Grateful Dead

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Bringing me down, I'm running aground
Blind in the light of the interstate cars
Passing me by, the buses and semis
Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars

But I'm here by the road, bound to the load
That I picked up in ten thousand cafes and bars
Alone with the rush of the drivers who won't pick me up
The highway, the moon, the clouds, and the stars

The black throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a life where nothing is new
Ah, Mother American Night, I'm lost from the light
Oh I'm drowning in you

I left Saint Louis, City of Blues
In the midst of a storm I'd rather forget
I tried to pretend it came to an end
'Cause you weren't the woman I once thought I'd met

But I can't deny, that times have gone by
Where I never had doubts or thoughts of regrets
And I was a man when all this began
Who wouldn't think twice about being there yet

The black throated wind whispering sin,
And it speaks of a life that passes like dew
It forced me to see
That you've done better by me
Better by me than I've done by you

Now what's to found, racing around
You carry your pain wherever you go
Full of the blues, and trying to lose
You ain't going to learn what you don't want to know

So I give you my eyes, and all of their lies
Please help them to learn as well as to see
And capture a glance, whoa and make it a dance
Of looking at you looking at me

The black throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a life that could almost be true
Ah, Mother American Night, here comes the light
I'm turning around that's what I'm going to do
Going back home that's what I'm gonna do

A man and a woman come together as strangers
When they part they're usually strangers still
It's like a practical joke played on us by our Maker
Empty bottles that can't be filled

Baby who's to say it could have been different now that it's done
Baby who's to say that it should have been, anyway
Baby who's to say that it even matters in the long run
Give it just a minute
And it will blow away
It'll blow away

You fancy me to be the master of your feelings
You barely bruise me with your looks to kill
Though I admit we were sometimes brutal in our dealings
I never held you against your will

Your case against me is so very clearly stated
I plead no contest, I just turn and shrug
I've come to figure all importance overestimated
You must mean water when you beg for blood (note 1)

Like a feather in a whirlwind
Blow away
Just as sure as the world spins
Blow away

I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left, you were in his dream
Ah child of countless trees
Ah child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy

Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac
I can tell by the way you smile, he is rolling back
Come wash the night-time clean
Come grow the scorched ground green
Blow the horn, tap the tambourine
Close the gap of the dark years in between
You and me, Cassidy

Quick beats in an icy heart
Catch colt draws a coffin cart
There he goes and now here she starts
Hear her cry

Flight of the seabirds
Scattered like lost words
Wheel to the storm and fly

Faring thee well now
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell now
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine

Good, good morning, so good to see you
You weren't just a dream of mine
Real as a raven, real as thunder (note 1)
Real as the sun shining
But still so very hard to find
I can't imagine what's behind those sleepy eyes

Little stranger, don't try to hide now
You look so young and you're afraid
There is no danger but from the devil
And he may want you but I'm in his way
You don't know how easy it is
You don't know how easy it is to love you

And come the moonrise, when the dew falls
Don't be the sun that fades away
Don't leave me darkness, she is no lover
She hides the day
You don't know how easy it is
You don't know how easy it is to love you

My time coming any day, don't worry 'bout me, no
Been so long I felt this way, I'm in no hurry no
Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow
My time coming, voices saying, they tell me where to go (note 1)
Don't you worry 'bout me--oh no no, don't worry 'bout me, no
And I'm in no hurry--oh no no no, I know where to go

California, preaching on the burning shore
California, I'll be knocking on the golden door
Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light
Rising up to paradise, I know I'm gonna shine

My time coming any day, don't worry 'bout me, no
It's gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so
Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passing slow (note 2)
Still I know I lead the way, they tell me where I go

Don't you worry 'bout me--oh, no, no, don't worry 'bout me, no
And I'm in no hurry--oh, no, no, no, I know where to go

California, a prophet on the burning shore
California, I'll be knocking on the golden door
Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light
Rising up to paradise, I know I'm gonna shine

You've all been asleep, you would not believe me
Them voices telling me, you will soon receive me
We're standing on the beach, the sea will part before me (note 3)
Fire wheel burning in the air
You will follow me and we will ride to glory (note 4)
Way up in the middle of the air
And I'll call down thunder and speak the same
And my words fills the sky with flame (note 5)
And might and glory gonna be my name
And men gonna light my way

