And sleep in the sun all day

I know this double jointed guy
With the circus in St. Pete
He’s with me now
He says hello
From Fourteenth Street
In

Miami
Blue day
Best dope in the world
And it’s free
Miami
Blue day
Put on your shortie shorts
And your Hawaiian shirt
And come down!

She’s a real emotional girl
She wears her heart on her sleeve
Every little thing you tell her
She’ll believe
She really will
She even cries in her sleep
I’ve heard her
Many times before
I never had a girl who loved me
Half as much as this girl loves me
She’s real emotional
For eighteen years she lived at home
She was Daddy’s little girl
And Daddy helped her move out on her own
She met a boy
He broke her heart
And now she lives alone
And she’s very, very careful
Yes she is

She’s a real emotional girl
Lives down deep inside her herself
She turns on easy
It’s like a hurricane
You would not believe it
You gotta hold on tight to her
She’s a real emotional girl

Everyone tells me
I was dealt a losing hand
The way that I look
And the way that I act
It’s not hard to understand
Sure I got troubles
Maybe you got’em too
I’d like to explain what has happened to me
So it doesn’t happen to you

I was born in Los Angeles
Many, many, many years ago
We lived out in North Hollywood then
In a steamy little bungalow
My mother, my father
My baby brother and me
Playin’ cowboys all day
Out there in the valley
What a perfect family

Hey, hey
Get ‘em up, get ‘em up
Come a ti yi
Hey

Went off to high school
When I was thirteen
I was kind of advanced
If you know what I mean
Ran into some trouble
Drinkin’ heavy with my friends in the hills
My daddy had to come down to the station to get me
He said, “Where is my angry young man?”

Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don’t wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance and we’ll start all over again

Now that young girl
Was just a summertime thing
She went back to school
When the school bell rang
Now I do my laundry by myself
Every night I eat alone
Baby please, please, please
Won’t you let me come back home

Goin’ off to college
Passed every test
They said, “Let’s send this boy to Palo Alto
He could be one of the best”
Four years at Stanford
Worked very hard
A lot of good it did me, little tramp,
Your’re ruining my life

Take me back
Baby, please take me back
I don’t wanna live here by this dirty old airport
In this greasy little shack
Take me back
Baby, please take me back
Just give me a chance
And we’ll start all over again
Just give me a chance
And we’ll start all over