Ralph Mctell

Have you seen the old man
In the closed down market
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes
In his eyes you see no pride
Hands held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper, telling yesterday's news
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags
She's no time for talking
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

In the old night cafe at a quarter past eleven
The same old man sitting there on his own
Looking at the world over the rim of his teacup
Each tea lasts an hour, and he wanders home alone

So how can you tell me that you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with the minor ribands that he wears
In our city winter the rain cries little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world which doesn't care

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of

Have you seen the old man
In the closed down market
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes
In his eyes you see no pride
Hands held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper, telling yesterday's news
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags
She's no time for talking
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

In the old night cafe at a quarter past eleven
The same old man sitting there on his own
Looking at the world over the rim of his teacup
Each tea lasts an hour, and he wanders home alone

So how can you tell me that you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with the minor ribands that he wears
In our city winter the rain cries little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world which doesn't care

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of

Hey little girl on the bicycle,
Wheels spin like they're riding on air.
Hey little girl on the bicycle,
Wheels flash like the sun in her hair.
And the wheels go round
But the bike has stopped moving
Trees on the river move by her.

Hey little girl on the bicycle,
Sun blaze in her hair like a flame,
And the river's reflecting her bicycle
And the reeds whisper her name,
And the wheels go round
But the bike has stopped moving,
Trees on the river move by her.

Hey little girl on the bicycle
Dressed in white, the trees were in green.
Sparkling cycling bicycle
That moves through the trees like a dream
And the wheels go round
And the trees have stopped moving
Suddenly she is gone.

La, la, la...

I woke up this morning,
Louise had gone
Left me so blue I was
Singing this lonesome song
Louise had gone and left me,
Left me worried and blue
That gal's gone and left me
I don't know what I'm a gonna do.

Won't you give me some air,
She's the best girl I have seen
Treated me like a king,
But she was a doggone queen
Louise has gone and left me,
Left me worried in my mind
Well I don't mind her going
But Louise write me some of your lines.

Footsteps down the stairs and at the door
Pausing in the hall and at the door
'Cos I know Daddy's here
I can tell that he's there.

And that means she'll be glad
Until we're in bed then she's alone
For there are things they have to say
And we are sent away.

Mama, the room is cold and he is scared
I am too, and you're not there.
How could we know you'd only took a walk
To a neighbour for a quiet talk.

Sunshine's dying flicker on grey stone walls
Outside in the hall the old dog growls
And we're in bed playing guessing games
Telling stories, making plans.

Radio, celery and Sunday tea
It is nicer here, just us three
And I know he won't come again
There is no need to explain.

The air was cool
On lily pools
Hazy, lazy
And here and there
He'd stop to stare
Admiring all the flowers (Kew gardens)
Wandering round for hours (Kew gardens)

The sun was warm
across the lawns
Scented, blended
He saw her linger
And With her finger open up a rose (Kew gardens)
Standing on tip toes (Kew gardens)


Suddenly the rain came flurrying
Sending the two of them hurrying
Helter skelter for the shelter
And feeling bolder in the big pagoda
He gently enquired her name
And they waited till the sunshine came. (Kew gardens)

And for a while
The griffin smiled
Kindly, blindly
Till the evening bell
Broke the spell
And sadly they said goodbye (Kew gardens)
And one of the griffins cried
In Kew Gardens

If I take you dancing
Down the streets to watch you laughing
And stop still in the spring night rain
Just to watch you smile again
Understand I hold you hand
A little tight as if by this
I'll stop the night from running
Into morning light too soon.

Ice cream and candy bars,
A Paris moon and Paris stars
Can you count the times
That we heard the chimes of Notre Dame
Across the Seine
To remind us sadly once again,
Time just like the river
Was swiftly passing by.

Just a few reminders
Of the little things that bind us
Do they make you sad
Or make you glad
To think about the times we had
In my dreams you're dancing
In the embers of an evening,
And I'll hold your hand a little tight
Just to stop this special night,
From running into morning light too soon.

Sundays, as a rule,
Us kids went to Sunday School,
And Mrs Adlam said,
Angels stood round our bed.
To keep us safe from dark,
Right through 'til day begun,
And we used to lie awake,
Just to try to see one,
And though we never saw one anywhere,
We heard them softly singing in the air.