My time coming any day, don't worry 'bout me, no
It's gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so
Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passing slow (note 6)
My time coming any day, don't worry 'bout me, no
Don't you worry 'bout me--oh, no, no, don't worry 'bout me, no
And I'm in no hurry--oh, no, no, don't worry 'bout me, no
And I'm in no hurry--oh, no, no, no, I know where to go
[etc]

Inside you're burning
I can see clear through
Your eyes tell more than you mean them to

Lit up and flashing
Like the reds and blues
Out there on the neon avenue

But I feel like a stranger
Feel like a stranger

Well the music's thundering
We're restless and hot
You keep firing glances across the room

And I can't stop wondering
Just what you got
Get the feeling I'm gonna find out real soon

Still I feel like a stranger
Feel like a stranger
Well you know it's gonna get stranger
So let's get on with the show

Yes and the wheel
Gets smoking round midnight
You shoot me a look that said let's go

Yes and it feels
Just like running a red light
There ain't no point in looking behind us, no

But I feel like a stranger
Feel like a stranger
You know it keeps getting stranger and stranger
If it's love then how would I know?

Yes and it's gonna get stranger
Some things you just know

If this were love then how would I know
(Feel like a stranger)
(Feel like a stranger)
Feel like a stranger
(Feel like a stranger)
It's gonna be a long hot crazy night
It's gonna be a long long crazy crazy night
Yeah crazy night
Silky silky, crazy crazy night

It's three AM in the combat zone
Gentlemen, start your engines
You can close this bar, but baby I ain't going (note 1)
Gentlemen, start your engines
If you lock up the whiskey, give me gasoline
I got a seven grand redline on the black machine
The dead can do my sleeping, if you know what I mean
Gentlemen, start your engines

Got a little girl here in a pinafore (note 2)
Gentlemen, start your engines
She's gonna do us all and then beg for morev Gentlemen, start your engines
It's dark outside, but it's darker within
Check the back of my jacket just to see my grin
They don't write poems about the state that I'm in
Gentlemen, start your engines

One of these days I'm gonna pull myself together
Soon as I finish tearing myself apart
Let me tell you, honey, there's some mighty stormy weather (note 3)
Rolling round the caverns of my heart (note 4)

When the police come you better let them in
Gentlemen, start your engines
Don't forget to tell them what a sport I've been
Gentlemen, start your engines
I got a head full of vintage TNT
They're gonna blow me up instead of burying me
If you don't like trouble, better leave me be (note 5)
Gentlemen, start your engines

Ge-ge-ge-gentlemen, start your engines (note 6)
Ge-ge-ge-gentlemen, start
Ge-ge-ge-gentlemen, start
Ge-ge-ge-gentlemen, start your engines

Like the Devil's Mustangs I've been ridden hell for leather
Put away wet and angry in the dark (note 7)
Let me tell you honey, there's some mighty stormy weather
Rolling round the caverns of my heart

I was born in Flatland, U.S.A.
And all my dreams lead me to L.A.
Another case of rags to riches
I learned to throw some fancy pitches
And I found out what ain't, and which is
Just exactly cool

Heaven help the fool
Guess I showed the sons of bitches
Heaven help the fool

Got a place in Malibu
Like you've never seen
Pickin' out your lady friends
From Penthouse magazine

You ought to see the chrome gleam
On my new Mercedes
All shiny and new
Hey, I'm the Jack of Diamonds
The boy with all the clues

Lotta pretty vanity
No not me
Glorified insanity
No not me
I'm a hyper-survivor, fast driver, star-driver
Heaven help the fool
Professional gimme-fiver (note 1)
Heaven help the fool

Anything you want to be
You can buy, even get it free
Make yourself a smoother dancer
Fill your head with easy answers
Never a backward glancer
It's you who makes the rules

Heaven help the fool
No, never a backward glancer
Heaven help the fool

The middle of a pentagram
Heart of a star (what you are)
You can trade your soul for an electric guitar

Fool, lotta pretty vanity
No, not me
Fool, glorified insanity
No, not me
When they offer golden apples
Are you sure you'll refuse?
Heaven help the fool
Are you sure you'll refuse?
Heaven help the fool

Just like a deaf man dancin'
Like a blind man shootin' pool
Heaven help the fool

Well I was drinking last night with a biker
And I showed him a picture of you
I said "pal, get to know her, you'll like her"
Seemed like the least I could do