Sundays occasionally
We were invited back for tea,
And bread with jam and cream,
Made Sundays seem a dream.
In the dingy mission hall,
Mrs Adlam praying,
And down the street back home,
All our mates were playing,
With Mrs Adlam's angels everywhere,
And we thought we saw a halo in her hair.

Sundays, for sure,
Ain't like that anymore,
Its getting hard for me,
To see her face in front of me.
I wonder if her angels
Have their arms around her curled,
Keeping her safe from life,
And guarding her from the world.
On a summer Sunday evening do I dare,
To hear Mrs Adlam's angels in the air.

Got my girl,
Took a chance,
We went to a midnight dance
But it was too tight,
This rag o' mine.

Too tight now, it's the most
Too tight, nearest past the post
Too tight, too tight, too tight
This rag o' mine.

Too tight, it's the best,
Too tight, better then the rest.
Too tight, too tight, too tight
That rag o'mine.

Too tight now it's the most
Too tight, for us past the post
It was too tight
This rag o'mine.

Too tight, it went to my head
Too tight, I should have stayed in bed
Too tight
That rag o‘ mine.

Too tight, it's the most
Too tight, like dripping on a toast
Too tight, too tight, too tight
That rag o‘ mine.

She comes riding early in the morning
Round about four to seven.
No one's ever out at that hour
With eyes that see
Her touch the morning flowers secretly
And the leaves slow their commotion
And the great trees gently sway
Like an ocean on a still day
And raise in praise their arms to the sun
Who announces the day has begun
At eight frames a second
And
Velvety shadows in misty meadows
Are changing colours so softly
With care the sun
Puts colour in his drawing
And rises to inspect
His masterpiece this morning
So perfect
And as she rides the gold and silver miles
Only the sun is sure
What it is that she smiles for
She leaves with no sign of what she has done
Though her morning rise known by everyone
I'll tell you her name and it's dawn.

Out in the garden, amongst the bushes, Michael is crying.
Caught in a spider's web, its broken wings beating, a butterfly dying.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
Well they must be blind, if they can't see what Michael sees.

Michael is silent, talking to no one of things that he sees.
But out in the garden, he talks in soft whispers, like the wind in the leaves.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
They've seen the signs, but they can't see what Michael sees.

And inside the building someone is calling his name through the halls.
But he doesn't answer, though he easily hears each leaf as it falls.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
Well they must be blind, for they can't see what Michael sees.

Michael where are you ?
Michael where are we,
We who see that there's something wrong with your mind?

And inside the garden Michael is smiling, at peace in his world.
At one with the insects, the flowers, and the trees, and the wind and the birds.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

Oh Michael sees all
Behind the high walls
Surrounding his kingdom,
Whilst we in our wisdom
Still trapped in the spider's web
Far from the flow and ebb
Of life in the garden
But Michael has pardoned
Us for he sees
That really he's free
And there's nothing to mend
For his wings are not broken

And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
They've seen the signs, but Michael feels fine inside the garden.

Got my hesitation stockings, hesitation shoes,
Lord almighty got them hesitation blues.
And tell me how long, oh, must I have to wait?
Can I get you now, oh no, must I hesitate.

A nickle is a nickle, and a dime is a dime,
I got a house full of kids, one of them must be mine.
Oh how long, must I have to wait?
Can I get you now, oh no, must I hesitate.

And I'm standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand,
Looking for a woman who's looking for a man
How long, Good God must I wait ?
Can I get you now, oh no, must I hesitate.

Never been to heaven, but I've been told,
Old Saint Peter knows how to jelly-roll,
How long, must I have to wait?
Can I get you now, oh no, must I hesitate.

Hesitation, got my hesitation,
Lord almighty got my hesitation.
How long, must I have to...
Can I... , oh no, must I hesitate.

Standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand,
Looking for a woman who's looking for a man
How long, Good God must I wait?
Can I get you now, oh no, must I hesitate.

Hesitation Blues.

(Ralph McTell)

I'm running up a spiral staircase,
Drilling a hole in the ground.
And the staicase is winning,
And my head is spinning,
And I don't even dare to look round.

I'm running up a spiral staircase
I can't reach the top.
I'm running up a spiral staircase
And I'm too scared to stop.
And there's nothing anybody can do
To stop the staicase, like a giant corkscrew,
From spinning around and around and around and around.