'Cause when he's charging his chopper
Up and down your carpeted halls
You will think me by contrast quite proper
Never mind how I stumble and fall
Never mind how I stumble and fall

You imagine sipping champagne from your boot (note 1)
For a taste of your elegant pride
I may be going to hell in a bucket
But at least I'm enjoying the ride
At least I'm enjoying the ride
Yeah at least I'm enjoying the ride

Ahh miss sweetie little soft-core pretender
Somehow baby got hard as it gets
With her black leather chrome spiked suspenders
And her chair and her whip and her pets

Well we know you're the reincarnation
Of the ravenous Catherine the Great
And we know how you love your ovations
And the Z-rated scenes you create
And the Z-rated scenes you create

You analyse me, attempt to despise me
And you laugh when I stumble and fall
There may come a day I will dance on your grave
If unable to dance I will crawl across it
Unable to dance I will crawl
Yeah, unable to dance I'll crawl

You must really consider the circus
'Cause it just might be your kind of zoo
I can't think of a place that's more perfect
For a person as perfect as you

And it's not like I'm leaving you lonely
'Cause I wouldn't know where to begin
But I know that you'll think of me only
When the snakes come marching in
When the snakes come marching in

Ride, ride, ride, ride
At least I'm enjoying the ride
Ride, ride, ride, ride
At least I'm enjoying the ride
Ride, ride, ride
At least I'm enjoying the ride

I need a woman 'bout twice my age
A lady of nobility, gentility and rage
A splendour in the dark, lightning on the draw
Who'll go right through the book and break each and every law

I got a feelin'
And it won't go away, oh no
Just one thing and I'll be OK
I need a miracle every day

I need a woman 'bout twice my height
Statuesque, raven-tressed, a goddess of the night
A secret incantation, candle burning blue
We'll consult the spirits, maybe they'll know what to do

And it's real
And it won't go away, oh no
Can't get around and I can't run away
I need a miracle every day

I need a woman 'bout twice my weight
A ton of fun who packs a gun with all that other freight
Find her in a side-show, leave her in LA
Ride her like a surfer riding on a tidal wave

And it's real
Believe what I say
Just one thing that I gotta say
I need a miracle very day

It takes dynamite to get me up
Too much of everything is just enough
One more thing that I gotta say
I need a miracle every day

Well there ain't nobody safer than someone who doesn't care
And it isn't even lonely when no-one's ever there
I had a lot of dreams once, but some of them came true
The honey's sometimes bitter when fortune falls on you
So you know I've been a soldier in the armies of the night
And I'll find the fatal error in what's otherwise all right
But now you're trembling like a sparrow, I will try with all my might
To give you just a little sweetness
Just a little light

I have always heard that virtue ought to be its own reward
But it never comes so easy when you're living by the sword
It's even harder to be heartless when you look at me that way
You're as might as the flower that will grow the stones away
Even though I've been a stranger full of irony and spite
Holding little but contempt for all things beautiful and bright
Something shines around you and it seems, to my delight
To give me just a little sweetness
Just a little light

It could be just another highway coiled up in the night
You could be just another white-tail, baby, stranded on my brights
There's a tingling recognition like the sound of distant thunder
And I begin to wonder if the love I've driven under won't ignite

Lazy lightning
That sleepy fire in your eyes
Is that desire in disguise
I keep on trying but I
I can't get through

Lazy lightning
I'd like to find the proper potion
To try to capture your emotion
[Alternative: To kind of capture your emotion]
You're right beside me but I
I can't get through

You're a loop of lazy lightning
Just a loop of lazy lighting
Must admit you're kind of frightening
But you really get me high

So exciting
When I hear your velvet thunder
You seem so near I start to wonder
Would you come closer if I
If I asked you to

So exciting
[Alternative: So inviting]
The way you're messing with my reason
It's an obsession but it's pleasing
Tell me a lie and I will swear
I will swear it's true

You're a loop of lazy lightning
Liquid loop of lazy lightning
Must admit you're kind of frightening
You're a loop of lazy lightning

Rope of fire round my heart (lightning)
Rope of fire ever tightening
Rope of fire round my heart (tightening)
[Alternative: It's either lunacy or lightning]
Come on come on lazy lightning

You're a loop of lazy lightning

Lazy lightning
You say you never start the same place
I want a double dose in any case
I'd fly a kite if I thought
Thought that would do

Here's to lightning
Well you always electrify me
Someday I know you'll satisfy me
And all that lightning will be
My lightning too

Loop of lazy lightning
(My lightning too)
[etc]

I woke today, and felt your side of bed
The covers were still warm where you'd been layin'
You were gone, my heart was filled with dread
You might not be sleeping here again

It's all right, 'cause I love you
And that's not gonna change
Run me round, make me hurt again and again
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name
And brave the storm to come
For it surely looks like rain

Did you ever waken to the sound of street cats making love
And guess from their cries you were listening to a fight
Well you know, hate's just the last thing they're thinking of
They're only trying to make it through the night

I only want to hold you, I don't want to tie you down
Or fence you in the lines I might have drawn
It's just that I have gotten used to having you around
My landscape would be empty if you were gone

It's all right, 'cause I love you
And that's not gonna change
Run me round, make me hurt again and again
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name
And brave the storm to come
For it surely looks like rain

Compass card is spinning
Helm is swingin' to and fro
Ooh where's the dog star
Ooh where's the moon
You're lost sailor
You've been too long at sea (note 1)

Some days the gales are howling
Some days the sea is still as glass
Ooh reef the mainsail
Ooh lash the mast
You're lost sailor
You've been too long at sea

Now the shore-lights beckon
Yeah there's a price for being free

Yeah the sea birds cry (note 2)
There's a ghost wind blowin'
It's calling you to that misty swirling sea
Till the chains of your dreams are broken
No place in this world you can be

You're lost sailor
You've been way too long at sea
Now the shore-lights beckon
Yeah there's a price for being free

Drifting yeah drifting
Yeah drifting and dreaming

'Cause there's a place you've never been (note 3)
Maybe a place you've never seen
You can hear her calling on the wind
Go on and drift your life away
Yeah just drifting and dreaming
Maybe drift your life away
Drifting and dreaming
Yes I'm going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream

My baby gives me the finance blues
Tax me to the limit of my revenues
Here she come finger popping clickety click
She says "furs or diamonds, you can take your pick"

She wants money
(what she wants)
She wants money
(what she wants)
She wants money
(what she wants)
She wants money
(what she wants)
Money, money, money, money, money
Money, money, money, money, money

She says "Money, honey", I'd rob a bank
I just load my gun and mosey down to the bank
Knocking off my neighbourhood savings and loan
To keep my sweet chiquita in eau de Cologne

Mama, don't send me down to rob that bank again
I got a notion you're leading me to sin
Won't you relax, won't you lay way back
Don't you bug your honey about no Cadillac
It's only bucks, you don't need no jack
So won't you please relax and lay way back

My baby's loving gives me such a thrill
It gives me inspiration making counterfeit bills
Now some folks say the best things in life are free
I sure don't get no loving living honestly

Lord made a lady out of Adam's rib
Next thing you know you got women's lib
Lovely to look upon, heaven to touch
It's a real shame they got to cost so much

My brother Esau killed a hunter
Back in nineteen sixty nine
And before the killing was done
His inheritance was mine
But his birthright was a wand to wave (note 1)
Before a weary band
Esau gave me sleeplessness
And a piece of moral land

My father favoured Esau (note 2) (note 3)
Who was eager to obey
All the bloody wild commandments
The old man shot his way
But all this favour ended when
My brother failed at war
He staggered home
And found me in the door (note 4)

Esau skates on mirrors any more (note 5)
Meets his pale reflection at the door
Yet sometimes at night I dream (note 6)
He's still that hairy man
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
And wandering the land
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
And wandering the land

Esau holds a blessing
Brother Esa

South of Market in the land of ruin
You'll find all manner of action
Got your tinsel tigers in the metal room
Stalking satisfaction
They got them packaged up for love and money
Tatooed tots, chrome spike bunnies
Pop on my mirrored shades, the better to see
And roll on in, gonna roll in it, honey

I get a feeling like when big things collide
Like the crack before the thunder, like I really ought to hide
Here comes metal angel, she looks ready to ride
What's that she's tryin' to show me?
What's that she's tryin' to show me?