Now in the begining I only saw you
When the staircase hit your vision line.
But now that it's moving around so fast
I can see you all of the time.

I'm running up a spiral staircase
I can't reach the top.
I'm running up a spiral staircase
And I'm too scared to stop.
And there's nothing anybody can do
To stop the staicase, like a giant corkscrew,
From spinning around and around and around and around.

Now in the begining it was moving so slowly
I never noticed it at first.
But now that it's moving round so fast
I think my head is gonna burst.

I'm running up a spiral staircase
I can't reach the top.
I'm running up a spiral staircase
And I'm too scared to stop.
And I believe that I'm gonna shot through
To stop the staicase, like a giant corkscrew,
From spinning around and around and around and around.

Now without a doubt I'm a-wearing out
And I'm really begining to tire.
I know the staircase is steel but it just about feels
As though it's gonna catch on fire.

I'm running up a spiral staircase
I can't reach the top.
I'm running up a spiral staircase
And I'm too scared to stop.
And I believe that I'm gonna shot through
To stop the staicase, like a giant corkscrew,
From spinning around and around and around and around.

The lights have gone dim,
And the people are gone.
And clown goes back into his caravan.
Hangs up his smile
On a hook by the door
And lets his ragged coat slip to the floor.

With the sound of the children's laughter
Still ringing in his ears.
Laughing 'cause they're happy,
They laugh to hide their fears.

Clown loves the children
For, like him, they fear.
The world does not exist tonight,
And only the circus,
Only the circus is real.

As real as the elephants that trumpet in the ring.
Real like the trapeze, see it swing.
Real like the man who eats real fire,
Real like the lady on the high wire.

But the people are gone,
His identity gone.
Clown peeps through he windows of his caravan.
From the trees on the common
The town looks so small.
Clown puts on his coat and goes out the door.

And the distant neon lights
They shine above the town.
"It's almost like a circus" thinks clown.
And half with fear
And half with delight,
Shivering, shaking,
Clown stands laughing,
Clown stands laughing,
Clown is laughing at the night.

How I'd like to run away
Oh how I'd love to go
Then I think maybe I will stay
And just wait for the snow.
To wipe the year from off the page
I'll pretend I did not know
But I remember all the words
And the memory well it won't go
No it won't go

How I'd like to up and fly
Almost anywhere
But I don't have the nerve to try
And you think that I'd never cared
So I'll wait until the snow has gone
Yes I think maybe I'll stay
For I really don't know where I'd run
And running's not that's not my way
No it ain't my way.

How I'd like to run away
Oh how I'd love to go
Then I think maybe I will stay
And just wait for the snow.
To wipe the year from off the page
I'll pretend I did not know
But I remember all the words
And the memory well it won't go
No it won't go.

Have you seen the old man
In the closed down market
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes
In his eyes you see no pride
Hands held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper, telling yesterday's news
So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags
She's no time for talking
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

In the old night cafe at a quarter past eleven
The same old man sitting there on his own
Looking at the world over the rim of his teacup
Each tea lasts an hour, and he wanders home alone

So how can you tell me that you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something
To make you change your mind

Have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with the minor ribands that he wears
In our city winter the rain cries little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world which doesn't care

So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you that the sun don't shine
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of

Don't care for gardenias
Rather have a dandelion
Don't like weddings much either now
And things that you can't rely on.

But you make me feel good
You with your run-down shoes and your shining eyes
You make me feel good
You can do what you want and I don't mind.

Don't much care for birds of paradise
Rather have a sparrow
Don't like flying much either now
Things you can't control.

But you make me feel good
You with your scruffy jeans and your run-down shoes
You make me feel good
You only do the things that you want to.

You make me feel good
You with your scruffy jeans and your tangly hair
You make me feel good
You can do what you want
And I don't care.

Take a bus, who needs a car
We'll eat here, take this seat near the door.
Well I'm not hungry much now, are you?
Is it ok if I share yours with you?
I've got no money and I think I believe that you knew.

Remember the moon on the wall, didn't she shine?
The taste of the sheets and the feel of the wine.
Wasn't I glad that you was mine
In the Grande Affaire?