Picasso moon, shattered light
Diamond bullets ripping up the night (note 1)
Picasso moon, liberate me
Ah, life's infinite diversity
Great, amazing, majesty
And it's bigger than a drive-in movie, oo-wee
And it's bigger than a drive-in movie, oo-wee

Hanging t

This must be heaven
Tonight I crossed the line
You must be the angel
I thought I might never find
Was it you I heard singing
Oh while I was chasing dreams
Driven by the wind
Like the dust that blows around
And the rain fallin' down

But I never know (sure don't know)
I never know, never know (sure don't know)

This must be heaven
'Cause here's where the rainbow ends
And at last it's the real thing
Or close enough to pretend

When that wind blows (wind blows)
And the night starts to fall
I can hear the silence call
It's a certain sort of sound
And the rain fallin' down
Rain fallin' down

Holes in what's left of my reason
Holes in the knees of my blues
Odds against me been increasing
But I'll pull through

Never could read no road-map
Now I don't know what the weather might do
Hear that witch wind whine
See that dog star shine
I got a feelin' there's no time to lose
No time to lose

I never know (sure don't know)
I will never know, no, no (sure don't know)

Well it's been heaven
Even rainbow's will end
Now my sails are filling
The wind so willing
And I'm good as gone again
I'm still walkin'
So I'm sure that I can dance
Just a saint of circumstance
Just a tiger in a trance
And the rain fallin' down
Rain falling down
Rain falling down

Well I never know
Just don't know
Just don't know
Sure don't know what I'm goin' for
Sure don't know
But I'm gonna go for it for sure
Yeah for sure, yeah for sure
Sure don't know what I'm goin' for
Just don't never know, never never know
But I'm gonna go for it for sure
No no no, that's for sure, yeah for sure
Sure don't know what I'm goin' for
Just don't never never know, no no
But I'm gonna go for it for sure
That's for sure
Sure don't know what I'm goin' for
Yeah maybe going on a dream, going on a dream now
But I'm gonna go for it for sure
Maybe going on a feeling, maybe going on a feeling
Maybe going on a feeling

It was a paradise for lizards when young Brigham saw it first
He said I've seen some nasty deserts Lord, but this one here's the worst
Then the Lord called down to Brigham, said "I've got a great idea"
I want a mighty city and I think I want it here

Salt Lake City, that town of righteousness and fame
Salt Lake City, don't sound like much, but hell what's in a name?
Nobody ever sings about it, but Lord I be going there just the same

Salt Lake City, where it's so easy keeping straight
Salt Lake City, just really makes Des Moines look second rate
Ain't making no big deal about it
But I hear the Mormon girls are really great

Salt Lake City, hey, dig that Tabernacle Choir
Salt Lake City, yeah they be bound to take you higher
There just ain't no two ways about it, yes Lord they really light my fire

Well Brigham kicked a prairie dog, and he muttered in his beard
Said you've put me through some changes Lord but this one's really weird
The Lord just laughed at Brigham, said "you'd better get to work"
The next time I check in here, I want paradise on earth

Salt Lake City, where Brigham made the desert bloom
Salt Lake City, put a colour TV in every room
And they got them crazy Mormon chicks, yes I'll be going there real soon

Salt Lake City, hey feel that magic in the air
Salt Lake City, you know that's kind of why I like it there
Salt Lake City, well you know that's where I'm bound
Salt Lake City, I'm going down to Salt Lake town

Well dizzy ain't the word for the way that you making me feel now
Well I need some indication Lord that all of this is real now
You got to tell me girl
And I've heard it said there's something wrong with my head now
You got to help me girl
Could it be infatuation or am I just being misled
Little bolt of inspiration
The way you strike me now
It's sparking my imagination
You got to like me now
You're causing me such excitation
Don't you like it now
You got to hear my supplication
Got to hear me now
A little bolt of inspiration
The way you strike me now
It's sparking my imagination

There's mosquitoes on the river
Fish are rising up like birds
It's been hot for seven weeks now
Too hot to even speak now
Did you hear what I just heard?

Say, it might have been a fiddle
Or it could have been the wind
But there seems to be a beat now
I can feel it in my feet now
Listen here it comes again

There's a band out on the highway
They're high-stepping into town
It's a rainbow full of sound
It's fireworks, calliopes and clowns
Everybody's dancing

Come on children, come on children
Come on clap your hands

Sun went down in honey
And the moon came up in wine
You know stars were spinning dizzy
Lord the band kept us so busy
We forgot about the time

They're a band beyond description
Like Jehovah's favourite choir
People joining hand in hand
While the music plays the band
Lord they're setting us on fire

Crazy rooster crowing midnight
Balls of lightning roll along
Old men sing about their dreams
Women laugh and children scream
And the band keeps playing on

Keep on dancing through to daylight
Greet the morning air with song
No one's noticed but the band's all packed and gone
Was it ever here at all?
But they kept on dancing

Come on children, come on children
Come on clap your hands

Well the cool breeze came on Tuesday
And the corn's a bumper crop
And the fields are full of dancing
Full of singing and romancing
The music never stopped

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity
Paint it with a skin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me
A peaceful place, or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race
Full of hope, full of grace, is the human face
But afraid we may lay our home to waste

There's a fear down here we can't forget
Hasn't got a name just yet
Always awake, always around
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Now watch as the ball revolves and the night-time falls (note 1)
And again the hunt begins and again the blood wind calls (note 2)
By and by, again, the morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes from some men's eyes
(Well I know)
It strolls the sidewalk and it rolls the streets
Staking turf, dividing up meat
Nightmare spook, piece of heat
It's you and me, you and me

Click flash blade in ghetto night
Rudy's looking for a fight
Rat cat alley, roll them bones
Need that cash to feed that Jones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Commissars and pinstripe bosses roll the dice
Anyway they fall, guess who gets to pay the price? (note 3)
Money green, or proletarian gray (note 4)
Selling guns instead of food today (note 5)
So the kids they dance and shake their bones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirit's sleeping then the flesh is ink
History's page will be neatly carved in stone
The future's here, we are it, we are on our own
On our own, on our own, we are on our own

If the game is lost, then we're all the same
No one left to place or take the blame
We will leave this place an empty stone
Or that shining ball of blue we call our home

So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south and white comes north (note 6)
And the whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours
While the current fashions set the pace
Lose your step, fall out of grace
The radical, he rant and rage
Singing someone got to turn the page
And the rich man in his summer home
Singing just leave well enough alone
But his pants are down, his cover's blown
And the politicians throwing stones
So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
'Cause it's all too clear we're on our own
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
It's dizzying, the possibilities

Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]

We don't own this place though we act as if we did
It belongs to the children of our children's kids
The actual owners haven't even been born yet

But we never tend the garden and we rarely pay the rent
Most of it is broken and the rest of it is bent
Put it all on plastic and I wonder where we'll be when the bills hit

We can run but we can't hide from it
Of all possible worlds we only got one, we gotta ride on it
Whatever we've done we'll never get far from what we leave behind
Baby we can run, run, run but we can't hide

Well I'm dumping my trash in your back yard
Making certain you don't notice really isn't so hard
You're so busy with your guns and all of your excuses to use them

Well it's oil for the rich and babies for the poor
We've got everyone believing that more is more
If a reckoning comes maybe we'll know what to do then

All these complications seem to leave no choice
I heard the tongues of billions speak with just one voice
Saying just leave all the rest to me, I need it worse than you, you see
Then I heard the sound of one child crying

Today I went out walking in the amber wind
There's a hole in the sky where the light pours in
I remember the days when I wasn't afraid of the sunshine

But now it beats down on the ashphalt land
Like hammering blow from God's left hand
What little still grows
Cringes in the shade till the night-time

Morning comes, she follows the path to the river shore
Lightly sung, her song is the latch on the morning's door (note 1)
See the sun sparkle in the reeds; silver beads pass into the sea

She comes from a town where they call her the woodcutter's daughter
She's brown as the bank where she kneels down to gather her water
And she bears it away with a love that the river has taught her
Let it flow, greatly flow, wide and clear

Round and round, the cut of the plow in the furrowed field
Seasons round, the bushels of corn and the barley meal (note 2)
Broken ground, open and beckoning to the spring; black dirt live again

The plowman is broad as the back of the land he is sowing
As he dances the circular track of the plow ever knowing
That the work of his day measures more than the planting and growing
Let it grow, let it grow, greatly yield (note 3)

What shall we say, shall we call it by a name
As well to count the angels dancing on a pin
Water bright as the sky from which it came
And the name is on the earth that takes it in
We will not speak but stand inside the rain
And listen to the thunder shout
I am, I am, I am, I am

So it goes, we make what we made since the world began
Nothing more, the love of the women, work of men
Seasons round, creatures great and small, up and down, as we rise and fall