Take a boat, maybe a plane,
Anywhere now, 'cept Greece or Spain.
For sure, I know where I am,
I see canals, this is Amsterdam.
I got friends here and they know, they can say who I am.

Remember the room without any view?
Frightened of meeting someone that we knew,
No farewells or how-do-you-dos
In the Grande Affaire.

Now I've stayed in all the best hotels,
And there's white coated waiters attend me,
And I look at the beautiful girls,
Do they really believe they can bend me?

Well I drive now seldom I walk.
I can speak French, but I'd rather not talk.
Which suit will I wear tonight?
Take out the brown, but in the end wear the white.
After shade stepping out stepping into the light.

Remember the moon on the wall didn't she shine,
The year was all wrong so we sent back the wine,
Wasn't you glad that you was mine
In the Grande Affaire?

Give me sweet forgiveness
And I think that it might
If not relieve all the pain that I feel
At least help me to sleep tonight.

Come down like an angel
Come on down like a woman
Say that it's forgiven.
Give me your sweet forgiveness,
Sweet forgiveness
And it must be,
Must be the seeds of heaven.

When I'm weak and feeling guilty
And it's sometimes I do,
Give me strength to seek forgiveness
Come and help me to see it through.

Chorus

Well you walk in with eyes open
Say to yourself I am a man
But you end up with a heart broken
But somehow baby you still understand.

Chorus

And once I walked a million miles
All the way to Yugoslavia
And I carried you all of the way
For where I was then there you are.

As the sun rose o'er the curb stones
By the road where I'd been sleeping
Them night-long trucks, as they roared by
They could not drown my weeping.

And it was me, and I alone
Who looked toward the far horizon
And I saw King Heron
On his dead tree throne
And I knew not which to keep my mind on.

Now I cannot speak for everyone
For they got their reasons
All on this road
But, Heron, would that I had your wings
For then I'd know where I would go
For then I'd know where I would go.

Pity the boy who marries for money
Or wealth and position
Thinking his troubles will fade out of mind.
Pity the boy who marries for beauty
Only to find like a flower in the morning it withers and dies.

Better by far to marry for love,
Stay broke for the rest of your days
Than to settle down for the sake of
Ending your rambling ways
And they won't end
And thinking about them
Your time you will spend.

Pity the girl who marries for duty
Believing in time if she works at her heart
It will turn into love.
Pity the girl who marries for strength
And protection, she'll find
In the shade of a great tree nothing can grow.

Better by far to marry for love
And stay broke for the rest of your days
Than to settle down for the sake of
Ending the games you have played
They won't end
And thinking about them
Your time you will spend.

Bless the child that's born of a union
Grown out of love
He's richer by far, he's got more than enough
Bless the child who walks in that union
Grows in that love
His riches are more than the stars under heaven.

Now it's come to talking I don't have much to say,
It wouldn't come out right, and so I'll leave it out, oh it's best that way
And I want to get out now cos I need just a couple of drinks.
Can you lend me a little money till I draw my pay?

And I'm leaving like a thief in the night.
But I will try to write to you, or maybe phone
And I'll send you back the money,
But not the love you lent
I could never pay no interest on that loan

You really give me comfort I couldn't take more tenderness
My credit's overdrawn and I just slide deeper in your debt
And I want to get out now cos I need just a couple of drinks.
Can you lend me a little money till pay day next?

Chorus

Why don't you get some rest now you ought to get an early night.
I've got a key so you can lock the door and it'll be all right.
I'll just take my winter coat, it looks like it might rain.
Can you lend me a little money just for the night?

Chorus

Thousands of miles without moving
In the silence and stillness we're turning
Who scattered the stars in the field of night?
Say it's all right, say it's all right,
Well say it's all right.

Ocean storm-thrown boats collide
With waves of no direction
With compass set up on a star
Head for the port's protection.

Faster than light we're not ageing,
So where does the time go we're saving?
Give me a sermon for sleep tonight
Won't you say it's all right, say it's all right,
Well say it's all right.

And the driftwood it collides
With blind boats on the water
Oh, sad I watched the moon fall down,
But the river safely caught her.

Confusion of stars where's the pattern
To chart us away from collision?
We are dust, we are spark, we were light before dark
It was all right, it is all right,
And it'll be all right.

Above, below, worlds collide
In the before and after
Oh happy to watch the sun go down
And join the angels' laughter.